Coming off Last-Second Win at Montana, Cal Poly to Visit Arizona State
9/7/2015 12:00:00 AM | Football
WEEKLY NOTES: CAL POLY | ASU | BIG SKY
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BIG SKY CONFERENCE COACHES CALL
MUSTANGS RANKED NOS. 18, 20 IN POLLS
VEGA HONORED BY BIG SKY CONFERENCE
INOKE EARNS COLLEGE SPORTS MADNESS AWARD
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. — Cal Poly (1-0, 0-0 Big Sky), coming off its second win in as many years over two-time defending national champion Montana, plays its second consecutive game on the road Saturday night, visiting Arizona State (0-1, 0-0 Pac-12) for a non-conference contest in Sun Devil Stadium (67,704). The game marks the first time the Mustangs have played a team that is an active member in the Pac-12.
Kickoff is set for 8:07 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 Pac-12 Networks (J.B. Long (play-by-play), Evan Moore (analyst) and Drea Avent (sideline)), available in San Luis Obispo County on Dish Network Channel 409. Links for video and audio streams as well as live stats are available at www.GoPoly.com.
In his first collegiate game, redshirt freshman walk-on Alex Vega kicked a 49-yard field goal with four seconds remaining to lift Cal Poly to a 20-19 win over Montana. 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. Senior Stephen Pyle added a 48-yard field goal in the third quarter. Senior linebacker Tu'uta Inoke made a career-high 16 tackles and forced two Montana fumbles, junior safety B.J. Nard intercepted three passes and sophomore fullback Joe Protheroe contributed 112 yards.
Arizona State, meanwhile, carried a No. 15 national ranking to Houston and dropped a 38-17 decision to Texas A&M. Quarterback Mike Bercovici completed 25 of 41 passes for 199 yards, including a four-yard scoring strike to Kody Kohl, and ran 19 yards for another touchdown while Zane Gonzalez kicked a 23-yard field goal, but the Sun Devils, who trailed just 17-14 with nine minutes to play, surrendered 21 points in the fourth quarter and were forced to punt 10 times in the game.
With Portland State upsetting Washington State 24-17 over the weekend and moving into the Top 25 in the Stats Media Poll, Cal Poly in its first seven games this season will face Arizona State from the FBS and six teams currently ranked in the FCS polls, led by Eastern Washington at No. 7 and Montana at No. 8.
Coached by Tim Walsh (seventh season, 40-30, 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 Todd Graham (fourth season, 28-13, East Central '87), Arizona State returned 52 lettermen, including 16 offensive and defensive starters, off last year's team which went 10-3 overall, finished tied for second place in the Pac-12 South at 6-3 and defeated Duke 36-31 in the Sun Bowl. The Sun Devils have appeared in 28 bowl games, have posted back-to-back 10-win seasons, are 16-4 at home under Graham, have won 16 consecutive home openers and are 273-99-3 (73.2 percent) all-time in games played at Sun Devil Stadium.
Arizona State's top returnees include senior running back D.J. Foster (1,081 yards and nine TDs rushing, 62 catches for 688 yards and three TDs receiving in 2014), Bercovici (115 of 186, 1,445 yards, 12 TDs passing), kicker Zane Gonzalez (22 of 27 field goals, 50 of 52 PAT kicks) and defensive back Jordan Simone (100 tackles, two interceptions, two fumble recoveries). Foster has caught at least one pass in 41 consecutive games.
Graham, the 2013 Pac-12 Coach of the Year when he led Arizona State to the Pac-12 South Division title and a 10-2 mark, has led the Sun Devils to bowl games in each of his first three seasons at the helm. He was head coach for one season at Rice (2006), four years at Tulsa (2007-10) and one season at Pittsburgh (2011) before he was hired on Dec. 14, 2011, to guide the Sun Devils. His career mark in nine-plus years as a head coach is 77-42. Graham also has served as defensive coordinator at East Central (1991-93), co-defensive coordinator at West Virginia (2001-02) and assistant head coach/defensive coordinator at Tulsa (2003-05) in addition to three high school coaching stints in Texas and Oklahoma.
Cal Poly and Arizona State are meeting for the fourth time Saturday. All three previous meetings were held in Tempe before Arizona State became a Pac-12 member in 1978. The Sun Devils earned a 13-0 victory in 1938, 35-0 in 1939 and 33-6 in 1947. Cal Poly is facing a Pac-12 school for the first time and is scheduled to meet Cal in Berkeley in 2020.
Mustang head coach Tim Walsh is 0-5 against Pac-12 schools -- 0-1 against Cal, 0-3 against Oregon and 0-1 against Oregon State -- all while head coach at Portland State. Arizona State is 36-14-4 all-time against Big Sky teams, with all 14 losses against Northern Arizona prior to 1938. The Sun Devils are 18-0 against the conference since 1947.
Cal Poly, which has won nine of its last 13 season openers (Walsh is 5-2 in opening games), overcame 7-0 and 19-17 deficits to beat Montana. Brown's 60-yard run tied the game at 7-7 late in the first quarter and Jackson's scoring catch gave the Mustangs a 14-7 lead five minutes prior to halftime. The two teams traded field goals before Montana grabbed its 19-17 lead on a safety with 3:43 to play. Cal Poly's defense twice held the Grizzlies and got the ball back on its own 32 with 1:17 to go. The Mustangs used five running plays and two pass completions to get to the Montana 32 before Vega was summoned from the bench on first down to kick the winning field goal.
Though Montana had advantages of 23-19 in first downs and 459-386 in total offense, Cal Poly had the ball on offense for 35 minutes, 38 seconds. The two teams combined for 181 offensive plays -- 92 by Montana for the second straight week. Despite the loss, the Grizzlies still hold a 15-4 advantage in the series.
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 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). Dzubnar is now a San Diego Charger while Ontko signed with the Calgary Stampeders last week.
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 will play its home opener next Saturday, hosting Northern Iowa of the Missouri Valley Football Conference. Kickoff in Alex G. Spanos Stadium is set for 7:30 p.m. The Panthers fell 31-7 at Iowa State last weekend and are No. 14 in the FCS polls this week.
The game will be broadcast by American Sports Network and The CW 5.
