Bulldogs handle Mustangs: A tale of two halves

Vince Moraga and co. started slow against Fresno on Saturday. By Owen Main

Cal Poly Football’s short roadie over the hill to face the Fresno State Bulldogs was something several local fans were looking forward to: not having to travel too far for a chance to see their Mustangs compete on the road.

A trip to the valley is only two hours away for fans in San Luis Obispo County. The excitement for Mustang followers was quickly met squarely in the face with Fresno State’s vastly superior talent, size and speed, as the Mustangs fell to the Bulldogs 41-25 Saturday night at Bulldog Stadium.

In the first half Cal Poly only had 10 more yards than Fresno State had points — 44-34 — and mustered only two first downs on offense. The Mustangs’ running attack and noticeably smaller offensive line was stymied by the physically superior defensive line and linebackers of the Bulldogs. It was clear that Cal Poly’s by-design, smaller and quicker offensive lineman that are featured in their option attack were a bad matchup against the FBS size and speed of Fresno State’s defensive front.

Throughout the first half, the Bulldogs were able to stuff the fullback on the inside, easily get to the pitch on the outside, and weren’t falling for the misdirection of the trap play. The Mustangs were unable to mix things up and get the Bulldogs out of their base defense, which allowed Fresno State to comfortably pin their ears back without the occasional mental hiccup to distract their physical superiority.

Derek Carr looked great on Saturday night. By Owen Main

Bulldogs quarterback Derek Carr looked every bit of the hype and attention he has received, which isn’t something easily lived up to. Carr went 17-24 in the first half for 147 yards, while connecting on two passing touchdowns. Fresno State’s air-attack was highlighted by quick wide receiver screens, as well as running their tight ends vertically down the middle. This countering combination gave the Mustang linebackers and secondary fits all game long. The fact that Cal Poly also wasn’t able to get any sort of pressure on Carr with their pass rush eminently became a recipe for mega-disaster on defense.

The real back-breakers for the Mustangs? The Bulldogs returned two punts for touchdowns and Cal Poly fullback Akaninyene Umoh lost a fumble inside his own 30 that lead to another quick Fresno State score. In a situation where you are up against an FBS team that is undoubtedly more talented, there are two things that can easily cause a game to get out of hand: ball security and special teams. Giving up two “gimme” scores and losing a fumble inside your own territory drastically shifts all sorts of momentum and will get any team beat, let alone one that is already physically outmatched.

Things looked beyond dismal at the half the Mustangs, who trailed 34-0.

It was obvious head coach Tim Walsh and his staff dulled out some “constructive criticism” in the locker room at halftime, as the Mustangs came out with a new sense of purpose in the second half. After Kristaan Ivory broke a 52-yard run down the home sideline, Bobby Zalud kicked a 43-yard field goal to get Cal Poly on the board, 34-3.

Derek Carr then stepped back onto the field and marched his offense North to South once again, as Fresno State scored their final points of the game halfway through the third quarter, leading now, 41-3.

On the subsequent Cal Poly possession, their season changed. Quarterback Vince Moraga went down with an apparent knee injury. Walsh described it as a probable ACL tear and Moraga will likely be out for the remainder of the season.

This is absolutely a devastating blow for Moraga and the team, but they must move on. Times like this are when the cliché ‘football is like war’ metaphors come into play, how the game is always a revolving battle of attrition. “Next man up” has most recently become the popular credo within the game that this idea echoes. While it is an unfortunate tragedy, as teammates and Vince alike are probably filled with a definite amount of disappointment, the campaign must go on. There is no time to feel sorry for yourselves and the purpose must move forward without him.

With Dano Graves also already on the shelf, the next man up was arguably the best raw talent on the quarterback depth chart, a true dual-threat, sophomore Chris Brown.

Brown stepped in, albeit against primarily Fresno State’s second team, and brought a definite lightning-rod quality that was lacking before. While Brown had a handful of egregious decision-making errors, his play-making ability with his feet and down-the-field throwing precision vastly outweighed those mistakes.

Twice in the second half Brown slung deep bombs behind the Bulldog back-end, once to Willie Tucker and another to Cole Stanford. Both big plays took the Mustangs from backed up in their own territory, to instantly threatening.

The intangible ‘make something out of nothing’ ability of Brown got Poly into the end zone on back to back possessions late in the third quarter and early in the fourth. Brown eluded pressure inside the pocket and would-be tacklers outside of it, juking and weaving his way to pay-dirt on multiple occasions.

As Cal Poly took back some momentum, there was a certain electricity that began to emanate from the Poly sideline and from the faithful in the stands that wasn’t formerly present. Halfway through the fourth quarter, Cal Poly only trailed 41-17.

Late in the fourth, Brown showed off his strength, breaking two tackles to get into the end zone with shades of Andre Broadous from one yard out. He also then ran in the 2-point conversion, bringing the tally to 41-25.

At this point, even if the tables hadn’t completely turned on the scoreboard, they had undeniably turned as far as the attitudes and climate on the field were concerned. The Mustangs were doing body high-fives and the Bulldogs were moping. This inexplicably caused Fresno State to put their star quarterback Derek Carr back into the game. Along with the emergence of Chris Brown, this was another small moral victory for Cal Poly.

Chris Brown showed what he can do with his legs and his arm on Saturday. By Owen Main

Some will contend that Brown’s success, again, was against the Bulldogs second team, one also has to consider that most of the backups on the Fresno State roster would start and may even star in Cal Poly’s Conference. This is something that should be considered when examining the outlook for the remainder of Poly’s season. Trying to find ways to discredit the great things Brown accomplished in the second half may seem realistic to some, intentionally pessimistic to others.

Regardless, there is no doubt that Brown now steps into the role and instantly becomes a dynamic threat to the opposing team’s defensive game plan week-in, week-out. This truly wasn’t the case before.

The coaching staff decided to go with the safest choice at quarterback at the season’s outset, which is understandable based on the option system that they run, instead of taking a chance on a huge payout.

Brown was my pick to be the starter all things equal at the outset of the season. I was of the opinion that if you didn’t have a standout guy at the position, you build your program around your youngest player with the most upside – the player that has the most time left to improve at the highest rate. That was Brown. Well, now he has the opportunity to prove myself and all like-minded thinkers right.

And even though the Mustangs took their licks in Fresno, ultimately falling to the Bulldogs 41-25, they can certainly take a ton away from the experience. The loss of one leader’s season may have inadvertently began the great career of another. It is inauspicious that it had to unfold this way, but I personally believe that when compared to all other quarterbacks on the roster, injured or otherwise, Brown has the highest number of the tools you look for from a signal caller in today’s game.

Yes, Mustang fans are going to have to get ready to take the good with the bad when it comes to Brown, but it will always be enthralling to watch, and trust me, once this kid gets the majority of the repetitions in practice and gets his feet completely underneath himself, the good will catapult the bad completely off the teeter totter.

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Cal Poly travels to Fort Collins this Saturday afternoon to take on the Colorado State Rams. Kickoff is at 12:30pm. Radio play-by-play can be heard on ESPN Radio 1280 The Ticket. Fansmanship.com will be there covering the game. Look for real-time game photos at halftime and after the game on fansmanship.com