Cal Poly to Host Sacramento State for Big Sky Opener on Saturday
9/26/2022 11:24:00 AM | Football
WEEKLY NOTES: CAL POLY | SACRAMENTO STATE | BIG SKY
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SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. -- Cal Poly (1-2, 0-0 Big Sky), which rallied from 17-0 and 27-14 deficits against San Diego for its only win in three non-conference games, opens Big Sky Conference play in San Luis Obispo with its Homecoming Game on Saturday afternoon against unbeaten and No. 5-ranked Sacramento State (3-0, 0-0 Big Sky) inside Alex G. Spanos Stadium (cap.: 11,075).
Kickoff is set for 5:02 p.m. PDT. The game will be broadcast live on ESPN Radio (1280 AM and 101.7 FM) in San Luis Obispo County and northern Santa Barbara County and KRKC (1490 AM and 104.9 FM) in southern Monterey County with Zachary Anderson-Yoxsimer (play-by-play) and Stephan Hodges (analyst) calling the action. Pregame show starts at 4:30 p.m. The game also will be video streamed on ESPN+ with Chris Sylvester (play-by-play), John Kane (analyst) and Casey Buscher (sideline) on the mic. Links for audio and video streams as well as live stats can be found at the top of the page as well as on the football schedule page at www.GoPoly.com.
Cal Poly fell 35-7 in its opener at Fresno State despite four offensive drives of 70 or more yards, cashing in only once. Jones completed 20 of 38 passes for 211 yards and one score.
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 28-27 win over San Diego. The Mustangs intercepted three passes, two by freshman Jay'Vion Cole, in the final six minutes of the game.
"There was a resiliency that I love to see, down two scores in the fourth at one time, then went down and scored twice. That says a lot about our young guys. Those three interceptions were huge, too. Our freshman DBs were making plays."
Before a bye last week, Cal Poly dropped a 38-21 decision at South Dakota despite producing six drives of 55 or more yards. The Mustangs scored on just three of those drives and their first-quarter woes continued as the Coyotes jumped to a 21-7 lead in the opening 10 minutes and never looked back.
Cal Poly also trailed 21-0 at Fresno State and 17-0 versus San Diego.
"We've been shooting ourselves in the foot early and we've got to clean those things up," Baldwin said. "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."
Jones, who played in three games in a reserve role as a true freshman a year ago, preserving his redshirt year, vaulted into the top of the Big Sky Conference in passing yards (596) and total offense and No. 2 in passing touchdowns and completions per game (23.5) in the first two games before suffering an injury to his right leg midway through the first quarter at South Dakota. Spencer Brasch stepped in for Jones and and completed 24 of 42 passes for 362 yards and three scores. Cal Poly, which ran the run-oriented Triple Option offense for a dozen years and led the nation in rushing four times in that span, is now No. 5 in the country and first in the Big Sky in passing offense, averaging 339 yards a game.
Sacramento State has jumped to a 3-0 start for the first time since 1992, capping the run with a convincing 41-10 victory over winless Colorado State last week, the Hornets' first win over a Football Bowl Subdivision team since defeating Colorado in 2012. Sacramento State set a school record for points scored against an FBS team, amassed nearly 400 yards in total offense and extended its winning streak in regular-season games to 11 dating back to last season. In addition, the 31-point margin of victory in Fort Collins is the largest for an FCS team against an FBS school since Western Illinois beat Coastal Carolina 52-10 in 2017.
The Hornets also have beaten Utah Tech (formerly Dixie State) 56-33 and Northern Iowa 37-21. Sacramento State is averaging 44.7 points and 469.3 yards per game offensively and has a two-minute advantage over its opposition in time of possession.
While Cal Poly has trailed in every game this season, the Hornets have never trailed so far. Against Colorado State, quarterback Asher O'Hara completed all 10 of his pass attempts in the first 34 minutes of the game for 71 yards and one touchdown while Jake Dunniway called signals the rest of the way and connected on 12 of 23 passes for 164 yards and another score. Jared Gipson caught five passes while Pierre Williams and Marcus Fulcher made receptions for touchdowns. Cameron Skattebo rushed for 67 yards on 17 carries, scoring once, and O'Hara scored the other two Hornet touchdowns on runs of one and six yards.
The first full season of Mustang football under Cal Poly head coach Beau Baldwin, which began 21 months after he was named Cal Poly's 17th head football coach on Dec. 11, 2019, ended with a 2-9 mark. The Mustangs defeated San Diego 28-17 in the opener as Spencer Brasch, in his first game as a Mustang after transferring from Cal, completed 23 of 38 passes for 316 yards, the most by a Mustang quarterback in 12 years, and two touchdowns with no interceptions and Elijah Ponder returned an interception 75 yards for another score. Cal Poly also beat Idaho State 42-39 in the penultimate contest as Jaden Ohlsen kicked a 41-yard field goal with four seconds remaining and Brasch completed 25 of 50 passes for 233 yards and three touchdowns.
The offseason was highlighted with some firsts for Baldwin in his tenure at Cal Poly, namely seven uninterrupted months of conditioning from January through July, a Spring Camp that ended with a successful Spring Game, the hiring of five new assistant coaches to replace those who moved on to the NFL or FBS schools, and an explosive six-touchdown performance in the first of two Fall Camp scrimmages on the new FieldTurf inside Alex G. Spanos Stadium.
Sacramento State is coming off a 9-3 campaign in 2021 which included a perfect 8-0 mark en route to its second straight Big Sky Conference championship. The Hornets, 8-0 in Big Sky road games under head coach Troy Taylor and 16-1 overall against Big Sky opponents since and including the 2019 season, qualified for the 2021 FCS playoffs, falling 24-19 to South Dakota State in the second round after a first-round bye.
Taylor, in his third playing season at Sacramento State — the Hornets did not play any games during the 2020-21 academic year — greeted 53 lettermen, including 13 starters (nine on offense, four on defense) to Fall Camp. Top Hornets to watch for include O'Hara (88 of 143 for 899 yards and seven touchdowns passing, 164-662-9 rushing in 2021) and Dunniway (182 of 288 for 2,576 yards and 12 touchdowns passing) at quarterback, Skattebo (57-520-6 rushing) at running back, Marshel Martin (53-649-6 receiving) at tight end, Williams (50-764-3 receiving) at wide receiver and Marte Mapu (65 tackles, four interceptions, 10 pass breakups) at defensive back.
Three games into the 2022 campaign, O'Hara has completed 22 of 25 passes for 182 yards and three scores while Dunniway has connected on 49 of 81 passes for 504 yards and four scores. Fulcher (15-92-1) and Martin (14-149-3) are the top receivers for the Hornets. Mapu has two interceptions and 19 tackles in three games while Caleb Nelson returned an interception 98 yards for a score. Skattebo has a 43-yard kickoff return for a score on a Utah Tech onsides kickoff attempt.
The Hornets had won just two games three of the previous four years, including a 2-8 mark in 2018, before hiring Taylor (third season, 21-7, California '89), who was offensive coordinator at Utah (2017-18), co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Eastern Washington (2016) and co-head coach at Folsom High School (2002-04, 2012-15) among other coaching stints.
Taylor was a quarterback for the 14-0 Cordova High School football team in 1985 and was starting quarterback at Cal from 1986-89, leading the Pac-10 in total offense as a senior and leaving the Bears program as the all-time leading passer with 8,126 yards. He was drafted by the New York Jets in the fourth round of the 1990 NFL Draft and played in seven games over two seasons.
In addition to Big Sky titles in 2019 and 2021, the Hornets have won four other conference titles — 1995 America West, 1986 Western Football and 1969 and 1964 Far Western — and have appeared in five postseasons — 2019 and 2021 NCAA Division I FCS, 1988 NCAA Division II playoffs (lost in semifinals), 1968 Junior Rose Bowl (Pasadena) and 1964 Camellia Bowl (Sacramento).
Cal Poly and Sacramento State are meeting for the 41st time in football this weekend and the Mustangs lead the series 21-19. The Hornets earned a 41-9 triumph a year ago in the state capital as Skattebo rushed for 96 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Cal Poly closed an early 14-0 deficit to 14-9 with a safety (a Josh Ngaluafe sack in the end zone) and a touchdown (Giancarlo Woods fumble recovery in end zone) before Sacramento State scored the final 27 points of the contest. Spencer Brasch completed 19 of 26 passes for 225 yards and his top targets were Chris Coleman with five catches and Zedakiah Centers and Quentin Harrison with four each. Lepi Lataimua rushed for 33 yards on 12 carries and Jaden Jones added 27 yards on 11 trips.
Sacramento State posted a 38-14 victory in its last trip to San Luis Obispo in 2019.
The series began in 1967 with a 17-7 Mustang victory in Sacramento. Cal Poly, which has won 10 of the last 14 meetings versus the Hornets, is 11-10 against Sacramento State at home and 10-9 against the Hornets in Sacramento. Beau Baldwin is 5-2 against Sacramento State, including a 5-1 mark while he was head coach at Eastern Washington, while Troy Taylor is 2-0 versus Cal Poly.
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.
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 slots, a fullback and a pair of receivers in the old Triple Option formation.
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 include 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 are 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.
The group of veterans includes quarterback Spencer Brasch (145 of 267 passes for 1,725 yards and 10 touchdowns in 2021), wide receiver Chris Coleman (43-590-4), linebacker Laipeli Palu (51 tackles) and defensive linemen Dustin Grein (36 tackles, one sack), Elijah Ponder (35 tackles, eight sacks) and Josh Ngaluafe (28 tackles, two sacks), who combined for 22 tackles for lost yardage in 2021.
Other top returnees include wide receiver/punt returner Giancarlo Woods (27-339-1 receiving, 6.8 punt return average), wide receiver Zedakiah Centers (35-310-0) and offensive linemen Charles Lincoln, Austin Anderson, Mohab Wahdan, Hunter Jones and Payson Campisano, all of whom started at least five games a year ago.
So far this season, Jones has completed 50 of 88 passes (57 percent) for 655 yards and five scores. Coleman is his favorite target with 19 receptions for 290 yards and two touchdowns. A total of 13 Mustangs have caught at least one pass just three games into the campaign. Shakobe Harper is the Mustangs' top rusher with 187 yards on 43 carries after producing his first career 100-yard game as a Mustang with 106 yards at South Dakota. Linebacker David Meyer leads the defense with 17 tackles while Grein has 15 tackles, including four for lost yardage.
Cal Poly played the fifth-toughest schedule in the NCAA's Division I Football Championship Subdivision last fall and faces 10 of the 11 teams again this season, replacing Weber State with Eastern Washington. The 11 opponents on the Mustangs' 2021 schedule compiled an 80-52 win-loss record for a .606 winning percentage and five of them -- South Dakota, Montana, Montana State, UC Davis and Sacramento State -- qualified for the FCS playoffs. In addition, Fresno State played in the New Mexico Bowl.
Weber State, which won or shared four straight Big Sky titles heading into the 2021 season, didn't make the postseason but was one of seven Cal Poly opponents ranked at one time or another in 2021. San Diego finished 7-4 with a share of the Pioneer League crown, its 10th in the last 11 years.
Cal Poly tackled that schedule with as many as 10 freshmen and seven sophomores in the starting lineup last fall. The 22 starters in this year's season opener at Fresno State included three freshmen, seven sophomores and six juniors along with three seniors and three graduate students.
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 plays the first of two straight Big Sky games on the road, visiting Northern Arizona on Oct. 8 for a 1 p.m. kickoff. The Mustangs also travel to Idaho State on Oct. 15.
