The margin for error in today’s Big Sky Conference is razor thin. Just ask Tim Walsh.
Last season, Cal Poly’s head coach had a team that appeared ready to make a run at its second Big Sky crown since joining the league in 2012. The Mustangs featured a veteran offensive line, a preseason All-Big Sky running back in Kori Garcia, a bruising fullback with speed and power in Joe Protheroe and an experienced maestro at quarterback in Chris Brown, a master of Cal Poly’s triple option attack.
Cal Poly celebrates win in Missoula over Montana in 2015 20-19
The Mustangs started 2015 out with a bang as Alex Vega’s 49-yard field goal as time expired lifted Cal Poly to a 20-19 win over Montana in Missoula, the team’s second straight win over the Grizzlies. The following week, Cal Poly went toe to toe with Arizona State; the score was tied 21-21 with less than eight minutes to play before a pair of late touchdowns helped the Sun Devils survive.
In back-to-back losses to Northern Iowa (34-20) and Montana State (45-28), Walsh said in his 27 years of coaching, he has never had a team that played “as non-competitively” as his Mustangs did. Still, Cal Poly found a way to rally even if the wins eluded them.
At No. 7 Eastern Washington, Cal Poly build a 35-20 lead with 9:16 left in regulation. EWU rallied to send the game to overtime despite more than 500 rushing yards by the Mustang offense. A failed two-point conversion gave the hosts a 42-41 win.
Back in San Luis Obispo, California, Cal Poly piled up 420 yards on the ground against Portland State’s stout defense with true freshman quarterback Khaleel Jenkins operating the offense and Brown out with an injury. But the Vikings found a way as Jonathan Gonzales’ 27-yard field goal with 33 seconds left lifted PSU to a 38-35 win.
In Cedar City, Utah, Cal Poly again put on a triple option clinic against Southern Utah’s talented, ball-hawking defense. The Mustangs rushed for 508 yards and averaged six yards per carry but five fumbles, including three SUU returned for touchdowns, cost the visitors. Chris Brown’s touchdown midway through the third quarter cut the Thunderbird lead to 33-31 but a 57-yard scoop and score by Mike Needham and a 55-yard fumble return for a touchdown by James Cowser boosted the eventual Big Sky champions to a 54-37 win.
Former Cal Poly quarterback Chris Brown runs the option with returning fullback Joe Protheroe
Cal Poly would rally for wins over rivals Sacramento State and UC Davis before an embarrassing 45-21 home loss to North Dakota to end the season. A campaign that began with a preseason Top 25 ranking and playoff aspirations ended with a 4-7 record.
“Those three games in the middle of the year defined us as far as how good we could’ve been but I would also say it defined the fact that we weren’t great finishers,” Walsh said. “You combine that with the other three games in which we were totally uncompetitive (UNI, MSU, UND) I talked about and that’s how you get 4-7, 3-5. That’s not going to cut it in the Big Sky.”
The Big Sky added Cal Poly, UND, Southern Utah and UC Davis before the 2012 season. Southern Utah won its first league title a year ago and has advanced to the playoffs twice over the last four years. But one could argue, before last season at least, that Cal Poly had been the most successful of the new squads.
Cal Poly shared the league title their first year in the conference. The first three seasons in the league produced 17 league victories. In 2014, Cal Poly mounted a five-game winning streak that included back-to-back wins over Montana and Montana State, both ranked in the top eight of the FCS at the time. Last season, an inability to hold onto the football (15 fumbles lost) and a penchant for surrendering big plays on defense (288 passing yards per game allowed) produced the worst Big Sky campaign of Cal Poly’s four in the league.
“It was rough going through it,” Cal Poly senior linebacker Joe Gigantino said at the Big Sky Kickoff media conference in Park City, Utah in July. “Winning that game in Missoula was awesome. I always tell guys that was my first college football game. The experience was just great being there and that crowd was nuts. That kick on the last-second field goal was great. Go to Arizona State the next week and we are a huge underdog in that game but we are tied in the fourth quarter. They won by two touchdowns, a late one at the end but we could’ve won that game. Those two games, people really looked at us and thought we were real.
“But as the season told, we couldn’t finish some home games, some away games. I think we lost three games at home and that’s unacceptable. We can’t lose at home. That’s really motivating us this season.”
Cal Poly quarterback Dano Graves
The shortfalls of last season are resonating as the 2016 campaign approaches. Cal Poly loses Brown, the most prolific rushing quarterback in Big Sky history and the only signal caller to rush for more than 1,000 yards in consecutive seasons. But the Mustangs return 18 starters, including six offensive linemen who have started. Garcia and Protheroe are back to flank Dano Graves, a former National High School Player of the Year who was Cal Poly’s starter at quarterback before an injury gave the job to Brown during the 2013 season.
Defensively, the Mustangs have to replace standout linebackers Tu’Uta Inoke and Burton De Koning. But stud nose tackle Marcus Paige-Allen returns, as does Giagantino in the front seven. Cal Poly also gets menacing outside linebacker/defensive end Josh Letuligasenoa back after the standout missed last season with academic issues.
Despite the load of returners, Cal Poly received little respect in the preseason polls. Both the league’s coaches and the affiliated media picked the Mustangs to finish ninth in the 13-team league.
“People have this perception that we aren’t a very veteran football team but we probably have more returning starters than people think,” Walsh said. “Secondly, when you lose a guy who has been the cover of your program in Chris Brown, people all of a sudden think that the quarterback is gone, who’s next? I can understand it. Defensively, we weren’t too strong last year. Probably a fair assessment. But every year in the league, teams that are fourth through ninth still have a chance to win the conference. I’ll take that as a motivational factor for our team this year.”
Photos by Brooks Nuanez. All Rights Reserved.
