Photo by: Owen Main | Cal Poly Athletics
Mustangs Head to Weight Room After Win in Final Game of Season
11/23/2022 12:47:00 PM | Football
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. -- Cal Poly's 2022 football season is over and the Mustangs finished with the same record overall (2-9) and in Big Sky games (1-7) that were posted in 2021.
There was progress, however, lots of it. Under third-year head coach Beau Baldwin, Cal Poly finished fifth in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision in passing offense, Spencer Brasch broke an all-time school record with 206 completions and moved into the top 10 in the Mustang record book in almost all passing categories. Chris Coleman made 60 catches, the most by a Mustang in 14 years, and Cal Poly's defense notched the most interceptions in nine seasons.
"When we were healthy, you could see how much different and stronger we looked, and we also had more explosive plays," said Baldwin. "We had the ability to score from distance and score in spurts. We definitely have to develop more consistency, but those were a couple things that jumped out at me as being the progress we made since last year."
Injuries took their toll on the Mustangs. By the time the 2022 season came to a close last week with a 49-42 win over Portland State, Cal Poly had used 23 freshmen (11 as starters at one time or another) and a dozen sophomores over the course of the campaign.
"When we were fully healthy this year, we looked different than we were a year ago," Baldwin said. "We have to figure out in the offseason how to be a healthier ballclub in terms of our bodies, our nutrition, all of that stuff. We have to get our bodies to a level where we can physically withstand the rigors of an 11-game season. That's foundational work, especially from January to March. We have to see the numbers in the weight room go up and see the weight go up in the right way. We must continue to change our overall size and strength because, at the end of the day, when you're in 1-on-1 battles on every play, the area in which we're most behind is the development of our guys that are on the field.
"Certain guys had to play more snaps than we had planned," Baldwin added. "We got to the point where the freshmen were playing 60, 70, 80 snaps a game. Those guys have to be rotated in every 10 to 15 snaps. We need to get ourselves to a level where we are bigger and stronger with more depth through the course of a long season."
Perhaps the most alarming statistic compiled by the Mustangs this season was scoring in the first quarter. Cal Poly's 11 foes outscored the Mustangs 160-27 in the opening 15 minutes of play, forcing Cal Poly to play from behind virtually all season. The Mustangs successfully rallied from a 17-0 deficit to beat San Diego 28-27 in Week 2 — Jaden Jones hitting Chris Coleman with a 35-yard touchdown pass with 2:20 to play — and were in arrears 14-0 to Portland State before bouncing back for the seven-point win on Troy Fletcher's 14-yard run up the middle with 47 seconds to go.
Cal Poly trailed 21-0 at Fresno State, 17-0 versus San Diego, 21-7 at South Dakota, 28-20 at Northern Arizona, 30-7 at Idaho State, 21-0 at UC Davis, 24-0 versus Montana State and 14-0 against Portland State before bouncing back in most of its games. The Mustangs played three straight one-score games midway through the season.
Jones, who earned the starting nod in preseason camp, suffered a season-ending leg injury in Week 3 at South Dakota. Brasch, the transfer from Cal who started seven Mustang games a year ago, filled the gap admirably, finishing third in the Big Sky in passing yards per game as he completed 206 of 348 passes for 2,604 yards and 19 touchdowns. Most of those numbers were in just eight games as he did not play against San Diego, played only the first series of the Eastern Washington contest and the final series at Fresno State.
"Overall, Spencer took most of the reps and he definitely played a stronger season than the year before," said Baldwin. "To be sure, there still are some things to clean up but, overall top to bottom, he put forth some really good performances. Sometimes playing from behind is not always easy as a quarterback, but being named Big Sky player of the week after the last game says a lot about his performance this season."
Brasch passed for 362 yards at South Dakota, 374 at Northern Arizona, 394 at Idaho State, 359 at UC Davis, all in the top 20 for all-time passing yards in a single game at Cal Poly, and a career-high 415 yards, No. 4 in the Mustang record book, in the win over Portland State.
In his second collegiate start, Jones jumped into the Cal Poly record book in several categories, completing 27 of 45 passes for 385 yards and four scores in the win over San Diego. The Mustangs intercepted three passes, two by freshman Jay'Vion Cole, in the final six minutes of the game.
"Every position on offense played at a higher level this season," said Baldwin. "Our offensive line played at a higher level, our receivers as a whole made more plays downfield, made more people miss. We were more dynamic and we were more versatile on our receiver routes, line of scrimmage screens and also got behind some defenders. I probably haven't had this kind of production at tight end in the passing game standpoint since I don't know how far back. What Josh Cuevas was able to do at the tight end position was truly impressive. We were a deep versatile group. We just need to do a good job being healthier in that group.
"Defensively, we have to develop our bodies to the point where we can withstand the rigors of an 11-game season," Baldwin added. "We got depleted early in the season. You can't chalk it up to bad luck. We have to build up our bodies and create more depth where we can handle that. We have to do what we can to make sure all our bullets are available. We've got to work our tails off."
Baldwin's other points of emphasis in the offseason include the weight room and nutrition, among others.
"Creating depth, building strength and getting to a level where we can withstand the rigors of an 11-game schedule. That's what we need to work on so that we can provide more resistance and more pushback on defense.
"It won't just be the weight room," Baldwin added. "Everyone can lift weights. It's who is eating, who is eating the most, who's putting the protein in. We can all lift the same amount of reps and plates for an hour and a half a day four days a week. The guys whose bodies start to change are the ones who, No. 1, take care of themselves and get the proper amount of sleep, and No. 2, what you're feeding these guys. Otherwise, you can't make the gains that other programs are making. You have to understand from an education standpoint and make a conscious effort to continue to get the protein, the food, and the nutrition in place to get your bodies to a level where we can compete at a higher level."
Blocking is another area of concentration.
"You can see our opponents do a better job of being more sticky when blocking us and shedding blocks when we're trying to block them," Baldwin said. "Our players need to develop the ability to shed blocks and stick with the blocks.
"Also, we need to improve our ability to make guys miss and break tackles. When you saw Chris Coleman making plays in the Portland State game, there has to be more plays that look like that. When you see teams in our conference exploding on offense, and see teams running for a lot of yards, very seldom do the guys go untouched. Most of the time, they are making someone miss, they are breaking tackles, breaking a second tackle. That's how the big plays happen. We have to take our ability to do those things to another level. Some of that will come with strength or with mindset and attitude, but there has to be more of that ability to make that first and second guy miss and break those types of tackles. Otherwise, you're just never going to be explosive. To score on offense, you have to make those explosive plays."
National Letter of Intent signing periods are from Dec. 21-23 and Feb. 1-April 1.
"Every area will be hit," said Baldwin. "We have to bring in five to six total bodies in the defensive secondary, we're a little more limited in the D-line in how much room we have to fill in, and we have to bring in two or three linebacker bodies. On the offensive line, we have to bring in five, six or seven guys because we have to plan for the future. I like where we are quarterback-wise and we have to bring in the right number of skill guys on offense."
The win-loss record aside, Baldwin enjoyed coaching the 2022 Mustangs.
"There was growth from year one to year two," he added. "I felt there was serious growth going through playing with a lot of young guys and the expectation is this: We're going to see more serious growth if we make those gains and attack. It's not going to be easy, but for the next eight or nine months, we're going to put ourselves in a better chance for the results we're looking for. The growth we had this season will put us in a better spot for next year."
Baldwin and his staff welcomed 62 returning lettermen to Fall Camp in August, including 30 on offense, 27 on defense and five specialists on special teams. The returnees included 27 players who started at least five games during the 2021 season -- 13 on offense, nine on defense and five on special teams. Also on the 108-man fall roster were 22 players who were true freshmen and played in at least one game but no more than four, preserving their redshirt year, five transfers from four-year schools, two community college transfers, 13 redshirts or squad members who did not play at all in 2021 and 28 newcomers from the high school ranks.
Coleman was Cal Poly's favorite receiving target with 60 receptions — the most by a Mustang receiver since Ramses Barden caught 67 passes in 2008 — for 939 yards and five touchdowns while tight end Josh Cuevas caught 57 passes for 662 yards and six scores. Both had 10-catch games this season and a total of 18 Mustangs caught at least one pass this season.
Shakobe Harper was the Mustangs' top rusher with 307 yards on 87 carries after producing his first career 100-yard game as a Mustang with 106 yards at South Dakota. Adam Garwood added 182 yards on 49 carries and two scores and caught 13 passes for 101 yards and another TD.
Linebacker David Meyer led the defense with 85 tackles and 4.5 sacks while Dukes had 61 stops and two interceptions. Cornerback Dylan Wyatt broke up 13 pass plays, three shy of the school Division I record, and Jay'Vion Cole intercepted four passes, the most by a Mustang since Nico Molino intercepted four passes in 2012.
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.
Cal Poly played the fifth-toughest schedule in the NCAA's Division I Football Championship Subdivision last fall and faced 10 of the 11 teams again this season, replacing Weber State with Eastern Washington. The 11 opponents on the Mustangs' 2022 schedule have compiled a 60-60 win-loss record so far and three of them -- Montana, Montana State and Sacramento State -- qualified for the FCS playoffs. In addition, Fresno State (7-4) is expecting a bowl bid.
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