Cal Poly Wraps Up 2014 Season With Non-Conference Game at San Diego
11/17/2014 12:00:00 AM | Football
WEEKLY NOTES: CAL POLY | SAN DIEGO | BIG SKY
AUDIO STREAM | VIDEO STREAM | LIVE STATS | LIVE STATS
BIG SKY RADIO | BIG SKY COACHES TELECONFERENCE CALL
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. — Cal Poly (6-5, 5-3 Big Sky), which still has a chance to post its 11th winning record in the last 14 years despite back-to-back losses to Idaho State and UC Davis, plays its final game of the 2014 football season Saturday afternoon, visiting the University of San Diego (9-1, 7-1 Pioneer) in the last contest of a three-year agreement between the Mustangs and Toreros.
Kickoff in Torero Stadium (6,000), Cal Poly's first game in the facility, is set for 4:05 p.m. PST and the game will be broadcast live on ESPN Radio (1280 am) with Tom Barket calling the play-by-play and Ramses Barden serving as an analyst. Links for video and audio streams as well as live stats are available at www.GoPoly.com.
San Diego has won eight straight games since its only loss of the year, a 35-18 setback at Jacksonville on Sept. 13. The Toreros defeated Valparaiso 32-27 last week to claim the Pioneer League championship and clinch an automatic berth in the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs. Jacksonville also finished 7-1 and would have claimed the playoff berth on a tiebreaker, but the Dolphins withdrew from championship contention in the Pioneer Football League as well as consideration for a playoff berth following an internal investigation that found financial aid inconsistencies within the football program.
Brandon White caught a 44-yard pass from Keith Williams on the final play of the game to lift San Diego over Valparaiso. The Crusaders had taken the lead, 27-26, with 28 seconds to play. San Diego produced 540 yards of total offense -- 277 on the ground and 263 through the air -- led by Jonah Hodges' 168 yards rushing and Williams, who completed 19 of 33 passes for 263 yards and four touchdowns.
Coached by Tim Walsh (sixth season, 38-30, UC Riverside '77), Cal Poly opened the year with two games on the road, dropping a 28-10 decision at New Mexico State and 44-18 at South Dakota State. After a bye week, the Mustangs compiled 470 yards on the ground and scored the first 35 points of the game en route to a 42-14 non-conference victory over Big Sky rival Portland State in their home opener. Northern Arizona scored with 21 seconds left to hand Cal Poly a heartbreaking 38-35 loss in the Big Sky opener before the Mustangs bounced back with a 42-39 win at home over Southern Utah, igniting a five-game winning streak.
Cal Poly snapped a 24-24 tie with a one-yard dive by senior fullback Brandon Howe with 13:46 to play and held on to beat Weber State 30-24 in Ogden, Utah, and the Mustangs earned their second road win at Sacramento State, 56-27, erasing a 17-7 second-quarter deficit by outscoring the Hornets 42-3 over a 27-minute span.
Returning home, Cal Poly scored 27 unanswered points to erase a 14-7 deficit and beat Montana 41-21 as Chris Brown rushed for 226 yards, a school record for a quarterback, and two touchdowns. The Mustangs earned their eighth straight win over Montana State with a 35-27 triumph two weeks ago, Karlton Dennis sealing the win with his third interception of the year with 1:01 left.
Facing a first-place showdown in the Big Sky for the third straight week, Cal Poly dropped a 30-28 decision at Idaho State two weeks ago in Pocatello despite Brown's 195 yards on 39 carries and three touchdowns along with a scoring pass to Kyle Lewis. UC Davis never trailed and outscored Cal Poly 17-0 in the second quarter to take command en route to a 48-35 win last week in the Battle for the Golden Horseshoe at Alex G. Spanos Stadium. With 18 tackles, linebacker Nick Dzubnar replaced Kyle Shotwell as Cal Poly's record holder for tackles in a season and the Mustangs tied a school record and broke the Big Sky mark for rushing touchdowns in a season with 41.
Cal Poly joined 12 other schools in the Big Sky Conference prior to the 2012 season while San Diego became a member of the Pioneer Football League in 1992. The Toreros earned their first FCS playoff berth last weekend with their win over Valparaiso and are making their second postseason appearance. San Diego lost to Wittenberg 21-14 in their only other playoff appearance in 1973. The 2014 season is the Toreros' 49th in football.
Cal Poly football, presented by French Hospital Medical Center, opened Fall Camp with 61 returning lettermen, including 16 players who started at least four games in 2013. Topping the list of returnees are senior linebacker Nick Dzubnar and senior defensive lineman Jake Irwin, both third-team All-Big Sky Conference selections a year ago, and four others who earned All-Big Sky honorable mention praise -- offensive linemen Matt Fisher and Stephen Sippel, defensive tackle Chris Lawrence and linebacker Cameron Ontko.
Juniors Chris Brown and Dano Graves returned at quarterback and waged a two-man battle throughout the spring and fall. The duo combined for 10 starts, 1,052 rushing yards and 111 of the team's 136 pass completions a year ago.
Brown, who has started the first 11 contests this season, started six games last year and passed for 836 yards and 11 touchdowns while rushing for eight scores and 685 additional yards, including 195 yards in a win at UC Davis, then the school record for a quarterback. Graves started four games and rushed for 367 yards while passing for 416 yards.
Getting most of the carries this fall are sophomore Kori Garcia and seniors Chris Nicholls and Kenny Mitchell at slotback and seniors Brandon Howe and Brent Michaels at fullback. Among the top receivers on the roster are juniors Roland Jackson Jr. and Jordan Hines and sophomore Carson McMurtrey at wide receiver and senior Austin Albison at tight end.
With numerous vacancies to fill on both sides of the ball, several transfers and even some true freshmen have stepped in right away, including freshman Lance Mudd at slotback, Nevada transfer Burton De Koning at linebacker, Washington State transfer Logan Mayes at defensive end and Wake Forest transfer Andrew Hauser and freshman Fino Elisaia at defensive tackle. American River College transfer Tyler Alsey at defensive tackle and Protheroe, a freshman fullback, also have played this season.
A year ago, Cal Poly was No. 1 in the FCS in rushing offense (309.1). Two years ago, the Mustangs broke the Big Sky record for rushing yards in a season with 3,890 yards in 12 games. Expect more of the same from the Mustangs' Triple Option in 2014. The Mustangs netted 470 yards against Portland State, 452 against Southern Utah, 393 at Sacramento State, 421 versus Montana, 376 against Montana State and 425 at Idaho State. Cal Poly, which has compiled at least 450 yards of total offense in each of its last nine games, leads the Big Sky and the FCS in rushing offense, averaging 352.7 yards a game.
Coached by Dale Lindsey (second season, 17-4, Western Kentucky '64), San Diego returned 30 lettermen, including 12 offensive and defensive starters, off last year's team which went 8-3 overall and finished tied for first place in the Pioneer Football League at 7-1.
Offensive leaders for the Toreros through 10 games are running back Jonah Hodges (200 carries, 1,138 yards, 5.7 average, 6 TDs), quarterback Keith Williams (133 of 237 passing, 56.1 percent, 1,940 yards, 21 TDs, 8 int.) and receivers Brandon White (51 catches, 791 yards, 9 TDs) and Reggie Bell (36-728-7). Cornerback Jamal Agnew has four interceptions, Ryan Belden averages 37.3 yards per punt, Hodges averages 20.4 yards per kickoff return and Bell averages 7.7 yards per punt return. Linebackers Una Hamala and Nic Henson lead the Toreros defensively with 77 and 75 tackles, respectively, while lineman Jonathan Petersen has five sacks.
San Diego is averaging 384 yards in total offense per game -- 173 on the ground and 211 through the air -- and scoring 29.6 points a contest while giving up 347 yards (150 rushing, 197 passing) and 23.9 points per game.
Lindsey was hired as San Diego's head coach on December 29, 2012, replacing Ron Caragher, who was hired as head coach at San Jose State. Lindsey guided the Toreros to an 8-3 mark in 2013, winning its final four contests and seven of its final eight. He was the program's defensive coordinator in 2012. From 2009-2011 Lindsey was at New Mexico State as an assistant head coach and linebackers coach. Prior to NMSU, he spent his first season with the USD staff in 2008, where he was the Torero linebackers coach. His resume also includes over 30 years of football coaching at the high school, college and professional ranks. Most recently with the Washington Redskins (2004-06), Lindsey also spent time on the San Diego Chargers staff as defensive coordinator (2002-03) and linebackers coach (1992-96). Lindsey played both linebacker and fullback for two years at Western Kentucky.
Cal Poly and San Diego are meeting for the third straight year. Both previous contests were played in Alex G. Spanos Stadium.
In 2012, Andre Broadous and Deonte Williams both surpassed the 100-yard mark in rushing as the Mustangs won 41-14. Broadous rushed for 113 yards and a pair of touchdowns while also passing for 135 yards and two more scores. He completed 12 of 19 passes, including a seven-yard scoring pass to Akaninyene Umoh and a 12-yarder to Williams, both in the fourth quarter. He ran a career-long 56 yards for a touchdown in the third period and added a five-yard run in the final quarter. Williams netted 109 yards on 21 carries as Cal Poly accumulated 323 yards on 62 rushing plays, compiled a 458-240 advantage in total offense and produced 29 first downs. Cal Poly never trailed, building a 13-7 lead at the break.
Last year the Mustangs outscored the Toreros 21-6 in the second half to turn a 17-10 halftime lead into a 38-16 triumph. Junior slotback Kristaan Ivory scored on runs of 81, 2 and 61 yards en route to a career-high 185 yards while junior wide receiver Willie Tucker caught a career-high seven passes for 113 yards as Cal Poly improved its series record against San Diego to 3-0. In his first college start, Mustang junior quarterback Vince Moraga completed 15 of 21 passes for 226 yards. Cal Poly accumulated 533 total yards, 307 of them on the ground, while San Diego gained 394 yards in total offense, 257 through the air. Despite the loss, San Diego held a 19-17 advantage in first downs and held the ball 15 more minutes than the Mustangs.
First meeting of the series was in 1959, also a season opener for both teams, and was won by the Mustangs 36-14 in then-Mustang Stadium. Tom Klosterman hit Curtis Hill with a 13-yard pass and Hill pitched a lateral to Carl Bowser who ran 35 yards for a touchdown. John Panagakis passed 18 yards to Willis Hill for the second score, Klosterman ran 22 yards for the third Mustang TD, Ted Tollner passed 22 yards to Curtis Hill and he lateraled to Bowser for the final 10 yards and a score, and Cal Poly's final touchdown came on an 11-yard pass from Klosterman to Claude Turner. Willis Hill was two of three on extra-point kicks and Curtis Hill caught a pair of two-point conversion passes. Gary Van Horn was Cal Poly's top rusher with 28 yards on just four carries. Klosterman completed all of his six passes for 157 yards and the top Mustang receiver was Curtis Hill with five catches for 94 yards. Roy Hughes coached the Mustangs to the victory en route to a 6-3 record.
Cal Poly's leaders through 11 games are Brown (1,172 rushing yards and 17 TDs, 1,401 passing yards and 11 TDs), slotback Kori Garcia (pictured above) (1,002 yards, 6.5 average per carry, seven TDs) and fullback Brandon Howe (804 yards, 4.8 average, nine TDs). Kenny Mitchell leads the Mustang receiving corps with 20 catches while Garcia has 17 and Jordan Hines 15. Linebacker Nick Dzubnar, added to the Buck Buchanan Award watch list four weeks ago, tops all defensive players with a school-record 160 tackles, reaching double digits in 10 of Cal Poly's 11 games this season. Linebacker Cameron Ontko has 103 tackles while Karlton Dennis and Jordan Williams have three interceptions each and Chris Fletcher nine pass breakups.
With his 151 yards last week against UC Davis, Garcia became the 18th Mustang to surpass 1,000 yards rushing and the second this season. Brown became the first Mustang quarterback to rush for over 1,000 yards in a season when he gained 195 yards at Idaho State two weeks ago. Brown also holds the Big Sky single-season record for rushing yards by a quarterback. Old mark of 1,060 was set by Connor Kavanaugh of Portland State in 2011.
Cal Poly, which captured the 2012 Big Sky title in its first year in the conference, was picked by head coaches this summer to finish fourth in the Big Sky for the second straight season. The Mustangs shared fourth place with Southern Utah, Montana State and UC Davis in 2013.
First-round pairings for the 2014 FCS playoffs will be announced Sunday at 8 a.m. on ESPNU.
