Cal Poly Returns Home Saturday to Host Idaho State in Hall of Fame Game
9/28/2015 12:00:00 AM | Football
WEEKLY NOTES: CAL POLY | IDAHO STATE | BIG SKY
AUDIO STREAM | VIDEO STREAM | LIVE STATS
GAME PREVIEW | BIG SKY TELECONFERENCE
PRESS CONFERENCE: TIM WALSH | KORI GARCIA
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. — Cal Poly (1-3, 0-1 Big Sky), which has fallen out of the polls following losses to Arizona State, Northern Iowa and Montana State, continues Big Sky Conference play Saturday night in Alex G. Spanos Stadium (11,075) with its Hall of Fame Game against Idaho State (1-3, 0-1 Big Sky).
Kickoff 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 Ramses Barden serving as an analyst. Links for video and audio streams as well as live stats are available at www.GoPoly.com.
Idaho State, ranked during the first two weeks of the season, opened its 2015 campaign with a 55-0 win over Black Hills State, but has dropped its last three games, opening Big Sky play with a 34-14 loss to Portland State followed by back-to-back losses to FBS schools Boise State (52-0) and UNLV (80-8). Against the Rebels last week, the Bengals turned the ball over six times (UNLV scored 28 points off turnovers) and surrendered 517 rushing yards and 626 total yards.
Cal Poly, ranked No. 20 by the media and No. 22 by the coaches last week, beat Montana 20-19 on Alex Vega's 49-yard field goal with four seconds remaining. Junior safety B.J. Nard intercepted three passes. The Mustangs, 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 before allowing two scores in the final eight minutes of the game as the Sun Devils avoided the upset.
In its last two games, however, Cal Poly has given up 21 points in the first quarter in losses to Northern Iowa 34-20 and Montana State 45-28. Senior quarterback Chris Brown rushed for 184 yards and two touchdowns and completed 12 of 21 passes for 77 yards against Northern Iowa while sophomore fullback Joe Protheroe (156 yards) and junior slot back Kori Garcia (114) each surpassed the 100-yard mark in the loss at Montana State. The Bobcats converted on 10 of 14 third-down plays and amassed 602 yards in total offense, snapping an eight-game losing streak against the Mustangs dating back to 1997.
Coached by Tim Walsh (seventh season, 40-33, 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. 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 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 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 four games, Cal Poly is No. 3 in the FCS in rushing offense (330.0 yards per game), No. 7 in fewest penalties per game (3.75), No. 10 in fewest penalty yards per game (34.0), No. 11 in first downs (89), No. 16 with five interceptions and No. 19 in sacks allowed (4). Protheroe is No. 7 in the FCS in rushing yards (433) while Brown is No. 13 (397). Defensively, Nard is No. 10 with his three interceptions while senior linebacker Tu'uta Inoke is No. 4 with his three forced fumbles and No. 28 with his 40 total tackles.
Coached by Mike Kramer (fifth season at Idaho State (15-36), 18th year overall (92-110), Idaho '77), Idaho State returned 42 lettermen, including 16 offensive and defensive starters, off last year's team which went 8-4 overall (the Bengals' best season in over a decade) and finished tied for second in the Big Sky Conference at 6-2. Idaho State was 14-76 over eight seasons from 2006-13, including a quartet of one-win campaigns. The Bengals earned a share of the Big Sky title in 1981 and 2002 and claimed the championship in 1963, the first year of the Big Sky. The Bengals have earned just two FCS playoff berths -- in 1981, claiming the national championship, and in 1983.
Idaho State's top returnees include running back Xavier Finney (1,495 rushing yards and 14 TDs, 22 catches in 2014), defensive tackle Tyler Kuder (56 tackles, four quarterback hurries in 2014) and wide receiver Madison Mangum (83 catches for 1,234 yards and 10 TDs in 2014). The Bengals are averaging 130 rushing yards, 256 passing yards and 386 total yards per game, scoring 19.2 points per contest, while giving up 293 on the ground, 138 through the air, 431 overall and 41.5 points a game.
In four games this season, Jakori Ford is the Bengals' rushing leader with 260 yards while Finney has 245 yards and one score. Quarterback Michael Sanders has completed 70 of 132 passes (53 percent) for 788 yards and eight touchdowns with six interceptions. Sanders' top target is Mangum with 23 catches for 307 yards. CJ Langlow ran 35 yards with a fumbled punt return for a touchdown against Black Hills State, Zak Johnson averages 40.8 yards per punt. Defensive leaders include free safety Cody Sorensen with 34 tackles, Kuder with 33 and linebacker Hayden Stout, also with 33 stops. Langlow and Kurt Karstetter both have one interception.
Kramer, who had just six wins in his first three seasons at Idaho State before coaching the Bengals to eight wins last fall, was head coach at two other Big Sky Schools -- Montana State (2000-06) and Eastern Washington (1994-99) -- before he was named the 25th head coach at Idaho State on Nov. 22, 2010. He led Eastern Washington to a Big Sky title in 1997 and Montana State to Big Sky crowns in 2002, 2003 and 2005. Kramer was an offensive and defensive lineman at Idaho and has also coached at several high schools in the Pacific Northwest.
Among former Bengals who played in the NFL are Jared Allen (Chiefs and Vikings) Merril Hoge (Steelers) and Cincinnati Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis.
Cal Poly and Idaho State will be playing each other in football for the 20th time Saturday, but only the third meeting in the last seven years. Cal Poly has a 12-7 advantage in the series dating back to 1937 and won five straight meetings before last year's 30-28 loss in Pocatello, Idaho.
Senior quarterback Justin Arias completed 22 of 40 passes for 292 yards and three touchdowns to lead Idaho State over the Mustangs in Holt Arena. The Bengals led all the way after scoring 14 points in the first eight minutes of the game. Jordan Williams and Cameron Ontko both intercepted passes in the second half, but Cal Poly could not capitalize on either theft. Cal Poly twice trimmed the deficit to two points in the second half, but Idaho State was able to hold for the win.
Tim Walsh is 8-7 against Idaho State, including a 7-6 mark while he was at Portland State, while Mike Kramer is 2-7 against Cal Poly -- 1-0 while at Eastern Washington, 0-6 at Montana State and 1-1 at Idaho State.
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.
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 three 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.
With a 4-1 record at home in 2014, the Mustangs have won 53 of their last 67 home contests. Overall, the Mustangs have won 54 of their last 89 games (61 percent) and 88 of 142 contests (62 percent) going back to the 2002 finale and have won 16 of their last 33 and 35 of 71 on the road (3-4 in 2014, 1-2 in 2015).
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 will induct eight former athletes and coaches into its Athletics Hall of Fame this weekend. They are Jack Adam (swimming and water polo), Tom Beyers (baseball), Lennis Cowell (wrestling), Sharon Day-Monroe (track and field, women's soccer), Damone Johnson (football), Craig Johnston (football), Lisa Modglin (softball) and Gina Oceguera (women's soccer).
Next week, Cal Poly visits Eastern Washington for a 1:05 p.m. Big Sky Conference game in Cheney, Wash.
Photo above courtesy of Matt Brown | Matt Brown Photography
