Sophomore running back Shakobe Harper looks for a hole against Montana last week. Cal Poly hosts Weber State for Homecoming in its Greenout Game on Saturday at 5:35 p.m.
Photo by: Owen Main | Cal Poly Athletics
Cal Poly Returns Home to Host Weber State for Homecoming
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. -- Cal Poly (1-3, 0-1 Big Sky), which has lost three straight following a season-opening win at San Diego, continues Big Sky Conference play Saturday by hosting four-time defending Big Sky Conference champion and Nos. 18/19 Weber State (1-3, 0-1 Big Sky) for the Homecoming and Greenout Game inside Alex G. Spanos Stadium (cap.: 11,075).
Kickoff is set for 5:35 p.m. PDT (a change from earlier schedules). The game will be broadcast live on ESPN Radio (1280 AM and 101.7 FM) with Zachary Anderson-Yoxsimer (play-by-play) and Stephan Hodges (analyst) calling the action. Pregame show starts at 5 p.m. ESPN+ will carry the video stream with Chris Sylvester (play-by-play) and John Kane (analyst) on the call. Links for video and audio streams as well as live stats are available above as well as on the football schedule page at www.GoPoly.com.
Homecoming activities include the introduction of Honored Alumni and the Halftime Fireworks Spectacular presented by Central Coast Honda. Green T-shirts sponsored by Dignity Health will be given to the first 2,000 fans.
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.
At Fresno State, Jaden Ohlsen kicked a 47-yard field goal and Brasch connected with Chris Coleman, running a crossing route from right to left, on a five-yard pass for a touchdown in a 63-10 loss. The Mustangs gave up 671 yards of total offense, punted 10 times and converted just four of 19 third-down plays.
Chuby Dunu rushed for 25 yards against Montana.South Dakota erupted for 41 first-half points and rolled up 615 total yards in a 48-14 win over Cal Poly in the Mustangs' home opener. Kahliq Paulette and Conor Bruce each threw a touchdown pass while Coleman caught four passes, one for a touchdown, for the third straight week.
In the Big Sky opener last week, Cal Poly had the advantage in first downs, total yards and time of possession, but special teams miscues (two missed field goals, a blocked punt recovered in the end zone and a kickoff return for a touchdown, and a 32.3 average on nine punts) helped Montana to a 39-7 triumph.
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.
Weber State has played a strong 2021 schedule so far. The lone Wildcat win was against FCS newcomer Dixie State 41-3 in Week 2 while the losses are to Utah of the Pac-12 40-7, Nos. 2/3 James Madison 37-24 and, in their Big Sky opener last week, eighth-ranked UC Davis 17-14 on a last-minute touchdown.
The Aggies drove 56 yards in 13 plays for the winning score, a one-yard run by Trent Tompkins, with 27 seconds left in the game. Weber State had the edge in first downs and total yards, but turned the ball over three times (one fumble, two interceptions). Josh Davis rushed for 87 yards on 15 carries, Kylan Weisser completed 19 of 32 passes for 225 yards and one touchdown and his favorite target was Ty MacPherson with eight catches for 74 yards.
Eighth-year head coach Jay Hill (53-34, Utah '00) welcomed back 60 lettermen, including 21 starters (10 on offense, 11 on defense) to Fall Camp. Leading the group of returning veterans are three-time All-American and three-time All-Big Sky first team wide receiver Rashid Shaheed and two-time All-Big Sky first team defensive lineman Jared Schiess. Weber State was 5-0 for first place in the Big Sky during the regular season in the spring before falling 34-31 to Southern Illinois in the first round of the FCS playoffs.
Wildcat leaders so far this fall are running backs Dontae McMillan (36 carries, 240 yards, two touchdowns) and Josh Davis (38-163-1), Weisser (34 of 56 for 402 yards, two TDs) and receivers MacPherson (16 receptions, 195 yards, one TD) and Shaheed (12-178-1). Strong safety Preston Smith and left end George Tarlas both have 24 tackles, Schiess has 12 tackles, including three sacks, and safety Ja'Kobe Harris has intercepted a pair of passes.
The Wildcats have won eight Big Sky championships, including the last four, and have earned five consecutive FCS playoff berths and nine overall.
Cal Poly and Weber State are meeting for the 16th time Saturday. Cal Poly led the series dating back to 1995, 6-5, after a 30-24 win in Ogden in 2015. The Wildcats, however, have won the last four meetings, including a 41-24 decision in a 2019 non-conference game at Stewart Stadium. In that game, the Mustangs were halted twice by Weber State's defense at the one-yard line, fumbled a Wildcat punt, and a bad pitchout led to the clinching score. Weber State amassed 457 yards in total offense, converted 11 of 18 third-down plays and had the ball on offense for 35 minutes. Cal Poly's touchdowns were a 47-yard run by Jalen Hamler, a 50-yard romp by Lepi Lataimua and a fumble recovery in the end zone by Brandon Davis. Josh Davis, who rushed for 177 yards and two touchdowns in a 24-17 win in 2018, added 129 yards on 14 trips against the Mustangs in 2019.
Beau Baldwin is 6-1 against Weber State, all while he was head coach at Eastern Washington from 2008-16, while Weber State head coach Jay Hill is 4-1 against Cal Poly.
Kahliq Paulette will make his second start
at quarterback for Cal Poly on Saturday.Co-champion of the Big Sky in 2008, 2017, 2018 and 2019 and outright Big Sky champion in the spring of 2021, the Wildcats have rebounded from a combined 24-45 record from 2009-14 by winning 50 of 71 games over the last six campaigns, all under Hill. Weber State also claimed Big Sky titles in 1965 and 1968.
Hill was a longtime assistant coach at Utah (2000-13), the last nine as cornerbacks coach and special teams coordinator, before he was hired as head coach at Weber State in December 2013. He played college football at Ricks Junior College and Utah, leading the Mountain West in interceptions as a senior. Hill played briefly in the XFL and signed free-agent contracts with the Buffalo Bills and New York Giants.
Weber State has produced one Walter Payton Award winner -- former Arroyo Grande High School standout Jamie Martin, who still holds numerous passing records and, despite not being drafted, played 16 seasons (1993-2008) in the NFL with the Los Angeles and St. Louis Rams, Washington Redskins, Jacksonville Jaguars, Cleveland Browns, New York Jets, New Orleans Saints and San Francisco 49ers.
Weber State utilizes a 21 Personnel offense (two running backs, one tight end) and 4-3 defense.
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 slotbacks, 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.
Shotwell led the Mustangs in tackles for the third straight year last spring and has notched 254 career tackles, No. 17 on Cal Poly's all-time career tackles list and 36 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.
Emeka Ndoh closes in on Montana quarterback Cam Humphrey.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 last week at Montana and completed 16 of 30 passes for 183 yards, also is out with an injury. Freshman Kahliq Paulette from Converse, Texas, currently is No. 1 on the depth chart while redshirt freshman Jackson Pavitt is No. 2.
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.
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 17 catches for 224 yards and three scores. Roth and Giancarlo Woods both have 11 receptions. Shotwell has 36 tackles and Laipeli Palu has notched 27 stops, including a career-high 12 last week 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.
Next week, Cal Poly continues conference play on the road at Montana State. Kickoff for the Oct. 9 game, to be televised by ROOT SPORTS, is set for 1:05 p.m. PDT.
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SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. -- Cal Poly (1-3, 0-1 Big Sky), which has lost three straight following a season-opening win at San Diego, continues Big Sky Conference play Saturday by hosting four-time defending Big Sky Conference champion and Nos. 18/19 Weber State (1-3, 0-1 Big Sky) for the Homecoming and Greenout Game inside Alex G. Spanos Stadium (cap.: 11,075).
