Matt Shotwell (42) and Fenton Will (52) combine on a tackle against Southern Utah in 2021 spring game. Both return as senior linebackers this fall.
Cal Poly Football Set to Begin Fall Camp on Friday Afternoon
8/3/2021 1:02:00 PM | Football
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SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. -- Practice for Cal Poly's first full season of football under head coach Beau Baldwin begins Friday afternoon at Doerr Family Field.
Baldwin and his staff will welcome 48 returning lettermen, 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 abbreviated 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.
A total of 25 on-field practice sessions are permitted. The first two practices will be with helmets and spider pads only, with shoulder pads added for the next three practices. Full pads will be allowed beginning with the sixth practice session on August 13.
In general, practices will be held Monday through Friday at 9 a.m. and Sundays at 4 p.m. Walk-throughs not to exceed two hours with footballs permitted will be held Mondays through Fridays at 4 p.m. Full scrimmages are planned for August 20 at 9 a.m. and August 27 at noon.
Fall camp ends with the second scrimmage and preparations for Cal Poly's opener Sept. 4 at San Diego will begin on August 29. Kickoff for the first game is set for 2:05 p.m. The Mustangs' home opener is Sept. 18 versus South Dakota at 5:05 p.m. inside Alex G. Spanos Stadium.
Baldwin, who compiled an 85-32 overall record in nine seasons at Eastern Washington with five Big Sky titles and six NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision playoff berths, including the 2010 national title, was hired Dec. 11, 2019 as head coach at Cal Poly following three seasons as offensive coordinator at Cal.
The 2020 season, however, was canceled after numerous delays due to COVID-19 protocols. A six-game spring season was organized by the Big Sky for February, March and April, but halfway through the campaign, Cal Poly elected to opt out of the remainder of its schedule because of the high number of serious, season-ending injuries as well as the decision by seven seniors to defer spring quarter enrollment to the fall in order to be able to play a full fall season.
Season and single-game tickets for all five Cal Poly home games are on sale. Click here for more information and/or to purchase tickets.
Below is a preview of the 2021 Cal Poly football team.
• • • • •
For several months, due to COVID-19 pandemic restrictions, the Cal Poly football team did not have a fully equipped strength and conditioning facility.
The weight room inside Mott Athletics Center was shut down via San Luis Obispo County Public Health protocols. Some players assembled in front of Mott Athletics Center to use equipment hauled outside from the weight room. Others performed their workouts at home, either in the San Luis Obispo area or back in their hometown.
As a result, the Mustangs were not fully prepared for the six-game 2021 spring Big Sky Conference schedule that replaced the canceled 2020 fall season, resulting in numerous injuries and the cancellation of the final three games. Cal Poly went 0-3 in the first three contests, outscored 169-58 in Beau Baldwin's first three games as head coach of the Mustangs.
Today, the mood is much more upbeat. More than a year after the pandemic hit, a large tent was erected on one of the tennis courts behind Mott Athletics Center and the county approved the resumption of weightlifting and strength and conditioning activities inside the tent under the direction of Mustang strength and conditioning assistant Jordan Davis.
"We have made some huge steps forward since April 1," said Baldwin. "For the first time in 14 months, we were truly in the weight room consistently. We never had what was made available to us in April, May and June. We had guys working out in front of Mott before the tent was constructed, guys working out remotely, whether here or at their parents' home.
"It was different from state to state," Baldwin added. "They didn't close down weight rooms in some other states that have Big Sky teams, which put us at a big disadvantage. Today, you definitely can see the difference, having 10 straight weeks with these guys in the weight room."
Baldwin was not finished, as he looked ahead to the start of Fall Camp on August 6 and a full 11-game schedule that begins with San Diego and Fresno State on the road, the home opener Sept. 18 against South Dakota and an eight-game Big Sky slate beginning at Montana on Sept. 25.
"I am so excited about the work the players have put in during the offseason," Baldwin said. "These guys have gone above and beyond. The continuation of where they left off in the spring is continuing to grow in the summer. You're going to see a different level of strength and muscle endurance and the ability to sustain your strength into the third and fourth quarters.
"I think you're going to see a different level of strength and muscle endurance in the fall," Baldwin added. "The uncertainty of 2020 definitely was hard, no doubt about that, but if we were in the weight room four days a week, we'd have been in a much different place. The biggest lack of was the foundation. We never built an offseason foundation.
"Games are won from January to August. You only practice 15 times in the spring. That leaves 200-plus days. What does that mean? It means all that weight room time, all that strength and conditioning. The consistency we've had this offseason will help us."
Aside from major vacancies at quarterback, running back and cornerback plus the shuffling of offensive linemen and wide receivers, Baldwin identified another focal point in the coming months.
"We need to focus on a better true feel for what our identity is going to be on both sides of the ball," Baldwin said. "Having no real offseason and no spring ball, we were kind of experimenting, trying to figure out what works.
"Now the thing we have to establish is, good, bad or indifferent, that everyone is clued in 100 percent on who we are, what we are, why we are doing this," Baldwin added. "That is a big emphasis so that there is no question as we go into Fall Camp."
While the Mustang roster features 48 returning lettermen, including 13 starters on each side of the ball, and eight transfers from Division I Football Bowl Subdivision schools, Baldwin and his coaching staff need to decide on a new quarterback, regain some depth within the injury-riddled corps of running backs, shuffle around the offensive linemen and wide receivers, settle on where to play Aaron Cooper, refill the cornerback position and find a replacement for a departed kicker.
A look at each position:
Quarterback
Mustang fans won't see Jalen Hamler calling the plays this fall, He has transferred to San Jose State. Hamler's backup last fall, Kyle Reid, has moved to a wide receiver spot. Hunter Raquet has moved on to Jacksonville State.
Conor Bruce begins Fall Camp
No. 1 on depth chart at quarterback.Conor Bruce, who has completed one pass for 11 yards in his Cal Poly career, enters Fall Camp No. 1 on the depth chart.
"It's going to look quite a bit different at quarterback," said Baldwin. "I'm excited to have Conor back, adding a consistent staple to what we're doing and he's such an incredible teammate as well. I have a ton of respect for how he handles situations that sometimes aren't the easiest to handle at a position where a guy can play.
"With that being said, I am definitely excited about the group of guys coming in and how that surfaces out 100 percent playing on the field. In some ways, it's wide open. It's as open as any position, put it that way."
Jackson Pavitt from Cardinal Newman High School was a redshirt last year. He passed for over 5,200 yards and 60 touchdowns in his last two varsity seasons, leading the Cardinals to a pair of CIF-North Coast Section division titles and the state Division 3-AA crown in 2019.
Spencer Brasch has spent the last 2 1/2 seasons at Cal, playing 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., as a 2017 junior and 2018 senior.
Kahliq Paulette was a redshirt and spent the year back at his home in Converse, Texas. The Veterans Memorial High School graduate accounted for over 3,700 yards of offense and 45 touchdowns in 2019 as he completed 117 of 221 passes (53 percent) for 2,500 yards and 28 scores and rushed for 1,200 yards on 121 carries (9.5 yards per carry) and 17 touchdowns.
True freshmen Bryce Weiner of Bullard High School in Fresno and Jaden Jones of Oxnard High School round out the group of players at quarterback.
Weiner completed 70 of 116 passes for 1,015 yards and 11 touchdowns in five games as a junior, missing several games due to a broken thumb. Jones completed 108 of 149 passes (72.5 percent) for 1,924 yards and 22 touchdowns during his junior campaign in 2019 at Oxnard.
A six-man quarterback controversy?
"Quarterback competition is a good thing," said Baldwin. "We don't look at it as a controversy."
Wide Receiver
Topping the depth chart at the three wide receiver positions heading into the fall are converted tight end Michael Roth at X, Xavier Moore at Z and Zedakiah Centers at F.
Xavier Moore caught three passes during abbreviated 2021 spring season.
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 and Roth added four.
Quentin Harrison, who led the team with 10 catches, two for touchdowns, has moved to the tight end spot.
"I am excited about the growth that we made from the start of spring to the end, and we will see more growth with the true offseason strength and conditioning program. It is going to show up big in that position, like with any position," said Baldwin.
"The players are getting a better understanding of an offense that is way different from what they were involved in before," Baldwin added. "As a group, it's going to be very competitive between the guys returning -- we saw gains from all of them -- and the incoming recruits. It's going to look quite a bit different."
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.
Lepi Lataimua was Cal Poly's top rusher
in the 2021 spring season.
"I feel for Duy because he put in such great work here and is such a great person off the field along with being such a great Mustang on the field," said Baldwin. "I just wish him nothing but the best in his future endeavors and thank him for everything he gave to the program."
Seniors Lepi Lataimua (143 rushing yards in three games last spring) and Chuby Dunu (100 yards) along with Biggins head the list of returnees this fall at a position which was overloaded with potential candidates a year ago from the Triple Option offense which featured two slot backs and a fullback.
"We dealt with a lot of injuries at running back which was unfortunate," said Baldwin. "When we got here, there were a large number of guys. I'm just excited to see the freshness of that group, those guys coming back from injury and coming back healthy and some faces that we really didn't get a chance to see what they can do.
"To see them working out in the weight room and see them coming back from injury and see them getting their bodies to the place where they need to be ... it excites me to see the competition at that position."
Other candidates for ball-carrying duties this fall include returnees Shakobe Harper and Sam Stewart Jr., both of whom didn't play at all last spring, along with newcomers Logan Ast from Santa Ynez High School and Adam Garwood from Los Gatos High School. Ast rushed for over 1,000 yards and caught 29 passes in his last two seasons with the Pirates while Garwood, whose dad Alex was an All-America West Conference linebacker at Cal Poly in 1995, rushed for 2,046 yards and 34 touchdowns in 23 career varsity games.
Tight End
A position that was virtually non-existent in the Triple Option offense of a couple years ago, there are 13 tight ends on Cal Poly's preseason roster for the 2021 season.
Quentin Harrison moves from wide receiver to try his lot at tight end while Michael Roth vacates his spot within the tight ends group and challenges for the starting nod at wide receiver. Harrison made 10 catches in three spring games, two for touchdowns, and was Cal Poly's No. 2 receiver behind J.J. Koski (now with the Los Angeles Rams) in 2019 with 17 receptions and five scores.
"A work in progress," Baldwin said of the tight ends. "It was a position that (two years ago) really didn't exist in the way that we're going to use it. I'm excited about the growth the guys have made in that position and it's another position where you're going to see a lot of new guys stepping in and taking us to another level at that spot."
Offensive Line
Four of the five starters last spring return for a full 11-game schedule this fall.
Center Nicolo DiFronzo (left) and guard Wade Willet (right) anchor the offensive line this fall.
Senior Nicolo DiFronzo will snap the ball while the No. 1 guards on the preseason depth chart -- senior Wade Willet at left guard and senior De'Jon Stuckey on the right side -- return as well.
San Luis Obispo High School graduate Charles Lincoln, who started all three games in the spring, moves from left tackle to right tackle. Austin Anderson and Carson Leedom, both redshirt freshmen, battle for the starting nod at left tackle. Leedom also is a San Luis Obispo High School graduate.
The offensive linemen likely face the most changes in the switch from Tim Walsh's Triple Option to the multiple-formation offense of Beau Baldwin.
"Any position on offense became a drastic change from what they are doing offensively today compared to what they were doing before," said Baldwin. "The offensive linemen, you could argue, might have been impacted the most in terms of pass protection, zone blocking and other differences. Ultimately it will be how bad they want to feel that change, to feel that difference, and it has been very impressive so far."
Other strong candidates along the offensive front include junior Vatulele Finau at left guard, sophomore Hunter Jones, the transfer from Rice, at center, junior Mohab Wahdan at right guard and sophomore Payson Campisano at right tackle.
Defensive Line
Senior nose tackle Myles Cecil and tackle Jojo Falo head the pool of candidates on the defensive front.
Myles Cecil returns for senior season on defensive line.
Cecil made 39 tackles in 2018, 35 in 2019 and added nine more in three games last spring, giving him 83 total tackles heading into his final season as a Mustang. Falo suffered a season-ending injury in the 2019 opener against San Diego and rebounded to play in all three games during the spring of 2021, notching three tackles.
Senior Eli Otero will back up Cecil and redshirt freshman John Smolenski sits behind Falo at tackle on the preseason depth chart.
A pair of redshirt freshmen will do battle for the starting nod at defensive end. Elijah Ponder made three tackles in three spring games a few months ago while Smolenski added four stops, also in three contests. Ponder notched 57 stops as a senior at Bishop Amat in 2019 while Smolenski garnered 69 tackles, including nine for lost yardage and five sacks, as a senior at Serrano High School, also in 2019.
"This is a a group that definitely, with some of the steps we took last year, will be the foundation of our defense," said Baldwin. "Everything is going to start up front for us and we're going to play to the level that the defensive line takes us."
Outside Linebacker
Mustang fans yearn for the days when Buck Buchanan Award winners Jordan Beck (2001-04), Chris Gocong (2001, 2003-05) and Kyle Shotwell (2003-06) along with All-American Chris White (2003-06) combined for 93.5 sacks in their careers.
Aaron Cooper made 20 tackles in three spring games.
Averaging 51 sacks a season during the Beck-Gocong-Shotwell-White era (2003-06), Cal Poly has been able to record 20 or more sacks in a season just once since 2011. That is expected to change under Baldwin's tutelage.
"We've added some length, got some guys who will rush the passer at a higher level than we have in recent years," said Baldwin. "Those two outside linebacker spots will look different than what they've looked like before. We're going to count on the outside backers to get added pressure on the quarterback."
Assigned those duties will be seniors Aaron Cooper and Lance Vecchio at Sam and junior Dustin Grein at Rush. Cooper made 20 tackles and intercepted a pass in three spring games while Vecchio added 19 stops, including a sack. Grein recorded 14 tackles, three for lost yardage, and forced two fumbles, recovering one of them.
Inside Linebacker
Sixth-year senior Matt Shotwell, one of eight Mustangs who were forced to take no classes and not practice or work out with the football team in the spring quarter in order to preserve one final playing season with a full 11-game schedule this fall, headlines an experienced group of inside linebackers.
Lance Vecchio notches a sack and
forces a fumble against UC Davis.
Listed No. 1 at Will, Shotwell led the Mustangs for the third straight year in tackles last spring, making 18 solo stops and 16 assisted tackles for 34 total. He enters his final Mustang season with 217 career tackles, No. 17 in Cal Poly's record book.
Senior Laipeli Palu, who missed the spring season due to injury, is listed No. 1 at Mike.
"This is a competitive position, especially with Shotty coming back and a lot of other guys in that world," said Baldwin. "Unfortunately, you can have only two of them on the field. We will have great depth at that position and some great competition from Day 1 in camp."
Cornerback
This is an area in which several of the younger Mustangs gained considerable experience, even if the spring season was called after three games.
Brandon Davis earned 14 tackles
and returned an interception 55 yards in the spring.
"We saw some growth out of a couple of our young corners, which excites me," said Baldwin. "A lot of the corners that were playing last year were somewhat new and hadn't played a lot of snaps before. The jumps are going to be enormous from where they were in the shortened 2020-21 spring season to where we are in the full season in 2021."
Davis made 14 tackles and returned an interception 55 yards for a touchdown against UC Davis while McCloughan notched two tackles and Stuppiello one. Gaines missed the spring slate due to injury.
There are some youngsters in the group as well, including redshirt freshmen Isaiah Robinson (11 tackles in the spring) and John Burns (five tackles, one blocked kick) and junior Corey Thomas (five tackles).
"Safety is a position where we have a lot of experience compared to some other positions, guys who have played a lot of football," said Baldwin. "That's going to show up this fall. You go like your D-line goes, yes, but you also depend a lot of times on your cornerbacks and safeties in the back end.
"To have the experience back there is going to pay dividends," Baldwin added. "A lot of those guy are not only going to be contributors on defense, but also play a big part on special teams. Usually your safeties are on special teams."
Special Teams
Speaking of special teams, Colton Theaker, Cal Poly's primary kicker for two seasons, has entered the Transfer Portal, leaving competition "between a bunch of young guys at the kicker positions," Baldwin said.
Senior Mason Davis likely will handle placekicking and punting duties and also could serve as the holder. Junior Thomas Lee could handle kickoffs.
Returning kickoffs will be Hurst and Lataimua while Oliphant and Giancarlo Woods will share punt return duties.
Schedule
Highlighting Cal Poly's 2021 schedule is a Sept. 11 game at Fresno State and five home games.
The Mustangs and Bulldogs will meet in Bulldog Stadium for the first time since 2013 and Cal Poly will play four Big Sky Conference games at home, hosting Weber State, UC Davis, Idaho State and Northern Arizona.
The schedule also includes a home date with South Dakota and conference games on the road at Montana, Montana State, Portland State and Sacramento State.
"It's an extremely challenging schedule, but we're excited about the opportunity to play," said Baldwin. "There are some really competitive games at Spanos Stadium and we're going to some tough places on the road as well.
"We're going to have our hands full," Baldwin added.
With 39 newcomers on the preseason roster and 29 players who were redshirts or grayshirts last year, a lot of young talent may get a chance to display their talent on the field quickly this fall.
"Guys have been more ready to play than they have been in the past at a young age," said Baldwin. "High school programs are at a different level, both in offseason training and the programs themselves are at a level to where that young guy might be in a better position to come in and play early compared to the way it was before.
"Obviously, experienced guys should have an edge, but having experience doesn't just give you a ticket to play in front of somebody else," Baldwin added. "The large number of newcomers won't impact our camp. In terms of what you coach, you adjust as you go, but it won't impact the way we run our fall camp."
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