Cal Poly to Play Final Road Game of 2015 Campaign Saturday at UC Davis
11/9/2015 12:00:00 AM | Football
WEEKLY NOTES: CAL POLY | UC DAVIS | BIG SKY
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SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. — Cal Poly (3-6, 2-4 Big Sky), which in its first eight games of the 2015 season faced seven FCS teams currently or previously ranked in the national polls along with former top 25-ranked Arizona State of the FBS, plays its second unranked opponent of the year Saturday afternoon, visiting UC Davis (1-8, 1-5 Big Sky) in a Big Sky Conference game at Aggie Stadium (10,849).
The 12th edition of the Battle for the Golden Horseshoe kicks off at 2:05 p.m. PST and the contest will be broadcast live on ESPN Radio (1280 am) with Tom Barket calling the play-by-play and Eric Burdick serving as an analyst. Links for video and audio streams as well as live stats are available at www.GoPoly.com.
UC Davis is coming off a 23-3 loss at Weber State last Saturday, its third straight setback after beating Northern Arizona 38-24 at home for its lone victory of the year. The Aggies dropped their first five games of the season, including non-conference games against Nevada, South Dakota and Hawai'i.
Cal Poly, ranked as high as No. 17 by the media and No. 18 by the coaches before a 45-28 loss at Montana State in late September, lost six of seven games since a season-opening victory at Montana before jumping to a 26-0 lead en route to a 36-14 triumph over Sacramento State last week in Alex G. Spanos Stadium. The Mustangs snapped their second three-game losing streak of the year by holding the Hornets to just 35 yards rushing, blocking a field goal attempt on the opening drive and, after losing nine fumbles in its last two games, eliminating the turnovers. Five different Mustangs scored touchdowns and Alex Vega added a 23-yard field goal for Cal Poly, which held a 461-395 advantage in total offense.
UC Davis was held to a career-long 52-yard field goal by Brady Stuart, his 50th career three-pointer, in its loss to Weber State. The Aggies trailed 20-3 at halftime and accumulated just 28 rushing yards, 174 total yards and nine first downs, converting just one of 13 third-down plays.
Coached by Tim Walsh (seventh season, 42-36, UC Riverside '77), Cal Poly began its 97th season of football with 42 returning lettermen, including 16 who started at least five games a year ago, nine on offense and seven on defense. Senior quarterback Chris Brown heads the list of veterans after rushing for 1,265 yards, passing for 1,465 yards and accounting for 30 touchdowns a year ago.
Other top returnees include junior slot back Kori Garcia (1,039 yards rushing, 17 receptions in 2014), senior center Stephen Sippel, senior offensive tackle Weston Walker, junior defensive tackle Marcus Paige-Allen (40 tackles), senior linebacker Burton De Koning (43 tackles) and senior cornerbacks Chris Fletcher (68 tackles, 10 breakups) and Karlton Dennis (44 tackles, three interceptions).
A year ago, Cal Poly beat Montana 41-21 as Brown rushed for 226 yards, a school record for a quarterback, and two touchdowns. That was part of a five-game winning streak that propelled the Mustangs to a 6-3 mark and in position to capture the Big Sky title and a spot in the FCS playoffs. Back-to-back losses to Idaho State and UC Davis, however, dashed those hopes.
Cal Poly football, presented by French Hospital Medical Center, was No. 1 in the FCS in rushing offense (309.1) in 2013 and duplicated the feat last fall by averaging 351.8 yards on the ground. Cal Poly's 4,221 yards rushing and 44 touchdowns shattered both school records as well as the Big Sky marks it set in 2012 when the Mustangs finished third in the nation in rushing offense.
The Mustangs' Triple Option spread offense netted 470 yards against Portland State, 452 against Southern Utah, 393 at Sacramento State, 421 versus Montana, 376 against Montana State, 425 at Idaho State and 341 against San Diego. Cal Poly compiled at least 450 yards of total offense in each of its last 10 games in the 2014 season.
This fall through nine games, Cal Poly is No. 1 again in the FCS in rushing offense (401.8 yards per game), No. 3 in first downs (235), No. 3 in time of possession (33:55), No. 8 in interceptions allowed (3) and No. 16 in sacks allowed (9). Brown is No. 20 in the FCS in rushing yards (861) and No. 15 in rushing touchdowns (10) while senior linebacker Tu'uta Inoke is No. 3 with his four forced fumbles. Junior safety B.J. Nard is No. 38 with his three interceptions.
Coached by Ron Gould (third season, 8-24, Oregon '88), UC Davis returned 66 lettermen, including 19 offensive and defensive starters, off last year's team which went 2-9 overall and finished 13th in the Big Sky Conference at 1-7. The Aggies, still seeking their first FCS playoff berth (they joined the FCS in 2004), qualified for the NCAA Division II playoffs 19 times, including the 1982 national championship game, a 34-9 loss to Southwest Texas State (now Texas State). UC Davis reached the semifinals seven times.
UC Davis' offensive leaders through nine games are running back Manusamoa Luuga (130 carries, 413 yards, 4 TDs), running back Joshua Kelley (87 carries, 376 yards, 1 TD), quarterback Ben Scott (158 of 248 (64 percent), 1,598 yards, 11 TDs) and receivers Luuga (42 catches, 297 yards, 0 TD) and Chris Martin (33-502-5). Martin is averaging 10.1 yards per punt return and the Aggies have just three interceptions this season, including one by Delvin Alexander returned nine yards for a touchdown. Kelly is averaging 27.3 yards per kickoff return. Defensive back Darryl Graham has a team-leading 58 tackles along with one interception and three pass breakups. Defensive tackle Kyle De Vaughn is the Aggie leader in sacks with four.
UC Davis is averaging 104 rushing yards, 220 passing yards, 324 total yards and 19 points per game this season while giving up 229 rushing yards, 204 passing yards, 433 total yards and 33 points a contest. The Aggies are second in the nation in fewest penalties (38), third in fewest penalty yards (322), No. 2 in time of possession (34:45) and No. 30 in kickoff returns (22.66).
Gould, a 1988 graduate of Oregon, was an assistant coach at Cal for 16 seasons before replacing Bob Biggs as UC Davis head coach in December 2012. A defensive back for the Ducks, Gould was a graduate assistant at Oregon (1990-91) and coached the defensive backs at Portland State (in 1992 under Tim Walsh) and Boise State (1993-96) before moving on to Cal.
Cal Poly, which won three straight games against UC Davis from 2006-08 to even the series at 16-16-2, lost three in a row to the Aggies the following three years before snapping the losing streak with a 28-20 victory in 2012 in San Luis Obispo. The Mustangs also won the 2013 contest 28-20, but UC Davis snapped Cal Poly's five-game winning streak and effectively knocked the Mustangs out of the FCS playoff picture with a 48-35 triumph last year in Alex G. Spanos Stadium.
Senior running back Gabe Manzanares rushed for a career-high 230 yards and three touchdowns while sophomore quarterback Ben Scott passed for 298 yards and three more scores. Manzanares, who carried the ball 37 times, scored on runs of 11, 2 and 12 yards while Scott completed 24 of 32 passes, including scoring strikes of 11 yards to Mark Martindale, five yards to Ramon Vargas and two yards to Zach Boman. Mustang sophomore slotback Kori Garcia earned his fifth 100-yard game of the season, gaining 151 yards on 20 carries and scoring once on a three-yard run in the first quarter.
UC Davis leads the series 20-18-2. First game of the series was played in 1939 and the two teams have met every year since 1978. Walsh is 7-9 against UC Davis -- 1-3 while coaching at Sonoma State, 4-2 while at Portland State and 2-4 at Cal Poly -- while Gould is 0-2 against Cal Poly. Against the Aggies, the Mustangs are 11-9 at home and 7-11-2 in Davis.
Although the two teams are meeting for the 41st time, the official "Battle for the Golden Horseshoe" was established in 2004 as the student-run spirit clubs from both schools came together to sponsor a perpetual trophy that resides with the team that wins each year. The horseshoe-shaped trophy signifies the agricultural influence at both universities. Since the trophy was created in 2004, UC Davis leads the series 6-5. Seventeen of the previous 40 games in the all-time series have been decided by seven points or less.
Cal Poly's offensive leaders through nine games are Brown with 861 rushing yards and 10 scores, fullback Joe Protheroe with 702 yards and six touchdowns and slot back Kori Garcia with 671 yards and four scores. Brown has completed 45 of 85 passes (53 percent) for 482 yards and eight touchdowns, but has yet to surpass the 100-yard mark in passing in a single game this season. Wide receiver Willie Tucker has 10 receptions while slot back DJ Peluso and wide receiver Jordan Hines both have eight catches.
Topping the defensive chart in tackles are senior linebacker Tu'uta Inoke with 76, senior linebacker Burton De Koning with 68 tackles (8.0 TFLs, three sacks), sophomore linebacker R.J. Mazolewski with 65 tackles (7.5 TFLs, two sacks) and sophomore linebacker Joseph Gigantino III with 64 tackles (team-leading 9.5 tackles for lost yardage, 2.5 sacks). Inoke also has forced four fumbles, No. 3 in the FCS, while B.J. Nard's three interceptions, all against Montana on Sept. 5, place him No. 38 in the FCS.
Cal Poly is averaging 402 yards rushing, 68 yards passing and 470 yards in total offense while scoring 33 points a contest. The 58 points tallied against Idaho State five weeks ago are the most since Cal Poly beat the Bengals 70-14 in 2012 while, on the other side, the 54 points surrendered to Southern Utah two weeks ago are the most since a 63-28 loss to UC Davis in 2000. Defensively, the Mustangs are allowing 162 yards on the ground, 288 through the air, 450 in total offense and 34 points a contest.
A year ago, Garcia became the 18th Mustang to surpass 1,000 yards rushing and the second that 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. 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.
The Mustangs were the first team in the Big Sky to produce a pair of 1,000-yard rushers in a single season since 1983 when Nevada accomplished the feat. Cal Poly is the only FCS school to produce two 1,000-yard rushers last season.
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 and fifth by the media. Montana State was picked by the coaches to win the Big Sky crown; the media chose Eastern Washington.
A year ago, Cal Poly rallied from a 1-3 start to win six of its last eight games and averaged nearly 34 points and 483 yards per contest offensively. The Mustangs defeated perennial Big Sky powers and NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision playoff qualifiers Montana and Montana State on back-to-back Saturdays at home and ended the 2014 campaign with a convincing 34-3 victory against Pioneer League champion San Diego. Montana, Montana State and San Diego all earned FCS playoff berths.
With a 4-1 record at home in 2014 and a 2-2 mark this fall, the Mustangs have won 56 of their last 71 home contests. Overall, the Mustangs have won 56 of their last 94 games (61 percent) and 90 of 147 contests (62 percent) going back to the 2002 finale and have won 16 of their last 35 and 35 of 73 on the road (3-4 in 2014, 1-4 in 2015).
A year ago, 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.
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.
Cal Poly plays its final game of the 2015 season next Saturday night against North Dakota, a Big Sky Conference contest on Heroes Day with kickoff in Alex G. Spanos Stadium set for 6:05 p.m.
