Mustangs Seek to Even Big Sky Record Saturday at Northern Arizona

Saturday, October 8

Flagstaff, Ariz.

1 p.m.

Northern Arizona

Cal Poly with a walk-through at Walkup Skydome.

Cal Poly held its walk-through Friday at Walkup Skydome. A sellout is expected for Saturday's Big Sky Conference game at Northern Arizona.

Mustangs Seek to Even Big Sky Record Saturday at Northern Arizona

10/7/2022 3:48:00 PM | Football

WEEKLY NOTES: CAL POLY (PDF) | NORTHERN ARIZONA (PDF) | BIG SKY (PDF)
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FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. -- The Cal Poly football team climbed nearly 7,000 feet Friday for its next Big Sky Conference game against Northern Arizona inside the Walkup Skydome, the site of two of the Mustangs' more memorable wins as a member of the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision.

Kickoff between the Mustangs (1-3, 0-1 Big Sky) and Lumberjacks (1-4, 0-2) is set for 1:02 p.m. Pacific and the game will be available on ESPN+, ESPN Radio (1280 AM) and KRKC (107.1 FM) and via audio and video streams (links at the top of the page as well as on the football schedule page at www.GoPoly.com).

Cal Poly wrapped up a share of the Big Sky title in 2012 with a 42-34 victory in Flagstaff (elevation 6,909 feet) and also won 38-28 in 2018 as Joe Protheroe rushed for 217 yards, Khaleel Jenkins ran for 103 yards and two touchdowns and passed for two more scores and Dominic Frasch intercepted a Lumberjack pass at the one-yard line with 54 seconds remaining to preserve the triumph.

Only five current Mustangs were on the 2018 roster -- Michael Roth, Ryan Rivera, Dustin Grein, Vatulele Finau and Corey Thomas. Only one, Thomas, played in the Northern Arizona game while the other four were redshirts.

Harry Whitson, currently performing offensive quality control duties for the Mustangs, was a senior offensive lineman in 2018.

Northern Arizona has won each of the remaining 12 games in the series, including a 7-0 mark at Alex G. Spanos Stadium. That would include last year's contest, won by the Lumberjacks 45-21 as Kevin Daniels rushed for 280 yards, the most ever by a Mustang opponent, and five touchdowns and RJ Martinez completed 11 of 22 passes for 167 yards.

There was one bright spot for Cal Poly in that game a year ago -- Xavier Oliphant's 100-yard return of a missed Lumberjack field goal attempt ending the first half of play, an NCAA Division I record.

Both Daniels and Martinez are back, though Daniels has missed the last two games due to injury and has rushed for 113 yards and one score in the remaining three contests. The sophomore from Glendale, Arizona, listed No. 1 on the Northern Arizona depth chart this week at running back, rushed for 1,146 yards and seven scores as a redshirt freshman a year ago.

Martinez has completed 123 of 194 passes (63 percent) for 1,075 yards and five touchdowns in five games. Four Lumberjack receivers have at least 18 catches.

Each team has 13 receivers with at least one catch this season.

It took four games for Cal Poly to score its first rushing touchdown of the season. Shakobe Harper broke the spell early in the third quarter against Sacramento State and Adam Garwood added another midway through the final period.

The Mustangs, four-time national leaders in rushing during the height of their run with the Triple Option, this week is No. 1 in the Big Sky in passing offense, averaging 324.5 yards per game. That's a direct reflection of the change in coaching staffs following the 2019 season.

Northern Arizona has rushed for just 77 yards per game so far this season en route to its 1-4 start. Under fourth-year head coach Chris Ball, the Lumberjacks lost their season opener at Arizona State and defeated Sam Houston State 10-3 before losing three in a row to North Dakota, Idaho and Portland State.

Against the Vikings last week, Northern Arizona trailed 28-7 and 35-13, and its 20-point fourth-quarter rally fell short. Portland State ran the last 4 minutes, 11 seconds off the clock to deny the Lumberjacks a late chance for a potential game-tying score. Northern Arizona was 0-for-11 on third-down plays against the Vikings.

Cal Poly seeks to overcome its first-quarter woes this week. The Mustangs have been outscored 56-7 in the opening 15 minutes of play and 24-14 in the second period for an 80-21 first-half deficit and Cal Poly has led for just 2 minutes and 20 seconds this season, all in the final moments of the 28-27 win over San Diego.

"We've been shooting ourselves in the foot early and we've got to clean those things up, "third-year Mustang head coach Beau Baldwin said earlier this season. "I know we're capable of turning the corner, avoiding the turnovers and penalties that extend drives. I call them unforced errors. We need to learn to play ahead and not have to come from behind."

Cal Poly has outscored its four foes 42-41 in the final period.

Similarly, Northern Arizona has been outscored in all four quarters this season, including a 61-20 second-quarter deficit and 85-41 in the first half.

Spencer Brasch will make his second start at quarterback this season and the ninth of his Mustang career Saturday. The junior transfer from Cal completed 26 of 45 passes for 267 yards and one touchdown in the loss to Sacramento State.

Mustang Notes
Cal Poly and Northern Arizona are meeting in Flagstaff for the first time since 2018 ... Saturday's game is a sellout as the Lumberjacks celebrate Family Day ... playing indoors with a large crowd will create elevated noise levels, so the Mustangs practiced this week at Doerr Family Field with loud music played directly behind the quarterbacks ... Northern Arizona has not lost its first three home games in 27 years and has not started conference play 0-3 since 2005 ... the Lumberjack defense has not earned a takeaway in 13 quarters; last year against the Mustangs, the Northern Arizona defense notched three interceptions and a pair of fumble recoveries ... Cal Poly has won 10 games indoors -- twice at Northern Arizona and North Dakota, four times at Idaho State and once each at South Dakota and North Dakota State; the Mustangs are winless in domed stadiums at Northern Iowa and Idaho ... the Mustangs play at Idaho State next week.