Brasch Earns Starting Nod for Season Opener Saturday at San Diego
9/3/2021 8:00:00 PM | Football
WEEKLY NOTES: CAL POLY | SAN DIEGO | BIG SKY
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SAN DIEGO, Calif. -- Spencer Brasch, the sophomore and transfer from Cal, has won the six-man quarterback battle and will start for Cal Poly in its season opener Saturday against the University of San Diego.
The 6-4, 200-pound signal caller from Higley High School in Gilbert, Ariz., edged junior Conor Bruce and freshman Kahliq Paulette for the starting nod. Cal Poly's other quarterbacks in Fall Camp are true freshmen Jaden Jones and Bryce Weiner and redshirt freshman Jackson Pavitt.
"Spencer showed the most consistency throughout camp, along with a great ability to make plays," said second-year Mustang head coach Beau Baldwin, who coached Brasch at Cal in 2019.
Brasch was at Cal for the 2019 and 2020 seasons as well as the majority of the spring football practices in February and March before entering the transfer portal in late March.
He played in two games during the 2019 season as a true freshman.
Brasch made his Cal debut by playing the final two offensive drives against Oregon State in mid-October and completed two of six passes for 24 yards with one interception.
In his first career collegiate start against Utah one week later, he completed seven of nine passes for 47 yards, including a career-long 17-yarder. Brasch was the first true freshman Cal quarterback to start for the Bears since Jared Goff versus Northwestern on Aug. 31, 2013.
At Higley High, Brasch earned a pair of All-Region honors while completing 359 of 602 passes for 5,522 yards with 78 touchdown passes and 13 interceptions over his final two prep seasons as a 2017 junior and 2018 senior. Those two teams were a combined 21-6 while twice reaching the semifinals of the state playoffs and once winning a league crown.
Saturday's kickoff between the Mustangs and Toreros is set for 1 p.m. inside Torero Stadium. Cal Poly carries a 6-1 series advantage into the contest, which will be streamed both audio and video along with live stats. The links are at the top of the page.
In other Cal Poly football moves:
* Cal Poly's 2021 football team captains include three who were team captains last spring as well.
Senior offensive lineman Wade Willet and senior linebackers Aaron Cooper and Matt Shotwell were voted captains by their teammates for the second time.
Shotwell led the Mustangs in tackles last spring for the third year in a row with 34 in three games. He also recovered a fumble. Cooper was second with 20 tackles and also forced a fumble and intercepted a pass. Willet started all three spring games at left guard after making 11 starts at the same position in 2019.
The other team captains are senior wide receiver Quentin Harrison, sophomore quarterback Spencer Brasch and senior defensive end Myles Cecil.
Harrison was the Mustangs' top receiver in the spring with 10 catches for 116 yards and two scores. Brasch is a transfer from Cal in his first season at Cal Poly and Cecil recorded nine tackles, one of them a sack.
* Former Cal Poly wide receiver J.J. Koski was cut by the Los Angeles Rams on Tuesday as the 32 NFL clubs trimmed their rosters from 80 to 53 players.
But Koski was one of 16 players signed to the Rams' practice squad on Wednesday. Koski was on the practice squad all season a year ago and did not see any action in a regular season NFL game.
Koski made 12 catches in the Rams' three preseason games last month.
Meanwhile, Tennessee Titans linebacker Nick Dzubnar, placed on the COVID-19 injured list August 24, was activated off the list on Thursday.
After signing a free agent contract with the Titans two weeks ago, Dzubnar made one tackle in limited duty in the second of three preseason games before going on the COVID-19 injury list prior to the final exhibition contest.
Dzubnar played five seasons with the Los Angeles Chargers before becoming a free agent following the 2019 campaign. He signed a one-year contract with the Titans in March 2020 and made 10 tackles in 13 games. Dzubnar became a free agent once again in March 2021 and signed with the Titans on August 16.
* Not since 2018 had a Big Sky Conference football team beaten a member of the Football Bowl Subdivision when UC Davis defeated San Jose State 44-38.
On Thursday night, not one but two Big Sky teams earned victories over FBS opponents.
Eastern Washington defeated UNLV 35-33 in double overtime inside Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas while UC Davis was a 19-17 winner at Tulsa.
Eric Barriere completed 29 of 39 passes for 374 yards and three touchdowns for Eastern Washington. He threw 25-yard touchdown passes in each overtime period and connected with Talolo Limu-Jones on the two-point conversion in the second extra period for the margin of victory.
Hunter Rodrigues completed 28 of 35 passes for a career-high 311 yards while Jared Harrell hauled in eight passes for a career-best 136 yards. An interception and forced fumble in the fourth quarter resulted in key Aggie takeaways.
There are six other games featuring Big Sky teams against FBS schools this weekend.
On Thursday, Southern Utah fell 41-14 at Arizona State while Weber State dropped a 40-17 decision at Utah. Northern Colorado lost 35-7 at Colorado on Friday. Saturday's three Big Sky vs. FBS pairings are Montana State at Wyoming, Montana at Washington and Portland State at Hawai'i.
Cal Poly plays one FBS school this season, visiting Fresno State next week. The Mustangs' last win over an FBS team was a 24-22 decision at Wyoming in 2012.
AUDIO STREAM | LIVE STATS | VIDEO STREAM | TICKETS
SAN DIEGO, Calif. -- Spencer Brasch, the sophomore and transfer from Cal, has won the six-man quarterback battle and will start for Cal Poly in its season opener Saturday against the University of San Diego.
The 6-4, 200-pound signal caller from Higley High School in Gilbert, Ariz., edged junior Conor Bruce and freshman Kahliq Paulette for the starting nod. Cal Poly's other quarterbacks in Fall Camp are true freshmen Jaden Jones and Bryce Weiner and redshirt freshman Jackson Pavitt.
"Spencer showed the most consistency throughout camp, along with a great ability to make plays," said second-year Mustang head coach Beau Baldwin, who coached Brasch at Cal in 2019.
Brasch was at Cal for the 2019 and 2020 seasons as well as the majority of the spring football practices in February and March before entering the transfer portal in late March.
He played in two games during the 2019 season as a true freshman.
Brasch made his Cal debut by playing the final two offensive drives against Oregon State in mid-October and completed two of six passes for 24 yards with one interception.
In his first career collegiate start against Utah one week later, he completed seven of nine passes for 47 yards, including a career-long 17-yarder. Brasch was the first true freshman Cal quarterback to start for the Bears since Jared Goff versus Northwestern on Aug. 31, 2013.
At Higley High, Brasch earned a pair of All-Region honors while completing 359 of 602 passes for 5,522 yards with 78 touchdown passes and 13 interceptions over his final two prep seasons as a 2017 junior and 2018 senior. Those two teams were a combined 21-6 while twice reaching the semifinals of the state playoffs and once winning a league crown.
Saturday's kickoff between the Mustangs and Toreros is set for 1 p.m. inside Torero Stadium. Cal Poly carries a 6-1 series advantage into the contest, which will be streamed both audio and video along with live stats. The links are at the top of the page.
In other Cal Poly football moves:
* Cal Poly's 2021 football team captains include three who were team captains last spring as well.
Senior offensive lineman Wade Willet and senior linebackers Aaron Cooper and Matt Shotwell were voted captains by their teammates for the second time.
Shotwell led the Mustangs in tackles last spring for the third year in a row with 34 in three games. He also recovered a fumble. Cooper was second with 20 tackles and also forced a fumble and intercepted a pass. Willet started all three spring games at left guard after making 11 starts at the same position in 2019.
The other team captains are senior wide receiver Quentin Harrison, sophomore quarterback Spencer Brasch and senior defensive end Myles Cecil.
Harrison was the Mustangs' top receiver in the spring with 10 catches for 116 yards and two scores. Brasch is a transfer from Cal in his first season at Cal Poly and Cecil recorded nine tackles, one of them a sack.
* Former Cal Poly wide receiver J.J. Koski was cut by the Los Angeles Rams on Tuesday as the 32 NFL clubs trimmed their rosters from 80 to 53 players.
But Koski was one of 16 players signed to the Rams' practice squad on Wednesday. Koski was on the practice squad all season a year ago and did not see any action in a regular season NFL game.
Koski made 12 catches in the Rams' three preseason games last month.
Meanwhile, Tennessee Titans linebacker Nick Dzubnar, placed on the COVID-19 injured list August 24, was activated off the list on Thursday.
After signing a free agent contract with the Titans two weeks ago, Dzubnar made one tackle in limited duty in the second of three preseason games before going on the COVID-19 injury list prior to the final exhibition contest.
Dzubnar played five seasons with the Los Angeles Chargers before becoming a free agent following the 2019 campaign. He signed a one-year contract with the Titans in March 2020 and made 10 tackles in 13 games. Dzubnar became a free agent once again in March 2021 and signed with the Titans on August 16.
* Not since 2018 had a Big Sky Conference football team beaten a member of the Football Bowl Subdivision when UC Davis defeated San Jose State 44-38.
On Thursday night, not one but two Big Sky teams earned victories over FBS opponents.
Eastern Washington defeated UNLV 35-33 in double overtime inside Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas while UC Davis was a 19-17 winner at Tulsa.
Eric Barriere completed 29 of 39 passes for 374 yards and three touchdowns for Eastern Washington. He threw 25-yard touchdown passes in each overtime period and connected with Talolo Limu-Jones on the two-point conversion in the second extra period for the margin of victory.
Hunter Rodrigues completed 28 of 35 passes for a career-high 311 yards while Jared Harrell hauled in eight passes for a career-best 136 yards. An interception and forced fumble in the fourth quarter resulted in key Aggie takeaways.
There are six other games featuring Big Sky teams against FBS schools this weekend.
On Thursday, Southern Utah fell 41-14 at Arizona State while Weber State dropped a 40-17 decision at Utah. Northern Colorado lost 35-7 at Colorado on Friday. Saturday's three Big Sky vs. FBS pairings are Montana State at Wyoming, Montana at Washington and Portland State at Hawai'i.
Cal Poly plays one FBS school this season, visiting Fresno State next week. The Mustangs' last win over an FBS team was a 24-22 decision at Wyoming in 2012.
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