Cal Poly to Host UC Davis Saturday in Battle for Golden Horseshoe

Saturday, October 23

San Luis Obispo, CA

5:05 p.m.

UC Davis

Elijah Ponder takes on a South Dakota lineman.

Cal Poly redshirt freshman defensive lineman Elijah Ponder (right) leads the Mustangs in sacks with 3.0 and returned an interception 75 yards for a touchdown against San Diego.

Photo by: Matt Brown | Matt Brown Photography

Cal Poly to Host UC Davis Saturday in Battle for Golden Horseshoe

10/18/2021 3:47:00 PM | Football

WEEKLY NOTES: CAL POLY (PDF) | UC DAVIS | BIG SKY (PDF)
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SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. -- Cal Poly (1-5, 0-3 Big Sky) plays three of its final five football games of the 2021 season at home, beginning Saturday afternoon with the annual Battle for the Golden Horseshoe against UC Davis (6-1, 3-1 Big Sky) on Mustang Family Weekend inside Alex G. Spanos Stadium (cap.: 11,075).

Kickoff for the Big Sky Conference game is set for 5:05 p.m. PDT. The game will be broadcast live on ESPN Radio (1280 AM and 101.7 FM) in San Luis Obispo County and northern Santa Barbara County and KRKC (1490 AM and 104.9 FM) in southern Monterey County with Zachary Anderson-Yoxsimer (play-by-play) and Stephan Hodges (analyst) calling the action. Pregame show starts at 4:30 p.m. ESPN+ will video stream the game with Chris Sylvester (play-by-play) and John Kane (analyst) on the mic. Links for video and audio streams as well as live stats are available on the football schedule page at www.GoPoly.com.

The Beau Baldwin Era at Cal Poly officially opened last spring, more than 15 months after he was named Cal Poly's 17th head football coach on Dec. 11, 2019. The Mustangs fell 34-24 to Southern Utah at home and dropped a 73-24 decision at UC Davis and a 62-10 verdict at Eastern Washington.

The fall season opened victoriously, however, as sophomore quarterback Spencer Brasch completed 23 of 38 passes for 316 yards — the most by a Mustang signal caller in 12 years — and two touchdowns and redshirt freshman linebacker Elijah Ponder returned an interception 75 yards for the clinching score midway through the fourth quarter of a 28-17 verdict at San Diego.

Cal Poly has been held to 14 points or less in each game since and seeks to snap a five-game losing streak Saturday. The Mustangs have fallen to Fresno State, South Dakota and, in Big Sky games, Montana, Weber State and Montana State. Each of the last five opponents has been ranked in the top 25 this season and UC Davis is no different as the Aggies are ranked No. 10 by both the coaches (AFCA poll) and media (Stats Perform poll).

Baldwin was head coach at Eastern Washington for nine seasons (2008-16) and was an assistant coach for the Eagles from 2003-06. An offensive coordinator at Cal for three years (2017-19) before coming to Cal Poly, Baldwin guided Eastern Washington to an 85-32 mark, five Big Sky titles and six FCS playoff berths, including the 2010 national championship.

UC Davis' lone loss of the year was two weeks ago at Idaho State, 27-17. The Aggies, under fifth-year head coach Dan Hawkins (29-19, UC Davis '84), opened their season with five straight wins over Tulsa, San Diego, Dixie State, Weber State and Idaho. After the loss to Idaho State, UC Davis bounced back with a 32-3 triumph at home over Northern Colorado as running back Ulonzo Gilliam rushed for 104 yards, Trent Tompkins rushed for two touchdowns and quarterback Hunter Rodrigues completed 16 of 26 passes for 187 yards and a pair of scores.

Hawkins welcomed back 81 lettermen, including 21 starters (11 on offense, 10 on defense) to Fall Camp. UC Davis played a five-game spring schedule, finishing 3-2, including a win against Cal Poly. Leading the group of returning veterans are running backs Gilliam (61 carries, 309 yards, one touchdown in three games of spring season) and Lan Larison (56-327-4 in five games), Rodrigues (78 of 119, 931 yards, eight TDs in five spring games), wide receiver Carson Crawford (24 catches, 276 yards, three TDs in the spring), center Connor Pettek (All-Big Sky first team in spring) linebacker Cole Hansen (24-10—34 tackles, 7.5 for lost yardage), cornerback Jordan Perryman (16 tackles, All-Big Sky first team and Phil Steele's All-American third team in spring) and punter Daniel Whelan (47.9 average in spring).

Aggie leaders so far this fall are Gilliam (134 carries, 626 yards, four touchdowns, No. 4 in Big Sky in rushing), Rodrigues (98 of 165 passes, five interceptions, 1,191 yards, seven TDs) and wide receiver Jared Harrell (30 catches, 395 yards, four TDs). Whelan is averaging 44.6 yards per punt, four different Aggies have a pair of interceptions and linebacker Teddye Buchanan leads all Aggie defenders with 41 tackles (21 solo). Tompkins returned a punt 85 yards for a touchdown against San Diego.

The Aggies are No. 1 in the nation in interceptions with 12, No. 3 in first downs (165), No. 5 in kickoff returns (26.85 average), No. 8 in et punting (41.4), No. 14 in scoring defense (16.4) and No. 15 in turnover margin (+9). UC Davis is averaging 197 yards rushing and 228 yards passing for 425 yards in total offense per game while giving up 162 yards rushing, 241 passing and 403 in total offense.

Cal Poly and UC Davis are meeting for the 47th time this week and the series was all tied up at 20-20-2 before the Aggies earned a 31-28 victory in 2017 at Davis, 52-10 in 2018 in San Luis Obispo, 48-24 in 2019 at Davis and 73-24 last spring. In the last meeting, UC Davis amassed 768 yards in total offense and scored 10 touchdowns on its way to victory over Cal Poly. Rodrigues passed for 265 yards and three touchdowns and also ran two yards for another score while Gilliam rushed for 105 yards and one score. Trent Tompkins added 91 yards and a pair of touchdowns for the Aggies.

Cal Poly held early 3-0 and 10-7 leads by taking advantage of a pair of UC Davis turnovers in the first seven minutes of the game. An Aggie fumble forced by Lance Vecchio and recovered by Matt Shotwell led to a 20-yard field goal by Colton Theaker just two minutes into the game and Brandon Davis returned an interception 55 yards for a touchdown and a 10-7 Mustang lead with 7:48 to go in the opening period. UC Davis scored the next 52 points of the game to win going away.

First game of the series was played in 1939 and the two teams have met every year since 1978.

Baldwin is 3-1 against UC Davis, the three wins while coaching at Eastern Washington, while Hawkins is 4-0 against Cal Poly. Against the Aggies, the Mustangs are 12-10 at home and 8-14-2 in Davis.

Although the two teams are meeting for the 47th 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 10-7.

UC Davis has won 30 conference titles, all but one in Division II, claiming the Great West crown in 2009, and has made 20 NCAA postseason appearances, all but one in Division II. The Aggies are 530-431-33 in 103 seasons of football.

Hawkins, a UC Davis alum (1984) and 2018 Eddie Robinson Award winner, replaced Ron Gould as Aggie head coach on Nov. 28, 2016. He compiled a 56-11 mark in five seasons as head coach at Boise State (2001-05) and also coached at Colorado for five years (2006-10) before becoming an analyst on ESPN. He has coached 13 teams around the world, including the Montreal Alouettes, Vienna Vikings, Willamette, Sonoma State, College of the Siskiyous and Christian Brothers High School.

Cal Poly fans have seen major changes, particularly on offense, with Baldwin at the helm. The Triple Option is gone and the new offensive package features three or four wide receivers on most plays with one running back instead of two slots, a fullback and a pair of receivers in the old Triple Option formation.

Baldwin and his staff welcomed 48 returning lettermen to Fall Camp in August, including 23 on offense, 21 on defense and four specialists on special teams. The returnees include 26 players who started at least one game during the shortened spring season -- 13 on both offense and defense.
Also on the fall roster are 31 players who were redshirts last spring or injured, and almost 40 newcomers, including up to eight transfers from other four-year schools.

The group of veterans includes seven seniors who opted out of the second half of the spring schedule in order to preserve one final full season of eligibility this fall. They include linebackers Matt Shotwell and Lance Vecchio along with running backs Lepi Lataimua and Chuby Dunu and tight ends Nick White and Quentin Harrison. Defensive back Freddie Gaines, a member of the 2019 Big Sky Conference Football Community Service Team, also returns for a sixth year with the program.

Shotwell led the Mustangs in tackles for the third straight year last spring and has notched 283 career tackles, No. 12 on Cal Poly's all-time career tackles list and seven shy of the top 10. Vecchio made 19 tackles, including a sack, last spring while Lataimua (143 rushing yards in three games last spring) and Dunu (100 yards) head the list of returning ball carriers.

Topping the depth chart at the three wide receiver positions are Chris Coleman at X, Xavier Moore at Z and Zedakiah Centers at F. Moore made three catches in the spring and caught a touchdown pass for Cal Poly's only points against Oregon State in 2019. Centers caught eight passes. Coleman is one of three Mustang transfers from Fresno State this fall. The others are tight end Micah Pasion and defensive end Emeka Ndoh. Coleman and Ndoh are Bulldog graduates while Pasion is a sophomore.

Harrison, who led the team with 10 catches, two for touchdowns, last spring, has moved to the tight end spot while Michael Roth has switched from tight end to wide receiver after making four catches in the spring.

Brasch, winning a six-man battle for the starting nod at quarterback during Fall Camp, is a transfer from Cal, where he played two games in 2019 against Utah and Oregon State, after completing 359 of 602 passes for 5,522 yards with 78 touchdown passes and 13 interceptions over his final two prep seasons at Higley High School in Gilbert, Ariz. Brasch is currently sidelined with a fracture in his throwing hand and Conor Bruce, who made his first collegiate start four weeks ago at Montana and completed 16 of 30 passes for 183 yards, also is out with an injury. Freshman Kahliq Paulette from Converse, Texas, has missed the last two games as well. Redshirt freshman Jackson Pavitt and true freshman Jaden Jones are the top two signal callers on the depth chart this week.

At running back, Duy Tran-Sampson, Mark Biggins and CJ Cole all suffered injuries in last spring's shortened season. Tran-Sampson, a 1,000-yard rusher in 2019, and Cole, a Santa Maria St. Joseph High School graduate who was a 1,000-yard rusher as a senior and caught 64 passes as a junior, have retired from football due to their injuries. Biggins is back for his sophomore season.

Xavier Oliphant, Dawson Hurst, Dylan Wyatt and Trevor Owens head the group of players at the cornerback position. The offensive line features veterans Wade Willet (left guard) and Nicolo DiFronzo (center) while San Luis Obispo High School graduate Charles Lincoln has filled the open spot at right tackle. Redshirt freshman Austin Anderson is No. 1 on the depth chart at left tackle while Mohab Wahdan, Hunter Jones and D.J. Stuckey continue to battle for the starting nod at right guard.

Brasch has completed 41 of 71 passes (58 percent) for 528 yards and three touchdowns while Paulette is 22 of 50 for 221 yards and one score and Bruce 19 of 33 for 252 yards and a touchdown. Coleman leads all Mustang receivers with 18 catches for 235 yards and three scores. Giancarlo Woods has 15 receptions while Centers has 13 and Roth 11. Shotwell has 65 tackles, 18 against Montana State, while Laipeli Palu has notched 30 stops, including a career-high 12 four weeks ago at Montana.

Cal Poly, which captured the 2012 Big Sky title in its first year in the conference, claimed four Great West Conference titles in the eight-year history of the league (2004, 2005, 2008, 2011) and has earned NCAA Division I FCS playoff berths in 2005, 2008, 2012 and 2016.

Over the next two weeks, Cal Poly plays its final two road games, visiting Portland State on Oct. 30 and Sacramento State on Nov. 6. The Mustangs close out the 2021 season with home games Nov. 13 against Idaho State and Nov. 20 versus Northern Arizona, both kicking off at 5:05 p.m.