Cal Poly to Host Northern Iowa in Matchup of Top-25 Teams
9/14/2015 12:00:00 AM | Football
WEEKLY NOTES: CAL POLY | UNI | BIG SKY
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MUSTANGS INCH UPWARD IN FCS POLLS
VIDEO INTERVIEWS: TIM WALSH | MARK FARLEY
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WALSH ON BIG SKY TELECONFERENCE CALL
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. — Cal Poly (1-1, 0-0 Big Sky), which opened its 2015 season by defeating Montana for the second straight year and battled Arizona State of the Pac-12 to a 21-21 draw in the first 52 minutes before surrendering two late scores, plays its first home game of the campaign Saturday night, hosting Northern Iowa (1-1, 0-0 Missouri Valley) for a non-conference matchup of Top 25 teams in Alex G. Spanos Stadium (11,075).
Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. PDT and the game will be broadcast live on ESPN Radio (1280 am) with Tom Barket calling the play-by-play and Ramses Barden serving as an analyst. The game also will be televised live on the American Sports Network (Barry Tompkins (play-by-play), Darren Arbet (analyst)), available on 46 stations throughout the country, including The CW 5, available on Charter, Comcast and Cox cable systems in San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties, over the air and on DirecTV 7. Links for video and audio streams as well as live stats are available at www.GoPoly.com.
Northern Iowa is ranked No. 9 by the media and No. 11 by the coaches in this week's polls while Cal Poly moved up to No. 17 (media) and No. 18 (coaches).
Cal Poly beat Montana 20-19 on Alex Vega's 49-yard field goal with four seconds remaining. Junior safety B.J. Nard intercepted three passes while senior quarterback Chris Brown rushed for 130 yards, including a 60-yard touchdown romp, and completed four of 12 passes for 56 yards, including a 36-yard scoring toss to senior wide receiver Roland Jackson Jr. Sophomore fullback Joe Protheroe contributed 112 yards.
Last week at Arizona State, Protheroe gained 130 yards, scored once, and Brown ran for one score and passed for another as Cal Poly, playing a Pac-12 member for the first time in its 97-year football history, rallied from 14-0 and 21-7 deficits to tie Arizona State at 21-21. The Sun Devils scored two touchdowns in the final eight minutes of the game to avoid the upset.
Northern Iowa opened its 2015 season at Iowa State, falling 31-7, then evened its record with a 38-35 win over Eastern Washington, scoring 17 points in the final period to erase a 28-21 Eagle advantage. The two teams combined for 1,012 yards and 47 first downs, but the host Panthers took advantage of 15 Eagle penalties and forced Eastern Washington to punt eight times. Aaron Bailey (134) and Darrian Miller (112) both surpassed the 100-yard mark on the ground and Bailey also combined with Sawyer Kollmorgen to complete 17 of 26 passes for 194 yards and three touchdowns.
Coached by Tim Walsh (seventh season, 40-31, 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 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 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.
Coached by Mark Farley (15th season, 121-57, Northern Iowa '86), Northern Iowa returned 38 lettermen, including 13 offensive and defensive starters, off last year's team which went 9-5 overall, finished third in the Missouri Valley Football Conference and split two games in the FCS playoffs. The Panthers have appeared in 17 FCS playoffs, including seven trips to the semifinals, and reached the championship final in 2005. Northern Iowa has won 16 MVFC titles, has compiled six seasons of 10 or more wins since 2001 and owns 73 wins over top-25 opponents.
Northern Iowa's top returnees include quarterback Sawyer Kollmorgen (seven starts, 111 of 213, 1,635 yards, 12 TDs in 2014), center Robert Rathje (14 starts), linebacker Brett McMakin (102 tackles, 12.5 for lost yardage), cornerback Deiondre' Hall (74 tackles, five interceptions, six breakups) and punter Logan Bieghler (41.2 average on 90 punts). The Panthers are averaging 196 rushing yards, 185 passing yards and 381 total yards per game while giving up 51.5 on the ground, 379.5 through the air and 431 overall.
Included in Farley's 14 seasons at Northern Iowa are seven conference championships, eight playoff appearances, 11 top-25 final rankings, three national semifinal appearances and one national title game appearance in 2005. Farley holds the UNI record for postseason coaching victories with 11. The 1987 Eddie Robinson Award winner is 11-8 all-time in the FCS playoffs and coached previously at Waukon (Iowa) High School after playing four seasons as a middle linebacker at Northern Iowa.
In two games this season, Bailey has rushed for 219 yards while Miller has 115 yards to his credit. Bailey has completed 18 of 32 passes for 205 yards and three scores while Kollmorgen is 15 of 21 for 127 yards and one score. Top Panther receiver is Miller with seven catches. On defense, McMakin has 16 tackles, including one sack, while Hall returned an interception 16 yards for a touchdown against Eastern Washington.
Cal Poly and Northern Iowa are meeting for the seventh time Saturday. Cal Poly's lone win in the series was in the opener in 1997, a 38-24 decision in San Luis Obispo. Last meeting was in 2002, also in San Luis Obispo, and was a triple-overtime affair decided on field goals. Mackenzie Hoambrecker's fifth field goal of the game, a 34-yarder in the third overtime period, gave the Panthers the 29-26 victory. He also sent the game into overtime with a 57-yard field goal with 14 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter.
Mustang head coach Tim Walsh is facing Northern Iowa for the first time while Mark Farley is 2-0 against Cal Poly.
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.
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 spent 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). Dzubnar is now a San Diego Charger while Ontko signed with the Calgary Stampeders two weeks 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 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.
Next week, Cal Poly opens Big Sky Conference play at Montana State. Kickoff on Saturday, Sept. 26, in Bobcat Stadium, Bozeman, Montana, is set for 12:35 p.m. PDT.
The game will be broadcast by Cowles Montana Media and relayed by The CW 5.
Photo above of Augustino Elisaia reaching for Arizona State quarterback Mike Bercovici courtesy of Associated Press
