Armed With 16 Returning Starters, Cal Poly Opens 2015 Slate at Montana
8/31/2015 12:00:00 AM | Football
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SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. — Cal Poly (0-0, 0-0 Big Sky), which in 2014 posted its 11th winning record in the last 14 years and led the nation for the second straight season in rushing offense, opens its 2015 football campaign Saturday night, almost 100 years after its first official game, visiting two-time national champion Montana (1-0, 0-0 Big Sky) for a non-conference contest in the Treasure state.
Kickoff in Washington-Grizzly Stadium (25,217) is set for 6:05 p.m. PDT and the game will be broadcast live on ESPN Radio (1280 am) with Tom Barket calling the play-by-play and Eric Burdick serving as an analyst. The game also will be televised live on The CW 5 (Chris Byers (play-by-play), Grady Bennett (color), Mick Delaney (analyst) and Shaun Rainey (sideline)) (available on Charter, Comcast and Cox cable systems, over the air and DirecTV 7). The telecast also is available on Altitude via Dish Network (Channel 413) and DirecTV (Channel 681 or 682 (SD) and 681-1 (HD)).
Links for video (subscription) and audio streams as well as live stats are available at www.GoPoly.com.
In the second annual FCS Kickoff, Montana scored 10 points in the final 3 minutes, 33 seconds, to defeat four-time defending national champion North Dakota State 38-35 in the only college football game played last Saturday and in front of a national television audience (ESPN). Daniel Sullivan kicked a 28-yard field goal with 3:33 to go and, after the Grizzlies' defense forced a three-and-out, Montana drove 80 yards in 1:37 for the game winner, a one-yard run by Joey Counts on fourth down with two seconds left. Key play in the drive was a 31-yard pass from Brady Gustafson, in his first start as Griz quarterback, to Reese Carlson on fourth and 10 near midfield. Montana accumulated 544 yards in total offense and Gustafson completed 30 of 55 passes for 434 yards and three scores before a record crowd of 26,472.
"Big congrats to Bob Stitt and the entire Montana football team," said Mustang head coach Tim Walsh. "That's a great win for the Big Sky as well. With what they are doing with their skill guys, they have a chance to be very explosive offensively. Defensively, they play extraordinarily hard and (defensive end) Tyrone Holmes is a force to be reckoned with as well as (defensive tackle) Caleb Kidder. We have our work cut out for us because they play a game that concerns me."
Montana, ranked Nos. 12 and 13 in the preseason media and coaches polls, is one of five ranked FCS teams Cal Poly will face in the first six weeks. The Mustangs also visit Montana State and Eastern Washington while hosting Northern Iowa and Idaho State. In addition, Cal Poly visits No. 15 Arizona State from the FBS ranks on Sept. 12.
"There is no question we need to come out of the gate fast," said Walsh. "We need to start well and finish well if we are to achieve our goals."
Coached by Tim Walsh (seventh season, 39-30, UC Riverside '77), Cal Poly begins 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 slotback 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), junior defensive end Josh Letuligasenoa (65 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 Chris 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 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.
Coached by Bob Stitt (first season, 1-0, Doane '87), Montana returned 49 lettermen, including 13 offensive and defensive starters, off last year's team which went 9-5 overall and finished tied for second place in the Big Sky at 6-2. The Griz won 19 Big Sky championships from 1969 to 2011, have earned 23 FCS playoff berths, including an FCS-record 17 consecutive trips to the postseason from 1993 to 2009) and claimed national titles in 1995 and 2001.
Montana's top returnees include senior defensive end Tyrone Holmes (66 tackles, 7.5 sacks in 2014), wide receiver Jamaal Jones (67 catches, 1,044 yards, 8 TDs) and linebacker Jeremiah Kose (117 tackles). All three earned All-Big Sky honors in 2014.
Stitt, innovator of the fly sweep system, was hired as Montana's 36th head football coach on December 19, 2014, replacing Mick Delaney, who retired after three seasons at the helm of the Griz. Stitt compiled a 108-62 record in 15 seasons as head coach at Colorado School of Mines, including 13 winning campaigns and three Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference titles. He was a running back and return specialist at Doane College in Nebraska in the mid-1980s and also played baseball (left field) and ran track (4-by-100 relay). His coaching career includes one season (1989) as a graduate assistant at Northern Colorado, four seasons (1990-93) as offensive coordinator at Doane, five seasons (1994-98) as associate head coach at Austin College and one season (1999) as offensive coordinator at Harvard before taking over at Colorado School of Mines in 2000.
Cal Poly, which conducted a one-hour walk-through Friday at Washington-Grizzly Stadium (pictured above), and Montana are meeting for the 19th time Saturday and, though the Mustangs won last year's contest in Alex G. Spanos Stadium, the Griz still hold a commanding 15-3 advantage in the series which began in 1969. In addition to the 41-21 triumph a year ago, Cal Poly also owns a 35-33 win in 2010 in San Luis Obispo and a 35-21 victory in the opening round of the 2005 FCS playoffs at Missoula. Tim Walsh is 4-12 against Montana, including a 2-9 mark while at Portland State from 1993 to 2006, while Bob Stitt is 0-0 against Cal Poly. The Mustangs are 1-11 in Missoula and 2-4 against the Griz at home.
Cal Poly, which has won eight of its last 12 season openers, fell behind Montana 14-7 before scoring 27 unanswered points over a 25-minute span from late in the second quarter to early in the fourth period for the win in 2014. In addition to his 226 rushing yards, Brown completed nine of 17 passes for 107 yards and another score. Garcia ran one yard for a score and caught a five-yard touchdown pass from Brown while fullback Brandon Howe and backup quarterback Dano Graves also scored on short runs.
Garcia became the 18th Mustang to surpass 1,000 yards rushing and the second last 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.
Saturday's game conclude a five-year agreement between the Mustangs and Grizzlies that was established before Cal Poly entered the Big Sky Conference in 2012.
A year ago, Cal Poly rallied from a 1-3 start to win six of their 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.
While the offense lost just three starters -- Howe, slot back/return specialist Chris Nicholls and tackle Miles Williams (who has switched to the defensive line) -- the defense has been spending time at Fall Camp finding suitable replacements for linebackers Nick Dzubnar (school record 167 tackles in 2014) and Cameron Ontko (108 tackles for second straight year) along with safeties Jordan Williams (46 tackles, three interceptions) and Dave Douglas (44 tackles) and linemen Chris Lawrence (28 tackles) and Chris Judge (31 tackles, three sacks).
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 averaged 8,945 in five home games last season, the third-highest average since Alex G. Spanos Stadium was renovated in 2007. With a 4-1 record at home in 2014, the Mustangs have won 53 of their last 66 home contests. Overall, the Mustangs have won 54 of their last 87 games (62 percent) and 87 of 138 contests (63 percent) going back to the 2002 finale and have won 15 of their last 30 and 34 of 68 on the road (3-4 in 2014).
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 remains on the road for its second game of the season next week, visiting No. 15 Arizona State for an 8:07 p.m. kickoff at Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe. The fourth meeting ever between the two schools and the first by a Mustang team against the Pac-12, will be televised by the Pac-12 Networks.
Cal Poly played Arizona State three times before the Sun Devils moved to the Pac-12 Conference (then the Pac-8) in 1978. The Sun Devils won all three previous meetings, all played in Tempe.
