Cal Poly to Visit Portland State for Big Sky Football Game Saturday

Saturday, October 30

Portland, OR

2:05 p.m.

Portland State

Spencer Brasch returned to his quarterbacking duties last week after missing four games due to a fracture in his throwing hand. He completed 23 of 44 passes for 291 yards and one touchdown.

Photo by: Nathan Nybakke (Photography 805)

Cal Poly to Visit Portland State for Big Sky Football Game Saturday

10/25/2021 3:17:00 PM | Football

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SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. -- Cal Poly (1-6, 0-4 Big Sky), which has played six consecutive games against teams ranked at some time this season, finally gets a break on its 2021 football schedule this weekend, visiting unranked Portland State (3-4, 2-2 Big Sky) for a Big Sky Conference game Saturday inside Hillsboro Stadium (cap.: 7,600) in Hillsboro, Oregon.

Kickoff is set for 2:05 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 1:30 p.m. The game also will be available on ESPN+. 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 six-game losing streak Saturday. The Mustangs have fallen to Fresno State, South Dakota and, in Big Sky games, Montana, Weber State, Montana State and UC Davis. Each of the last six opponents has been ranked in the top 25 this season.

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.

Portland State, coming off a bye week, defeated Idaho State 31-10 two weeks ago at home as quarterback Davis Alexander completed 17 of 30 passes for 179 yards and three touchdowns and Malik Walker rushed for 97 yards and one score. Beau Kelly caught two of the scoring passes and Nate Bennett had the other. Gianni Smith added a 20-yard field goal for the Vikings.

Vikings head coach Bruce Barnum welcomed back 35 lettermen, including 11 starters (six on offense, five on defense) to Fall Camp. Portland State played just one game last spring, a 48-7 loss at Montana, after posting a 5-7 mark in 2019. Leading the group of returning veterans is Alexander, who has amassed almost 9,400 yards of total offense at Portland State and has passed for 8,148 yards and 57 touchdowns in his Viking career. He also has rushed for over 1,100 yards. Other top veteran Vikings include cornerback Anthony Adams (56 tackles, five interceptions in 2019, first-team All-American) and punter Seth Vernon (43.2 average in 2019).

Viking leaders so far this fall are Walker (116 carries, 526 yards, five touchdowns), Alexander (158 of 266 for 2,008 yards and 15 touchdowns), Kelly (46 catches, 640 yards, eight TDs), Bennett (33-471-4) and Darien Chase (26-328-0). Linebacker Parker McKenna leads the defense with 57 tackles (31 solo). Tackle VJ Malo has recorded 8.5 sacks among his 28 tackles while Adams has a pair of interceptions and two fumble recoveries.

The Vikings are No. 7 in the nation in punt returns (14.57-yard average), 14th in passing offense (296.6 yards per game) and first downs (165), 16th in tackles for lost yardage and 17th in fumbles recovered (7). Portland State is averaging 117 yards rushing and 297 yards passing for 414 yards in total offense per game while giving up 167 yards rushing, 227 passing and 394 in total offense.

Cal Poly and Portland State are meeting for the first time since the 2017 season. In that contest at Alex G. Spanos Stadium, Jared Mohamed rushed for 194 yards and two touchdowns while Mark Reza intercepted a pass in the final minute as Cal Poly celebrated Homecoming with a 35-28 triumph, its first victory of the 2017 season in a matchup of 0-8 (0-5 Big Sky) teams. Mohamed tied his career high for carries with 35 and surpassed his career high for rushing yards in a single game as the Mustangs rushed for 400 yards. Chuby Dunu scored on seven- and 10-yard runs and Mohamed added a one-yard run for Cal Poly.

Cal Poly and Portland State are meeting for the 25th time in football this week. In 2016, the last time Cal Poly played in Portland, the Mustangs defeated the Vikings 55-35 at Providence Park as Kyle Lewis, Kori Garcia and Joe Protheroe all surpassed the 100-yard mark on the ground. Cal Poly produced 658 yards in total offense and never punted. Lewis scored twice and rushed for 158 yards, Garcia added 141 yards and one score in addition to a receiving score and Protheroe produced 101 yards and two TDs.

The series, which started in 1977 with Cal Poly winning the first six meetings, was tied at 11-11 before Cal Poly won in both 2016 and 2017 for a 13-11 advantage. Baldwin is 6-3 against Portland State, all while head coach at Eastern Washington, while Barnum is 1-2 against Cal Poly.

The Vikings, who fielded their first football team in 1947 and have been members of the Big Sky Conference since 1996, have compiled 30 winning seasons in 71 years and have made two FCS playoff appearances (2000 and 2015) and 10 NCAA postseason appearances. Against the Vikings, the Mustangs are 7-5 at home and 6-6 in Portland.

Barnum (seventh season as head coach at Portland State, 24-41, Eastern Washington '87), was offensive coordinator for the Vikings from 2010-14. After turning a 3-9 squad into a 9-3 success story in 2015, Barnum was named FCS National Coach of the Year. The Vikings made their first appearance in the NCAA playoffs in 15 years, just their second ever, and hosted a Division I playoff game for the first time.

Portland State lost to Northern Iowa of the Missouri Valley Football Conference, 29-17, in the opening round of the 2015 playoffs. Barnum also has coached at Cornell, Idaho State, American International and the U.S. Coast Guard and began his coaching career at Columbia River High School (Vancouver, Wash.) and Central Valley High School (Spokane, Wash.).

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 297 career tackles, No. 9 on Cal Poly's all-time career tackles list and 18 shy of the top five. 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 returned to the lineup last week after missing four games with a fracture in his throwing hand. Conor Bruce, who made his first collegiate start five 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 three games as well. Redshirt freshman Jackson Pavitt and true freshman Jaden Jones were the top two signal callers on the depth chart the last couple weeks.

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 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 64 of 115 passes (56 percent) for 819 yards and four 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 24 catches for 316 yards and three scores. Centers has 20 catches, Giancarlo Woods 19, Roth 11 and Evan Burkhart 10. Shotwell has 79 tackles, 18 against Montana State and 14 last week versus UC Davis, while Laipeli Palu has notched 39 stops, including a career-high 12 at Montana last month. Freshman defensive end Elijah Ponder has five sacks while senior cornerback Trevor Owens has recorded six pass breakups.

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.

Next week, Cal Poly plays its final road game, visiting Sacramento State on Nov. 6. Kickoff is set for 6:05 p.m. 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.