Cal Poly football’s spring practice schedule culminated in a 90-minute scrimmage on Saturday at Alex G. Spanos Stadium. Honestly, it wasn’t the most exciting spring game I’ve ever seen, though there were probably 500 or so fans on-hand to watch. Here are some takeaways I had.

Injuries rule the day

While nobody got injured that I heard about IN the game, injuries to players who weren’t in the game set the tone for what happened on the field.

Included in the walking (or wheeling) wounded were Willie Tucker, Kori Garcia, Chris Brown, Dano Graves, Colin Dzubnar, Elias Stokes, and Logan Mayes. There were probably more injured guys, but those are the ones I eyeballed.

Tucker, Garcia, Brown , and Graves are probably 4 of the top-five offensive playmakers on the Mustangs team, so it’s not really a surprise that the offense didn’t score a touchdown.

Same face, new place?

After starting his career as a slot back, Kevin Porsche moved to defensive back in 2014. On Saturday, he was back at slot back, showing his skills especially as a receiver out of the back field. Porsche lives up to his name with speed when healthy. A guy who is willing to switch from offense to defense and back again seems like he must be a good team guy, and therefore we need to all root for him.

Another player who switched positions is former offensive tackle Miles Williams. Williams, who got significant playing time last season at offensive tackle, was listed at just 249 pounds. With added depth on the offensive line in 2014, Williams played on the defensive side of the ball on Saturday and will presumably be there in the fall.

If Dano Graves redshirts next season, could Andrew Barna be the back-up to Chris Brown? By Owen Main

Breakouts

With so many players missing, some younger players got a chance to shine.

Andrew Barna — a quarterback who was probably fifth on the depth charts a few springs ago — looked really good. Barna completed six of seven passes and seemed really poised with the football both passing and running.

Speaking of running, sophomore fullback Jared Mohamed looked very good. He carried the ball 14 times for 69 yards and did a nice job of keeping his running down hill on dive plays. Joe Protheroe is the incumbent at the fullback position, but Cal Poly needs at least two main guys there, if not three in their triple-option offense. Mohamed should get a real shot to tote the ball in 2015.

Kicking decisions

Walsh said after the game that there are at least five kickers in camp this spring and they obviously can’t take that many to Fall camp. Last year, Cal Poly was left short of kickers in a road game after theirs was injured at South Dakota State.

MORE – BURTON DE KONING IS TRYING TO PLAY BASEBALL TOO!

Because I’m me, I was perusing the roster for the San Luis Obispo Blues for the upcoming Summer season.

Players from the typical solid list of colleges were on the list. The Blues will have players from the Big-12, SEC, and a wide variety of other states and conferences as games begin at Sinsheimer on May 22.

There are also lots of local players who will be on the Blues. I counted three Cuesta College players, seven SLO-county high school alumni, and seven Cal Poly players. Among the Cal Poly players, one name stood out because he isn’t on the baseball team. Yet.

Burton De Koning transferred to Cal Poly from Nevada to play football prior to 2014. Last season, as a junior, De Koning was eighth on the team in tackles (43), and tallied 2.5 tackles for losses and half a sack. But football isn’t the only sport he excelled in as a prep athlete at Folsom High School. In his senior season at Folsom, De Koning was second-team All-League and hit .327 while playing the outfield.

When he visited Cal Poly, head coach Tim Walsh set-up a meeting with baseball coach Larry Lee. This past season, De Koning played on Cal Poly’s club baseball team.

“I was interested in playing baseball at Nevada as well,” said De Koning. “That didn’t work out, so Cal Poly set me up with Larry Lee.”

Burton De Koning figures to be a starter at linebacker for the Cal Poly football team, but he wants to try to make the baseball team as well. By Owen Main

All of that is well and good, but a good high school career and a solid season on a club team aren’t usually routes to get to Cal Poly’s main baseball team. After his meeting with Lee, De Koning has worked on his baseball alongside football this year.

“I’ve been getting in as many [baseball] games as I could, I’ve been playing well. He likes what he sees,” said De Koning. “I got the opportunity to play on the SLO Blues after doing well on the club team… . We’ll just see how it goes.”

The Blues have 36 home games this summer at Sinsheimer Stadium in San Luis Obispo. If things go right, it could be a long enough time for the Cal Poly coaching staff to evaluate De Koning in their own back yard and decide whether he can help their team next season. If he does well in the California Collegiate League, which uses wood bats, De Koning hopes it could earn him a shot for Lee’s team next Spring.

“I just wrote a goal on my white board at home,” said De Koning after the spring football game. “I’m trying to get drafted in both football and baseball a year from now.”

Along with De Koning, current Cal Poly students scheduled to play for the Blues include catcher Brett Barbier, Connor O’Hare, Kyle Peterson, John Schuknecht, and incoming freshmen Robert Ay and Nigel Ward.

Chris Brown breaks-off a big game during Saturday’s spring football game.

Unlike last season, this year’s spring game wasn’t drenched in drama.

I’m sure Tim Wash would disagree with me. He would probably argue that stability doesn’t just depend on a single position — that the group of senior and upper-class leaders on last year’s Cal Poly football team should have made up for what became a quarterback carousel.

Credit Walsh for not allowing last season’s early-season four-way battle for starting quarterback to turn into a circus.

On Saturday, under sunny Spanos Stadium skies, Cal Poly’s spring game was played with much less on the line and the Mustang signal-callers showed a crispness that comes with a higher comfort level. It was especially apparent from the signal-callers.

This Spring, there is still a quarterback battle, but it has come down to two players — Chris Brown and Dano Graves. Last year’s winner of the four-way battle, Vince Moraga, is still recovering from knee surgery and Tanner Trosin transferred to play Junior College ball. That leaves Brown and Graves to duke it out for the top spot.

Both seemed much more comfortable behind center than last Spring, especially Graves. With the two alternating possessions, Cal Poly’s offense drove the length of the field and got within field goal range on each of their first three possessions. While the defense didn’t allow a touchdown all afternoon, the offense showed what it was capable of.

Brown’s decision-making in the moment seemed good. He handed off when he needed to and kept the ball when it was required. He showed his big arm and breakaway speed, rushing for 30 yards on one play.

Graves also showed improvement over the last time I saw him. He was much more poised as a passer, throwing strikes to a number of receivers.

His day was cut short when he pulled up with a non-contact injury to his torso, something that is unlikely to be of concern in the Fall.

Cal Poly’s overall depth was tested as a number of key players did not participate. Running back Kristaan Ivory and defensive linemen Jake Irwin and Chris Judge were among those who attended but were not dressed out. Seniors from last year were also in attendance. Kicker, Bobby Zalud sported a Hawai’ian shirt and helped on the “chain gang” while NFL draft hopeful Sullivan Grosz supported his defensive teammates.

Photos by Owen Main

[See image gallery at www.fansmanship.com]

After last Saturday’s spring football game, CPTV and Trent Merfeld posted some postgame comments I thought Mustangs fans would be interested in. Enjoy.

Vince Moraga (15) is the most experienced of Cal Poly’s four quarterbacks competing for the starting role in 2013. By Owen Main

I should have known better. The actual quarterback battle couldn’t have lived up to the anticipation. I built up the hype in my mind and in my posts, only to be let-down.

On Saturday afternoon, Cal Poly’s football team capped off five weeks of spring practice with its annual Spring Game at Alex G. Spanos Stadium. The game was supposed to be a chance for four quarterbacks to show head coach Tim Walsh what they could do. It was going to be a high-level battle, and someone was supposed to come out the clear favorite. At least we’d have a little more of an idea.

Instead, only three of the four played and the offense looked generally sloppy throughout. Cal Poly’s top seven offensive linemen did not play, and the game left more questions than it gave answers.

For more photos from the Spring Game, visit our Facebook page and “LIKE” it.

Sam Holquin catches the first touchdown of the Spring Game from Tanner Trosin. By Owen Main

So, who did impress at quarterback?

Three guys got time on Saturday. Vince Moraga started the game. The Junior from Oxnard is clearly the most comfortable when it comes to hiding the ball, footwork on misdirection running plays, and general knowledge of the offense. Moraga’s early drives stalled relatively quickly. Moraga did manage a touchdown drive ending in a 16 yard pass to Carson McMurtrey in the “second half,” one of only two touchdown drives Cal Poly managed all day.

“I’m really comfortable with our offense as a whole,” said Moraga. “I know what we’re trying to do when we’re out there on the field. I’m really poised and there’s nothing really that I’m going to see that I don’t know when it comes to defenses, so I feel like that’s my upside.”

The second quarterback on the field was Tanner Trosin. Trosin, a redshirt freshman from Folsom High School, came into the game as the team’s best pure passer. Trosin did not disappoint in this regard, moving the pocket, showing poise, and finding open receivers. Trosin found Sam Holquin for the game’s first touchdown, the only one of the first half. His drives seemed to offer the most dynamic attack, though a guy who can scramble and find open guys down-field doing well makes sense for a team with a limited offensive line.

The third quarterback who played on Saturday was Dano Graves. Graves, a transfer from Air Force, might be the best pure runner out of the three who competed. He doesn’t have a lot of height to pass over linemen, but he showed shiftiness and proved difficult to bring down with the first hit. His ability to get to and turn the corner was by far the best. I don’t think Graves will be able to be judged properly until he plays with first-string linemen in front of him. That being said, I could see him getting some snaps as both a slotback and quarterback. Cal Poly has a need for probably an additional slotback to get 10-15 carries per game and having him at either position would definitely put the opposition on their heels.

To see a successful version of a split between Graves and one of the other three quarterbacks, you can look at Sam Houston State last season. The Bearkats split two quarterbacks successfully during the season and ended up in the FCS Championship. Other teams like Eastern Washington also had success in a two-quarterback system. It may not be Walsh’s ideal, but with the talent he has, Cal Poly’s head coach may not have a choice.

In high school, Trosin and Graves played on the same team. Now, they find themselves competing for the same quarterback position in college.

“We’re cool,” said Trosin. “I’ve known him for a long time… we like competition, especially with each other… . “This is a first for me. It’s cool to experience a four-man battle so I don’t know how to view it, just go out there and play your best and see where that takes you.”

Walsh talked about getting spoiled by his senior quarterback last year.

“I was telling somebody that you have Andre Broadous for three years and you start taking things that he does for granted,” said head coach Tim Walsh. “This made for some eye opening for our coaches that we have some things that we really need to tighten down on as far as the fundamentals and how to play the triple option part of the game… We have a lot of things that we still need to clean up, but when you get an opportunity to play 110 plays, you’re going to learn a lot.”

Walsh had some good things to say about each candidate after the game too.

“Tanner improved,” he said. “Dano showed that he’s kind of a tough, honery little guy in there too, and I think Vince moved around real well and I think Vince made some good throws that ended up not being touchdowns that probably should have been… . Again, I think if we combined them all we have a great player.”

Kevin Porsche (34) and Kori Garcia are competing for playing time at slot back. By Owen Main

Is there a frontrunner?

Walsh started to say Trosin won the day, though he would not commit to anything being set at this point. He talked about needing to settle things probably during the first week of practice in the Fall.

There are lots of problems with that strategy, but I don’t think Walsh has any choice in the matter at this point. Nobody separated themselves enough to be the clear favorite going into Fall camp. Trosin was the closest, but Walsh wasn’t ready to crown him yet.

As for the quarterback competition itself, the players are putting being teammates first.

“Behind the scenes, we’re all brothers, so we have each others’ back,” said Moraga. “When we’re out there on the practice field it’s not too much of a competition. We’re correcting each other and we’re picking each other up, so I’m getting used to it.”

Offensive lineman matter. Especially in large groups.

Holy cow. The sloppiness of this game was baffling to me at first. I thought with so much on the line for each quarterback, everyone would be at their best. Then I realized that the second or third-team offensive linemen were going up against the first team defense at the beginning. Then I was told that the top-seven offensive linemen were all out. Then it all made sense.

“We all know we were limited up front with the O-Line, but they played their hearts out and we rallied,” said Moraga. “We had a couple great drives, but there’s definitely a lot we can go back and check out in the film room and fix.”

An injured Chris Brown could do nothing but cheer his teammates on as the other three quarterbacks competed for the starting spot on Saturday. By Owen Main

Maybe the Defense is just really good?

This is actually a valid point. While Sullivan Grosz has been “non-contact” throughout the spring, Cal Poly’s defense proved itself a physical match-up for a juggernaut Sam Houston State team in last season’s playoff loss. They return most of their starters and played like they were the most experienced of the two sides of the ball.

Would one of the quarterbacks move to a different position?

Cal Poly does have some great athletes at quarterback. Graves looks like he could be a legitimate slot back, Chris Brown is probably athletic enough to play any number of positions, and they had conversations last year with Vince Moraga about changing positions. The only guy I don’t really see playing in a different place is Trosin, but I could be wrong about that too.

Here’s a pretty long Tim Walsh quote on the subject:

“Part of the beauty of the position of quarterback here is that you probably are a good enough player to play another position,” said Walsh, addressing the possibility of someone changing positions. “All four of the guys probably are. We even toyed last year with Vince playing slot. So, yeah, that goes through our mind if they want to play because they are four really good athletes and three of them are going to be standing next to me. So that’s something that would be talked about but the one thing about a quarterback’s mentality: they all think they’re the best. So therefore none of them are going to be happy if we go to them and say ‘Hey, you’re going to have to go play slot.’… . They’d probably do it, but the reality of the situation is they believe they’re the best quarterback and that’s a mentality that you don’t want to break  on a quarterback because you want them to have it.”

What will the 2013 team actually look like?

Last year’s Spring Game seemed crisp. Whether it was Andre Broadous or Chris Brown under center, Cal Poly’s offense moved and competed. Their defense was opportunistic and held its ground, but the offensive seasoning of Broadous and Company ruled the day.

With that in my head, this year’s game seemed helter-skelter and not fantastically-played. Blocks were missed, passes were barely dropped, and quarterbacks almost broke big plays. In a game that was supposed to crown a frontrunner at quarterback, there were virtually no signature moments.

As I walked away from Spanos on Saturday afternoon, I pondered exactly what this team will look like next year. With new coaches, a new quarterback, and continually higher expectations, they better have a clear plan. I would hate to be talking about a great defensive team that just couldn’t find its offensive identity in December.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=TWFgNi_pUYs

The sun was shining at the Cal Poly Spring Game on Saturday. Photo by Owen Main

* Cal Poly is trying to make game day more fun. Last season, they implemented premium tailgate spots on California right next to the stadium. In the few hours leading up to this year’s spring game, there were bounce houses and food on the lawn to the southeast of the stadium. If there are clear, blue-skied, 70 degree game days like this one, there will be very little excuse for fans not to come enjoy a Saturday afternoon on campus.

* Early-on, the offense had the advantage, taking the “Green” defense 80 yards down the field for a touchdown in 15 plays.

* While they run the ball a lot, Cal Poly doesn’t waste any time. Last season, the Mustangs’ offense lined up quickly after each play and within about 10-15 seconds, got the next play off. While Poly has been a traditionally running team, their fast-paced tempo seemed as fast as I’ve ever seen it.

* Special teams included players from both the offense and defense, which made things interesting. One coach had a sack of yellow helmet-covers, that he had to distribute and collect before and after each kickoff and punt. It was especially fun to watch the players try to throw them against the wind.

* The “first half” was marked by sloppy play. There were at least 5-7 offsides or false start penalties early-on. The “second half” of the game was much cleaner.

* After the initial great drive, the offense was stopped at least 4 straight times. There were some different offensive players in the game including quarterbacks Chris Brown (freshman) and Vince Moraga (junior). As a backup, Brown seemed more in-control, using his size and scrambling ability to make positive yardage on broken-down plays. Brown also seemed a little better in the passing game.

* Once the defense found their legs and physicality, there were some nice plays made. The Mustangs linebackers look good once again this season.

* On the final play of the “first half,” Mustang soccer player Stephen Pyle drilled a 27-yard field goal. Pyle is one of two walk-ons trying to earn a kicking spot on next year’s team.

I was serious when I said it was a REALLY nice day on Saturday. Attendance was estimated at somewhere between 600-1000 fans.

* Kickoffs next season will be from the 35 yard-line, which contributed to every kickoff in the spring game being a touchback.

* Moraga looked better in the second half. The junior led a 75-yard touchdown drive and looked much more confident and comfortable than the first half.

* The Cal Poly defensive line will be an interesting study next year. The Mustangs front 7 are always physical, but it should be interesting to see how much they can occupy the line and free up what will probably be a strong linebacking corps.

* The scoring system here at the spring game is odd. According to the program, the offense received one point for a first down, two points for plays 25 yards and longer, plus the usual scoring when they get a touchdown, field goal, or extra point. The defense received one point for holding the offense to no points on a drive, three points for a “3-and-out,” six points for forcing a turnover, and 12 or 13 points for a defensive touchdown.

* Walk-on kickers Marco Tavecchio and Mustang soccer player Stephen Pyle had an interesting competition at the end of the game. Both lined up and traded off kicking 47-yard field goals. Most of them missed, and even after Pyle made two in a row, both kickers continued to get some additional practice.

* The pre-game festivities required a food donation for the Food Bank Coalition of San Luis Obispo. People brought cans of food, but the Food Bank Coalition also accepts monetary donation. For every $1 that is donated, the Food Bank Coalition can provide 7 meals to people in-need.

* My first spring game was a good time. Not only did some fans get a glimpse of what next year will be like, but they also get a look at what matters for the coach. While it is a game simulation, fans get to see actual coaching going on during the game. This was apparent during the kicker competition at the end when the two kickers kicked about 10 attempts at each end of the field.

* At the end of the day, news came of former Mustangs cornerback Asa Jackson, who was drafted at the end of the fifth round by the Baltimore Ravens. An Football Championship Subdivision coach being able to talk about having at least three players in the NFL has to help future recruiting, right?

Post-game comments are below. The wind was blowing and so the audio isn’t great, but hope you can enjoy it. Redshirt freshman Chris Brown goes first and discusses his role this year, his comfort level, and the support he’s received from Broadous this Spring. Andre Broadous can be heard next discussing his one drive (80 yards, 15 plays, TD) and the tempo the Mustangs are trying to increase. Finally, Coach Tim Walsh talks about the players he was happy with, the physical linebacking corps, and expresses his pleasure with his team coming out of Spring football generally healthy.