Cal Poly to host Portland State for 2014 Home Opener Saturday Night
9/15/2014 12:00:00 AM | Football
WEEKLY NOTES: CAL POLY | PORTLAND STATE | BIG SKY
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SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. -- Cal Poly (0-2, 0-0 Big Sky), which opened its 2014 campaign, its 21st in Division I and 96th overall, with losses on the road at New Mexico State and South Dakota State, will play its home opener Saturday night, hosting Big Sky Conference rival Portland State (1-2, 0-0 Big Sky) for a non-conference game in Alex G. Spanos Stadium (11,075).
Kickoff is set for 6:05 p.m. PDT and the game will be broadcast live on ESPN Radio (1280 am) with Tom Barket providing the play-by-play and former Mustang quarterback Lloyd Nelson serving as an analyst. Links for audio and video streams as well as live stats are available at www.GoPoly.com.
Portland State has yet to play a Football Championship Subdivision team this fall, opening with a 29-14 loss at Oregon State followed by a 45-38 victory at home against Division II Western Oregon. The Vikings fell 59-21 at Washington State last Saturday.
Coached by Tim Walsh (sixth season, 32-27, UC Riverside '77), Cal Poly dropped a 28-10 decision at New Mexico State three weeks ago, outscored 14-0 and held to just 78 total yards in the second half. Two weeks ago, the Mustangs fell 44-18 at South Dakota State even though senior linebacker Nick Dzubnar made a career-high 19 tackles and junior quarterback Chris Brown passed for a career-high 202 yards. The Jackrabbits compiled 502 yards in total offense for its first win over Cal Poly since 2007.
Cal Poly joined Portland State and 11 other schools in the Big Sky Conference prior to the 2012 season. Like the Mustangs, the Vikings were 6-6 a year ago but finished ninth in the Big Sky at 3-5. Cal Poly rallied from a 21-7 halftime deficit to beat Portland State 38-34 in Portland a year ago, evening the overall series between the two schools at 10 wins apiece.
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, a third-team All-Big Sky Conference selection 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 return 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 earned the starting nod against New Mexico State and rushed for 66 yards on 17 carries while completing one of four passes. Graves played the final nine minutes of the game, rushing three times for 12 yards and connecting on one of three passes.
Brown 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, a 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 likely will be 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 Jordan Hines and Roland Jackson 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, expect several transfers and even some true freshmen to step in right away, including freshmen Alex Suchesk and/or 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 freshman Jonathan LaBonty at safety also will get some playing time along with freshman fullback Joe Protheroe.
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 259 yards against New Mexico State, averaging 5.3 yards per carry, added 226 more yards at South Dakota State and lead the Big Sky in rushing offense, averaging 242.5 yards a game.
Coached by Nigel Burton (fifth season, 19-29, Washington '99), Portland State returned 47 lettermen, including 14 offensive and defensive starters, off last year's team. The Vikings, who fielded their first football team in 1947, have compiled 29 winning seasons in 67 years and have made one FCS playoff appearance (2000) and nine NCAA postseason appearances.
The Vikings are led offensively by running backs Shaquille Richards (243 yards, 6.9 average per carry, 2 TD) and Paris Penn (159 yards, 8.8 average, 3 TD), quarterback Kieran McDonagh (51 of 92, 487 yards, 3 TD, 3 int.) and receivers Kasey Closs (18 catches, 228 yards, 2 TD) and Alex Toureen (11 catches, 151 yards, 1 TD). Safety Patrick Onwuasor returned an interception 42 yards for a touchdown against Washington State last week and leads the Viking defense with 19 total tackles.Punter Kyle Loomis is second in the Big Sky with his 48.1 average.
Held to just 93 rushing yards while surrendering 630 passing yards and 706 yards in total offense to Washington State last week, Portland State is averaging 170 rushing yards, 191 passing yards and 27 points per game this season while giving up 90 rushing yards, 457 passing yards and 42 points a contest.
Burton was defensive coordinator at Nevada in 2008 and 2009, spent five seasons as secondary coach at Oregon State and was defensive backs coach under Walsh at Portland State in 2001 and 2002. Burton was a three-year starter at safety at Washington and replaced Jerry Glanville as Vikings head coach in December 2009.
Cal Poly and Portland State are meeting for the 21st time in football this week. In last year's Big Sky game at JELD-WEN Field (now Providence Park), Chris Brown rushed for 129 yards and one touchdown and passed for two more scores as Cal Poly won the Big Sky opener for both schools. Slotback Kristaan Ivory rushed for 184 yards on 32 carries and added one score on a 13-yard run as Cal Poly compiled a 518-487 advantage in total offense and possessed the ball 13 minutes more than the Vikings. Portland State had won five straight against the Mustangs, including the last three under Walsh (1993, 1998, 1999) before Cal Poly posted a 37-25 triumph two years ago in Alex G. Spanos Stadium. The series started in 1977 with Cal Poly winning the first six meetings. Walsh is 3-1 against Portland State, the first two wins while head coach at Sonoma State, while Burton is 0-2 against Cal Poly.
A year ago, the Mustangs, 3-3 at home and 3-3 on the road, were ranked as high as No. 10 before losing to Yale and falling out of the top 25 for the rest of the year. Among the milestones achieved by Mustang players last fall, Alex Hubbard's 31.9 kickoff return average is No. 2 all-time at Cal Poly while Bobby Zalud's 148 total points by kicking is No. 4 and his 88 career PAT kicks made is No. 5. Paul Hundley's 43.8 punting average is No. 3 and he finished the season with a 41.65 career average, No. 2 on the list.
Three Mustangs, all linebackers, secured over 100 tackles, the first time that has been accomplished in one season. Dzubnar's 112 tackles is No. 8 all-time while both Ontko and Johnny Millard had 108, tied for No. 9.
This year's leaders through two games are slotback Kori Garcia (170 yards, 6.1 average per carry, 1 TD) and quarterback Chris Brown (153 rushing yards, 17-for-25 passing for 204 yards). Top receivers are slotback Chris Nicholls and fullback Brandon Howe, each with four catches. Dzubnar tops all defensive players with 31 tackles while Chris Fletcher and Dave Douglas have one interception each.
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.
Cal Poly captured four Great West Conference titles in the eight-year history of the league (2004, 2005, 2008, 2011) before moving to the Big Sky in 2012 and has earned NCAA Division I FCS playoff berths in 2005, 2008 and 2012, reaching the quarterfinals in 2005 with a win at Montana before falling at Texas State. The Mustangs have won 80 of their last 127 games (62 percent) dating back to the 2002 season finale and have won 31 of their last 62 games on the road (50 percent).
Cal Poly hits the road again next week, visiting Northern Arizona for its Big Sky Conference opener at 4 p.m. in Flagstaff, Ariz.
