Cal Poly to Visit Northern Arizona for Big Sky Conference Opener Saturday
9/22/2014 12:00:00 AM | Football
WEEKLY NOTES: CAL POLY | NORTHERN ARIZONA | BIG SKY
AUDIO STREAM | VIDEO STREAM | LIVE STATS
BIG SKY RADIO | BIG SKY COACHES TELECONFERENCE CALL
WEEKLY PRESS CONFERENCE -- TIM WALSH | CHRIS BROWN
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. — Cal Poly (1-2, 0-0 Big Sky), a 42-14 winner in its home opener against Portland State after losing on the road to FBS New Mexico State and No. 9 South Dakota State, opens Big Sky Conference play Saturday afternoon at Northern Arizona (2-2, 0-0 Big Sky) in Walkup Skydome (10,000) at Flagstaff, Ariz.
Kickoff is set for 4:05 p.m. PDT and the game will be broadcast live on ESPN Radio (1280 am) with Tom Barket providing the play-by-play and Eric Burdick serving as an analyst. The game also will be televised by NAU-TV and Fox Sports Arizona Plus (Dish Network 447 (standard definition) or 9517 (high definition), DirecTV 686-1 (standard and high definition)). Fox Sports Arizona will replay the game on Saturday at 10 p.m. and Monday at 1:30 p.m.
Links for audio and video streams as well as live stats are available at www.GoPoly.com.
Northern Arizona dropped out of the polls this week following its 28-21 loss at South Dakota. The Lumberjacks opened their season with a 38-7 loss at San Diego State followed by wins over Abilene Christian 27-21 and New Mexico Highlands 62-23.
Coached by Tim Walsh (sixth season, 33-27, UC Riverside '77), Cal Poly dropped a 28-10 decision at New Mexico State four weeks ago and fell 44-18 at South Dakota State on Sept. 6. After a bye week, the Mustangs compiled 470 yards on the ground and scored the first 35 points of the game en route to the victory over Portland State. Quarterback Chris Brown rushed for 159 yards and two touchdowns and also threw a scoring pass. Fullback Brandon Howe scored twice, once on the ground and another through the air, while slotback Kori Garcia rushed for 103 yards and one score. Both Garcia and Brown established career highs for rushing yards in a game.
Cal Poly joined Northern Arizona and 11 other schools in the Big Sky Conference prior to the 2012 season. The Lumberjacks were 7-1 for second place in the Big Sky a year ago, thanks in part to a 17-13 win over the Mustangs in Alex G. Spanos Stadium. After Cal Poly took a 13-10 lead with a field goal on the first play of the fourth quarter, Marcus Alford returned the ensuing kickoff 96 yards for the go-ahead score. The Mustangs clinched a share of the 2012 Big Sky title and an FCS playoff berth by beating Northern Arizona 42-34 on the final day of the regular season, Cal Poly's lone win over the Lumberjacks in 10 meetings.
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, who has started the first three 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, 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 470 against Portland State and lead the Big Sky in rushing offense, averaging 318.3 yards a game, No. 2 in the FCS behind Yale (327.0).
Coached by Jerome Souers (17th season, 95-90, Oregon '83), Portland State returned 34 lettermen, including 13 offensive and defensive starters, off last year's team which finished 9-3 overall. The Lumberjacks earned their first FCS playoff berth in 10 years and were 5-0 at home last fall.
Zach Bauman, who rushed for 1,456 yards a year ago, is gone, but quarterback Kyren Poe, who passed for 1,602 yards in 2013, is back. Other Lumberjack leaders on offense are running back Jahn Casey (243 yards, three TDs; 12 catches for 114 yards) and receivers Alex Holmes (15 catches, 248 yards, two TDs) and Ify Umodu (14 receptions for 244 yards and one TD). Poe has completed 71 of 115 passes for 896 yards and five scores.
Northern Arizona, unable to overcome a pair of first-quarter interceptions in the loss to South Dakota, is averaging 152.5 rushing yards, 259.2 passing yards and 29.3 points per game this season while giving up 191.0 rushing yards, 209.5 passing yards and 27.5 points a contest. The Lumberjacks managed just 73 yards rushing and turned the ball over three times, all on interceptions, at South Dakota.
The Lumberjacks have earned four FCS playoff berths (1996, 2001, 2003, 2013), shared the Big Sky title in 2003 and has posted 10 winning seasons in the last 16 years. Ten former Lumberjacks have played in the Super Bowl.
Former San Luis Obispo High School fullback Nick Butier has rushed four times for 19 yards in four games for the Lumberjacks.
Souers, a 1983 graduate of Oregon, coached in Oregon high schools for eight years before moving into the collegiate ranks, which included one season each at Western Washington and Portland State and 12 years at Montana, nine as defensive coordinator.
Cal Poly and Northern Arizona will be playing each other in football for the 11th time Saturday. First meeting was in 1935 and Northern Arizona has outscored Cal Poly 257-160. Tim Walsh is 5-8 against Northern Arizona, the first 11 games as head coach at Portland State, while Souers is 5-1 against Cal Poly. The Mustangs are 0-5 at home against the Lumberjacks and 1-4 in Flagstaff.
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 three games are Brown (312 rushing yards, 265 passing yards), slotback Kori Garcia (273 yards, 5.9 average per carry, two TDs) and fullback Brandon Howe (124 yards, two TDs). Top receivers are Howe with six catches and slotback Chris Nicholls with four. Linebacker Nick Dzubnar tops all defensive players with 41 tackles. Linebacker Cameron Ontko has 29 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 81 of their last 128 games (62 percent) dating back to the 2002 season finale and have won 31 of their last 63 games on the road (49 percent).
Cal Poly returns home to host Southern Utah for another Big Sky Conference game on Saturday, Oct. 4, at 6:05 p.m. in Alex G. Spanos Stadium.
