The triple option isn’t designed to come back quickly from big deficits, but that’s just what Cal Poly did on Saturday afternoon. Even two touchdowns in the last three minutes couldn’t keep Northern Iowa from beating the Mustangs 45-38 in overtime. Cal Poly is now 0-3 on the season leading up to their Big Sky Conference opener in two weeks.

The Comeback

Down by 14 points with 7:50 to play, there was still time left, but Cal Poly used over five and a half minutes on a 13 play, 74-yard touchdown drive to cut the lead to 7. With only 2:05 to play, Cal Poly attempted an onside kick and seemed to recover it, but were flagged for an illegal formation penalty on the kickoff. After UNI went three-and-out, Cal Poly got the ball back with 1:05 to play at their own 9 yard line. 

Somehow, they scored. 

Cal Poly’s Kyle Lewis managed three big plays on Saturday in Iowa. By Owen Main

Khaleel Jenkins had a few big rushes, the clock kept stopping, and Jenkins’ second complete pass of the drive was a strike to Kyle Lewis down the left side for a 53 yard touchdown. The UNI safety, who was in position to at least tackle Lewis, looked like he lost the ball in the lights as he glided right by Lewis, who turned upfield and ran into the end zone for the game-tying score.

Revving up the offense

Cal Poly’s offense came to life on Saturday. Finally. The group that had put up 528 total yards combined in the first two weeks of the season posted 543 yards on Saturday against the 23rd ranked team in the country. 

With offensive coordinator Jim Craft in his first season calling plays along with a first-time starting quarterback and untimely turnovers, Cal Poly’s offense hadn’t really given the team a chance over their first two games. 

It looked like the same would be true on Saturday — Jenkins fumbled twice in the first half and one of those was run back for a touchdown. UNI scored 28 points in all in the second quarter en route to a 28-21 halftime lead. 

Hold onto the ball

The Mustangs are now 0-3. One big reason is that they’ve had multiple turnovers in every game they’ve played so far. Two fumbles have been returned for touchdowns and one was inside the opponents’ five yard-line. 

Once in high school we tried to play The Program on a charter bus on the way to an away-game in Los Angeles. We got through most of it. It’s a movie I need to watch again. It’s a great primer to the college football season. So many quotes.

More than any other offense, turnovers absolutely kill the triple option and Cal Poly hasn’t held onto the ball so far this year. The problems have mostly come in the running game, where six fumbles have been committed. Khaleel Jenkins has yet to throw an interception. Could this mean that Cal Poly could be passing more in two weeks at home in their Big Sky opener against Northern Arizona? I guess we’ll have to wait and see.

Balance and the Bye

Cal Poly’s bye week couldn’t come at a better time. The Mustangs have the upcoming weekend off, just in time to get a little healthier. 

Jared Mohamed was always a really great back-up option at fullback and may be toting the load the rest of the season if Joe Protheroe doesn’t get healthy. By Owen Main

On Saturday, Khaleel Jenkins rushed 37 times for 102 yards. Normally, that kind of punishing imbalance would be a cause for concern (it was after week 1 with Joe Protheroe), but with the bye week, it’s a little less of a concern. There was good reason for Jenkins to call his own number more — Protheroe didn’t play on Saturday. He was in a knee brace after last week’s game and during practice this week and it’s still unclear whether he plays again this year. He’s a senior this year, but has a redshirt season left and with his injury, I would expect some kind of indication over the next two weeks as to whether he might be out for the season. 

In Protheroe’s stead, senior fullback Jared Mohamed carried the ball 23 times for a team-high 112 yards. Nobody else on the team carried it more than 5 times. It’s not great balance, but it’s hard to complain when you have 550 yards of total offense, right?

Koski and KLew break-out

Receiver J.J. Koski made a few big plays. On almost identical over-the-top passes, Jenkins found Koski twice in the second quarter. In all, he had five catches for 104 yards and two touchdowns. Kyle Lewis had a pretty efficient receiving day himself. Lewis caught three balls for a whopping 130 yards. He scored Cal Poly’s first and last touchdowns. 

Northern Arizona looms

Northern Arizona is probably the best team Cal Poly will play in the Big Sky this season, and they face them straight away after the bye. It will be the first game for incoming freshmen. It will be the Mustangs’ first home game since the opening day stinker. 

Despite a mostly crummy 0-3 start, Cal Poly has played better lately. They have a weak conference schedule. They have a bye week. They still have an opportunity to compete in the Big Sky

Even when you’re 0-3, opportunities abound. With school starting, the question is whether the Mustangs can take advantage. 

Like many fans in San Luis Obispo, I’ve been efforting for a few days to move on from Saturday. I think everyone who was there would agree — that game sucked. It wasn’t the MOST disappointing game in recent memory, but based on the opportunity that was there, it was pretty bad. Before we move on, here are my Twitter comments at halftime that I think pretty clearly sum up my thoughts at the time.

As you’ll see if you read below, the biggest bummer about the whole situation was the fans being treated to that stinker of a first half. It was the WOWies’ first exposure to football at Cal Poly, and it stunk. And they all left.

1) Down 21 points in your home opener

— fansmanship (@fansmanship) September 20, 2015

3) Non-student fans were leaving in droves at halftime as well.

— fansmanship (@fansmanship) September 20, 2015

5) Fresh Prince of Bel Aire sing along was the worst. At a moment the crowd needed to urgently get behind their team, they were distracted.

— fansmanship (@fansmanship) September 20, 2015

They haven't had a dominant game yet. That was supposed to be this team's strength. (2/2)

— fansmanship (@fansmanship) September 20, 2015

Shouldn't have that problem in the 2nd half #AllGone #Infrastructure

— fansmanship (@fansmanship) September 20, 2015

Freshmen cleared outta here quick. Was totally full on far side in first half. My phone works now too. pic.twitter.com/I7VhZPlNTT

— fansmanship (@fansmanship) September 20, 2015

OK, now that that is out of the way, let’s talk about this week.

Opportunities still abound

If you thought Cal Poly’s schedule was tough for the first three weeks, the next weeks are really hard too. Tim Walsh’s team faces Montana State in Bozeman, comes home for Idaho State — who beat Cal Poly in Pocatello last year — and then travels to play Eastern Washington on the red turf.

To put it another way, Cal Poly plays five of their first 6 games against FCS ranked schools or Arizona State. The one unranked team, Idaho State, is a program on the rise in the conference.

Nothing is guaranteed for Cal Poly this year, as evidenced by the lackluster performance on Saturday. That said, Cal Poly played two VERY GOOD games to start the year. If the Mustangs can find some road magic and win one of their next two road games and take care of business at home against Idaho State, they would be 2-1 in Big Sky play with five games to play. Even if they’re 1-2 at that point (which would make them 2-4 overall), the playoffs are still a real possibility if the table can be run in the final five games.

Surprisingly, pollsters this week gave the Mustangs kind of a break by keeping them in the top-25. Could they stay there with a close loss at Montana State and a 1-3 overall record? That would be interesting.

DJ Peluso caught three passes on Saturday. By Owen Main

Passing progress?

After throwing for less than 100 yards in the first two games combined, Cal Poly’s passing game cost them on Saturday night. Chris Brown thew for 77 yards, but also was picked-off twice. In 2014, Cal Poly only committed seven turnovers, including three interceptions. They almost matched that interceptions total on Saturday.

So far this season, Brown is 20-42 passing for 179 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions. It’s not as efficient as Brown or his coaches would like him to be.

It will be hard for Cal Poly to respond by throwing more, but maybe that’s what they need to do. Teams are doing an excellent job scheming against the run and daring the Mustangs to go deep. DJ Peluso caught three balls and looks to be fitting into better to a receiving role out of the backfield. Cal Poly coaches would probably say that wideouts could have affected the Northern Iowa game more by blocking better, but more effective use of wideouts Jordan Hines, Willie Tucker, and Roland Jackson Jr. in the passing game could be keys to unlocking a more explosive Cal Poly offense.

Looking ahead

Players can’t look ahead, but as a fan I can at least glance that way. After the Eastern Washington game, Cal Poly will have a bye and then will play three of their final five games at home. None of those final five teams are a conference powerhouse. Southern Utah and Portland State won’t be easy. UC Davis is UC Davis. Sac Sate is never an easy game (except last year?) and North Dakota has looked decent at times this year.

More than ever though, Mustang fans could be in total despair after the first six weeks and the team could still make the playoffs and do damage. When they play well, Cal Poly has shown they can compete anywhere with anyone this season. I’m not going to tell fans not to feel emotion if Cal Poly loses, but I will say this: Until they lose one of those final five games, they can’t be counted out — no matter what happens over the next three weeks.

While Chris Brown had another 100-yard game, teams are keying on players like Kori Garcia, who hasn’t quite been able to get the corner consistently this season. By Owen Main

Northern Iowa rolled right from the beginning on Saturday night. It’s a game that Cal Poly would love flushed from the collective consciousness of everyone who has ever heard of football.

Cal Poly had seven points going into the fourth quarter in a game they were basically out of halfway through the first quarter.

A few highlights: Chris Brown rushed for 184 yards, Cal Poly outscored Northern Iowa 13-6 in the second half, and some off-tackle lead-blocked second-half rushes were successful. Alex Suchesk racked-up 70 yards in limited time.

More posts on the aftermath of last week to come, but for now, here are a ton of photos.

Photos by Owen Main – click here

Northern Iowa jumped out to a 21-0 first-quarter lead on Saturday night and rolled to a 34-20 win over Cal Poly.