Davis earns the Horseshoe, dashes Cal Poly’s postseason hopes

The UC Davis offensive line dominated this game from beginning to end. By Owen Main

UC Davis dominated Cal Poly on both sides of the ball for most of the game on Saturday night in a 48-35 victory. Win the win, UC Davis snapped Cal Poly’s home winning streak, took the Golden Horseshoe back, and snapped a Davis losing streak dating back to last season against Division I opponents.

Before Saturday, the Aggies were 0-8 against Division I teams this season and Cal Poly still had playoff aspirations. But it was Davis who had their head coach raised in the air and held the horseshoe high after salvaging a game at the end of an otherwise-forgettable season.

All Manzanares, all the time

Gabe Manzanares had a game. I hadn’t seen him in-person before this game and my first impression was how he didn’t look like much physically — meaning that if you weren’t looking closely, he didn’t look physically imposing.

After carrying the ball 37 times for 230 yards and three touchdowns, Manzanares earned Big Sky Root Sports Athlete of the Week honors, and forged his name in the rivalry’s record book in his second-t0-last collegiate game.

His patience was most impressive as he waited for holes to open up in UC Davis’ zone blocking scheme and cut-back when he needed to for huge gains. The Aggie running game looked much like Cal Poly’s in efficiency if not style.

With 564 yards of total offense and 266 yards rushing, UC Davis looked like a juggernaut, not the 1-8 team their record suggested.

Cal Poly’s Nick Dzubnar had 18 tackles, but not enough of them were at or near the line of scrimmage. By Owen Main

Dzubnar sets a record

Cal Poly senior linebacker, Nick Dzubnar set a record for most tackles in a season by a Mustang. Dzubnar, who leads the nation in tackles with 160, broke the Cal Poly single season record for tackles.

Dzubnar and fellow-senior Cameron Ontko are usually all over the field. For his part, Ontko recorded 12 tackles and now has 101 on the season, good for 35th in the nation. The problem on Saturday was where those tackles were made. The Mustang linebackers eventually got to Manzanares, but it was usually five to ten yards downfield.

While the tackles record is one that Dzubnar should be proud of, I’m sure he’d rather some of his defensive linemen were taking down ball-carriers too. By my count, Cal Poly defensive linemen made just eight tackles all game — out of 85.

While senior Chris Lawrence has been a force on the interior of the defensive line, he also looked hurt at the game’s end. I also wondered about the depth at defensive end, where Jake Irwin and Wesley Flowers have been missing in action lately. I didn’t see either at the game and while I’m not sure how much of a difference it would have made, I do know that the defensive linemen all looked pretty gassed in the second half.

Marcus Paige-Allen has been very good at times this year, but Davis’ blocking scheme and physical execution proved too much for the Mustangs who seem to have spent all they had earlier in the year.

Chris Brown has done everything he can

With a game still to play, I need to put a little bit of context to the season Chris Brown is having. They say a team follows its quarterback and Brown, while excellent for most of this season, looked like he’d been carrying the weight of the entire team on his shoulders all season.

Here goes.

Chris Brown has been a force during this record-breaking season. By Owen Main

Cal Poly’s season was on the line about Week 4. After losing to Northern Arizona, the Mustangs were in a pickle. Tim Walsh talked at the beginning of the season about not getting his quarterbacks hit as much and having them distribute more. He didn’t want Brown to be taking big hits. But when push came to shove, he had to ride Brown in the absence of  offensive playmakers Cam Akins and Kristaan Ivory.

In response to the challenge, Brown put up some tremendous performances. He scored three ways against Weber State. He led Cal Poly in a slugfest against Southern Utah (110 yards rushing, 2 touchdowns passing). The offense dominated Sacramento State. When the Mustangs put themselves in position to have the Montana and Montana State games mean something, it was going to be Brown who got the call.

He answered that call, rushing for 226 yards against Montana and 97 yards against Montana State without turning the ball over in either game.

But 50 tough carries — many of them up the middle — in two games takes its toll on a quarterback. At Idaho State, Brown again answered the bell again, running it 39 times for 195 yards and three touchdowns on a hard artificial surface. By the end of the game, it was clear that this was a fatigued player who had taken a team on his back for three straight weeks. In Pocatello, the Mustangs fell two points short.

So by the time Davis rolled around, the scouting report was in — let Brown keep the ball, hit him hard in hopes that he’ll wear down. Nobody could blame him after 89 carries in the three previous weeks, but sooner or later that workload catches up with you. On Saturday, Brown was sacked three times, rushed for only 24 yards, and looked visibly shaken-up after a touchdown in the third quarter. There were at least three throws that he missed that looked affected by something that looked like fatigue.

Here are a few things to think about as we move into the final week of the season:

* In the seven games since Cal Poly lost at Northern Arizona, Brown hasn’t thrown an interception. During that time, he has connected on nine touchdowns, including one in each game. He has an 11-3 touchdown-interception ratio.

* Brown now has 1,277 yards rushing on the season, and while Kori Garia is also now over 1,000 yards this year, it’s games like these that you miss additional depth and explosiveness at the running back position.

Random band thought

The only team in the Big Sky (or Big West, for that matter) that has a band that can stand up to Cal Poly’s is UC Davis. I’m going to give props where props are due here, HOWEVER, I don’t like that we let their band play during games at Spanos.

I understand that it’s probably something of a tradition and I understand that Cal Poly goes there with its band (I think) on alternating years, but something about putting a huge band in the bleachers right behind an end zone just doesn’t sit well with me.

With Cal Poly trying to come back against Davis late in the game, Chris Brown was stuffed a few times in a row on the goal line in front of the Aggie band. Everyone involved would probably tell you that it didn’t make a difference, but the Band-uh from UC Davis was doing a good job of being loud and giving their team the advantage.

On top of causing a disorganized environment (playing over announcements, etc…), a visiting band makes the environment not all Mustang-friendly. I suppose there isn’t a bigger compliment I could pay to the band or to its constituents, but it doesn’t mean I have to like the tradition. Despite the fact that I played in a college pep band, I really don’t.

Last game

Cal Poly will play their final game in San Diego against the USD Toreros, who they hosted each of the past two years. Two weeks ago, I was making tentative plans to go. I’ll still watch online if I can, but with the playoffs out of the realm of possibility, I’ll be firmly-planted in SLO as the season winds-down.

It will be interesting to see how and whether different guys get more prominent opportunities, now that the season is effectively guaranteed to be over after Saturday.

Game time is set for 4:00 on Saturday.

Photos by Owen Main

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