7-5
San Diego
9-2
Cal Poly Ends 2014 Regular Season With 34-3 Win Over San Diego
11/22/2014 12:00:00 AM | Football
SAN DIEGO, Calif. – Backup quarterback Dano Graves threw one touchdown pass and ran for two more scores as Cal Poly wrapped up the 2014 regular season with a 34-3 victory over playoff-bound San Diego in a non-conference football game Saturday afternoon at Torero Stadium.
Replacing Chris Brown at the start of the second half, Graves ran five and 21 yards for touchdowns and hit Chris Nicholls with a 49-yard scoring pass for Coach Tim Walsh's Mustangs, who finished the regular season with a 7-5 record, Cal Poly's 11th winning season in the last 14 years.
San Diego, the Pioneer League champion, will enter the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision playoffs next weekend with a 9-2 record. Saturday's game marks the end of a three-year agreement between the two schools and Cal Poly won all three games, two in San Luis Obispo.
Cal Poly, which surpassed the 450-yard mark in total offense for the 10th consecutive game, scored on drives measuring 89, 82, 75, 87 and 90 yards.
The Mustangs led 14-3 at halftime on a two-yard run by senior fullback Brandon Howe and a 13-yard pass from Brown to Jordan Hines. Brown did not play the second half due to a leg injury.
San Diego's only points of the game came on a 32-yard field goal by David Last late in the first quarter. Last is 12-for-12 in field goals this season.
With 341 rushing yards Saturday, Cal Poly finished the year with 4,221 yards, breaking the school and Big Sky Conference records the Mustangs set in 2012 with 3,890 yards. Cal Poly's 44 rushing touchdowns also are school and conference records.
Brown rushed for 93 yards on 15 carries, giving him 1,265 yards for the season. He is the first Mustang quarterback to rush for over 1,000 yards in a season and is now No. 5 on the single-season rushing list with 1,265 yards.
Kori Garcia added 37 yards on four carries, giving him 1,039 yards. Cal Poly is the only FCS school to produce a pair of 1,000-yard rushers this season. Graves finished with 94 yards on 13 carries while Howe added 63 yards, culminating a 867-yard campaign.
Brown completed four of 10 passes for 64 yards while Graves connected on four of six passes for 77 yards. Roland Jackson made three catches to lead the Mustang receiving corps.
For San Diego, Jonah Hodges rushed for 56 yards on 14 carries, Keith Williams completed 14 of 29 passes for 153 yards and Brandon White caught four passes for 28 yards.
Mustang senior linebacker Nick Dzubnar recorded seven tackles Saturday, giving him 167 for the season, a school record which he broke last week against UC Davis. He also contributed his fifth career interception as well as a forced fumble. His tackle total for the season is nine shy of the Big Sky mark.
Cal Poly accumulated 482 yards in total offense while holding San Diego to 234 yards. The Mustangs were 5-for-5 on fourth-down plays.
Cal Poly finished in a tie for fifth place with Northern Arizona in the Big Sky Conference standings, both with 5-3 marks. Eastern Washington finished first at 7-1 followed by Montana, Montana State and Idaho State, all tied for second at 6-2.
The Mustangs are the first team in the Big Sky to produce a pair of 1,000-yard rushers since 1983 when Nevada accomplished the feat. In 1997, Eastern Washington had two 1,000-yard rushers, but one surpassed the mark in the playoffs when the NCAA was not allowing postseason statistics to be counted toward season statistics.
The hour-long FCS playoff selection show will be aired Sunday at 8 a.m. on ESPNU.
Photos of Dano Graves (top) and Nick Dzubnar (left) courtesy of Matt Brown | Matt Brown Photography
Team Stats
CP 7, USD 0
CP - Brandon Howe 2 yd run (Z.Schottenfeld kick), 5 plays, 89 yards, TOP 1:03
CP 7, USD 3
USD - LAST, David 32 yd field goal 12 plays, 55 yards, TOP 4:26
CP 14, USD 3
CP - Jordan Hines 13 yd pass from Chris Brown (Z.Schottenfeld kick) 14 plays, 82 yards, TOP 5:21
CP 20, USD 3
CP - Dano Graves 5 yd run (Z.Schottenfeld kickfailed), 11 plays, 75 yards, TOP 4:01
CP 27, USD 3
CP - Chris Nicholls 49 yd pass from Dano Graves (Z.Schottenfeld kick) 10 plays, 87 yards, TOP 5:16
CP 34, USD 3
CP - Dano Graves 21 yd run (Z.Schottenfeld kick), 13 plays, 90 yards, TOP 4:52
