Cal Poly wins home opener vs. San Diego

It was a familiar formula for Cal Poly under somewhat unique circumstances for one of their stars.

After giving up an early lead, Cal Poly rallied late in the first half and dominated the second half en route to a convincing 38-16 win over San Diego.

“A good character win for us,” said Cal Poly head coach Tim Walsh. “I’m really excited about the way Dano’s running the offense.”

That offense finished the game by outscoring San Diego 28-3 over the past two quarters and six seconds. Graves and co. dominated possession throughout the second half, leaving the result in little doubt.

A new addition

On Friday night, Joe Protheroe’s second daughter, Jordyn, was born. Protheroe’s wife made him go home from the hospital to sleep. Less than 24 hours later, the junior preseason All-American rushed for 132 yards and a pair of touchdowns.

Protheroe described picking up his older daughter before going home — being a family guy and all. He also talked about the difference he feels Cal Poly’s offseason strength and conditioning program has made for him and his team.

Graves on-track

Dano Graves has started the season with a bang. After leading the team with 140 yards rushing at Nevada, Graves rushed for 98 yards and a touchdown and passed for 130 yards and two touchdowns without committing a turnover.

Over the team’s first two games, Cal Poly has averaged 464.5 yards of total offense and turned the ball over just one time total and winning time of possession convincingly in both contests. To remain successful, Cal Poly must continue to win those parts of the game.

Though Graves has been used somewhat heavily over the first two games, he doesn’t want to slow down. Asked what he thought of being able to rest on the sidelines for the final drive, he said that he’d rather be in the game. His competitiveness is one of the great things about him, but — as with any Cal Poly quarterback — Graves’ ability to stay healthy all season will be really interesting to keep track of. It always is.

Defense on the attack

Though they tallied just a single sack against San Diego, Cal Poly’s defense is putting more and more pressure on their opponent, bringing pressure much more often than last season.

The question I forgot to ask Walsh post-game was about the impact of Payam Saadat in terms of defensive scheme and effectiveness.

The additional pressure from Cal Poly’s defense can be quantified with five quarterback hurries against Torero quarterback Anthony Lawrence, including at least a few on key third-down plays.

There were no fumbles or interceptions in this game for either team, but Cal Poly gave themselves a few chances to pick balls off. While the fact remains that this team has yet to force any turnovers, I would guess based on what I’ve seen that the Mustangs should be able to force more than the eight total turnovers they forced in all of 2015.

Next up

This week, the Mustangs will go on the road to face top-10 South Dakota State. When I went to Brookings in 2014, the Jackrabbits had just opened up their fieldhouse and were working on getting started constructing their new stadium. Saturday’s game will be South Dakota State’s second game at Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium, which looks beautiful.

To see the difference, take a look at some photos from the old stadium here.

Then click this link

Photos from the 2014 game at the old stadium here.

To avoid getting pounced-on early, as they were two years ago, Cal Poly will need to control the ball offensively and come away with touchdowns to finish drives. They also need to be able to maintain collective focus in what could possibly be a more hostile environment than their season-opening game at Nevada. If they do that and limit turnovers, they will be right where they want to be — in the game in the fourth quarter against a very, very good opponent.

Photos by Owen Main