Finally. 

On Saturday afternoon, Cal Poly football finally got its first win of 2017. In the end, Cal Poly did it their way. Five touchdowns — all on the ground. Defensive stability. Finally, an all-around game.

J-MO’s big game

Jared Mohamed celebrates a touchdown on Saturday night. By Owen Main

Cal Poly fans, be thankful for senior fullback Jared Mohamed. In a season when he’s been a constant both in play and attitude, Mohamed had 194 yards and two touchdowns in the first win of the season. 

Mohamed was a workhorse for the Mustangs, toting it 35 times in the game, but the key was probably when those carries came. Mohamed was fresh at halftime, only having 11 carries in the first half. Once Cal Poly got a lead late in the game, the fresh-legged senior had plenty in the tank to plow forward for six fourth-quarter first downs as Cal Poly milked the clock with the lead.  

Balance and shift

Freshman slot back Chuby Danu had a nice game against Portland State. By Owen Main

Cal Poly decided to shift their offensive personnel some last week in Davis. This week, it paid off. Freshmen Chuby Danu and Broc Mortensen got all the wingback carries on Saturday as Kyle Lewis manned his new position as a wide receiver on the edge. Lewis didn’t catch any passes, but Walsh complimented the blocking of the receivers, saying it was the best job they’ve done of blocking all season. 

Mortensen, a true freshman from Ventura, took the ball on the team’s first offensive play and made the most out of it. Breaking at least three tackles, Mortensen changed fields and scampered for 44 yards. After Mortensen caught an 11 yard pass from quarterback Jake Jeffrey a few plays later, fellow freshman Danu scored from seven yards out on the right edge. 

Freshman Broc Mortensen took control of the game early, rushing for 44 yards on Cal Poly’s first play. By Owen Main

The use of Danu and Mortensen and their early success kept Mohamed or Jeffrey from shouldering too much of the load early and set the tone for Cal Poly to be truly unpredictable on offense for the rest of the game. 

Danu would score two touchdowns on the night to go with 74 yards rushing. Mortensen only managed seven carries for 83 yards himself, but when you reel off 44 on your first carry, other teams are looking at you as a weapon. It’s weird to think that “stars” are bad on offense — they aren’t — but having and really using a variety of ball carriers is an important adjustment Cal Poly has made over the past few weeks. 

Defense finishes

With the ball, down by seven points, it seemed Portland State had scored a touchdown to tie the game when Davis Alexander found Charlie Taumoepeau in the back of the end zone with less than one minute to play. 

But Taumoepeau landed out of bounds beyond the end zone and the Mustangs were spared. On the next play, safety Mark Reza intercepted an Alexander pass to seal the game for Cal Poly. The difference between winning and losing isn’t that great very often. That razor’s edge was in full display in the final minute at Spanos. 

Cellar dwellers

With their first win of the season, Cal Poly vaulted out of the Big Sky cellar. With two conference games to play, Cal Poly joins Northern Colorado as a one-win team in conference play and Portland State remained winless on the season. 

Two left

Cal Poly will play Sacramento State (5-4, 4-2 in Big Sky Conference) at Spanos Stadium on Saturday night before finishing their season in Greeley, CO against the previously mentioned Northern Colorado team. Cal Poly hasn’t lost to Sacramento State in at least four seasons, the last loss coming in 2012 at home.

In the four Mustang wins since, they haven’t scored less than 36 points and have averaged over 48 points per game. 

Kickoff for Saturday’s home finale is set for 6:05 pm.

Photos by Owen Main.To view more photos, click here. If you just want to contribute to the cause, Venmo @Owen-Main or paypal owen@fansmanship.com. 

Cal Poly football’s bye week couldn’t have come at a better time. The Mustangs, 3-2 on the season and ranked in the top-20 nationally, played at North Dakota two weeks ago without their preseason All-American fullback Joe Protheroe and came away with a close loss. With three weeks between games, Tim Walsh expects Protheroe back to face the Vikings, who are no strangers to rushing the ball.

Game time is set for 2:30pm in Portland’s Providence Park, which Portland State shares with the Portland Timbers MLS franchise.

While the bye week helped Cal Poly on offense, it didn’t do much for the linebacking corps, which is very thin coming into this game. With multiple injuries, true freshman Jayson Lee will get the start. Walsh said Lee, a native of Oakhurst California, is excited for the opportunity. Under normal circumstances, Cal Poly generally redshirts a lot of freshmen, but Lee will get his shot on Saturday in an important road game.

Other players had opportunities to nurse nicks and bruises during the bye week too.

For their part, the Vikings are 1-2 in Big Sky play, having beaten Idaho State in Portland and lost to both Weber State and Southern Utah on the road. Last season, Portland State beat Cal Poly 38-35 in San Luis Obispo and Tim Walsh’s former team is always a tough opponent on their home (artificial) turf.

Portland State can rush the ball and have a really dynamic quarterback in Alex Kuresa, who will put a ton of pressure on all of Cal Poly’s linebackers. That seems to be the key matchup for the Mustangs’ defense. On offense, as always, the big question will be whether Cal Poly can avoid turnovers and score touchdowns in the red zone.

Randomness

I loved this quote from Portland State coach Bruce Barnum from the weekly press conference:

Barnum said he recruited and offered Cal Poly QB Dano Graves when he was at Folsom High School. "He looked at me like I was a mud puddle.”

— Lucas Clark (@LucasClark_SLO) October 12, 2016

Luckily for everyone, Portland’s Providence Park has artificial turf. There may be some puddles, but they shouldn’t be muddy.

Portland State outlasted Cal Poly 38-35 on Saturday night at Alex G. Spanos Stadium. For the second straight week, Cal Poly had a lead they couldn’t hold and lost in somewhat excruciating fashion. Now 2-5 on the season, the Mustangs will look to rebound and play spoiler at Southern Utah next weekend.

Photos by Owen Main

To view all photos, click here.

Man, there was a lot going on last Saturday. Between homecoming, parents and family weekend, a logging competition, Alumni luncheons, soccer games, and myriad other events on-campus, I feel like one human could not possibly partake in everything.

I tried though.

Maybe more than other games, the loss to Portland State was really a game I can best describe in snap-shots. I may have missed a few, but here are a few key ones from where I stood and sat.

Chris Brown didn’t play. Neither did Dano Graves

Prior to the start of the game, it became evident that Chris Brown was not playing due to an undisclosed injury. Dano Graves has been on ice this year, apparently redshirting during what could have been his final year of eligibility. Instead of burning that redshirt, Tim Walsh chose to go with a true freshman at quarterback in Khaleel Jenkins. The last time Cal Poly started a freshman quarterback? I don’t know. It wasn’t anytime in my recent memory.

It was only 6-0, somehow

Joe Protheroe fumbles Cal Poly’s first play from scrimmage Saturday night. By Owen Main

I’m not sure how, but Cal Poly managed to fumble the opening kickoff and their first play from scrimmage, score a touchdown on their third possession, and take a 7-6 lead.

Actually, I do know how: their defense was well-prepared to start the game. Cal Poly’s defense generally has had really great game-plans schematically to shut down opposing offenses. Because of their great play and holding Portland State to a field goal, they just about nullified the first two miscues.

The 16-play, 78-yard drive seemed to do a lot for the Cal Poly bench and probably for freshman quarterback Khaleel Jenkins’ confidence. Cal Poly seemed to have stolen all the momentum right back with just under four minutes left in the first quarter.

Jenkins breaks one off

The juke was amazing, but I’m sure he’d give it back for a few of those fumbles. By Owen Main

Khaleel Jenkins showed why Tim Walsh felt good starting him before the first quarter was over. After the Vikings took a 13-7 lead, Jenkins capped a 75 yard drive with a 50-yard dash down the left sideline. It was the first of three long touchdown plays Cal Poly would execute on the night and gave fans a glimpse of what the freshman from San Diego can do. On the play, he put a move on a Portland State defender that just wasn’t fair and was down the sidelines in a flash. There’s a lot to look forward to there.

That second quarter

Tim Walsh said in his radio post-game interview that the Mustangs should have taken much more control of the game in the first half. He certainly meant the second quarter. In that quarter, the Mustang defense intercepted Vikings quarterback Alex Kuresa and held Portland State on fourth down on back-to-back possessions.

Against a team that has scored 115 points in their past two games, the defensive stands throughout the first half were a big deal.

What did the offense do to capitalize? Not much.

Cal Poly went four-and-out coming off the interception. After the defense once again held the Vikings, Khaleel Jenkins and Cal Poly actually put a nice drive together. Thirteen plays and 79 yards later, the Mustangs had the ball at the 8 yard-line, poised to go up 21-13. Instead, Jenkins fumbled the ball and the second quarter went by without a score on either side. When Cal Poly scored first in the third quarter, they should have been going up by two scores. Instead Portland State remained in striking-distance.

The penalty

If there was one play that really took the wind out of Cal Poly’s sails, it was probably a late hit by their defensive leader. Tu’uta Inoke. With the score tied at 28 early in the fourth quarter, the Vikings were driving. On a third and one at Cal Poly’s 27 yard-line, Cal Poly managed to sack Alex Kuresa, but Inoke came down on the pile a split-second late. Two plays after the personal foul penalty, Kuresa threw a touchdown pass to put the Vikings up for the first time in the second half.

It’s likely Portland State would have kicked a filed goal in that situation on fourth down, but they only won by a late field goal in the end. You can never put a whole game on one player or one play, but that was a really tough penalty for Cal Poly’s defense to take in that situation.

More Kyle Lewis?

Kyle Lewis has proven to be a big-play threat on the edge for Cal Poly’s triple option offense. By Owen Main

With injuries throughout the year to big-play threats like Joe Protheroe and Chris Brown, one has to wonder if it’s time to start to feature Kyle Lewis more. Lewis fumbled the opening kickoff, but somewhat made up for it by catching a 57-yard touchdown pass and blazing down the near sideline for a 29-yard touchdown run. Overall, Lewis had just six offensive touches, but that number might need to be around 10 for Cal Poly to stay balanced and explosive.

Speaking of the touchdown pass, the trick-play was pretty sweet. It came at just the right time. Props to Saga Tuitele, who had a really good game calling plays for his freshman quarterback.

Kuresa’s legs

Staying on the theme of props — big ones go to Alex Kuresa for what he did with his legs. After getting knocked-down a number of times in the first half, the Portland State quarterback was able to scramble and make big play after big play against Cal Poly’s defense. Along with his 232 yards and two touchdowns passing, the junior rushed for over 100 yards and two more touchdowns. In all, Kuresa accounted for four of the five touchdowns the Vikings scored.

Cal Poly’s defense tends to do a really good job of taking the other team’s base offense away.

Portland State had rushed for 465 and 368 yards in the past two weeks against relatively good teams. Cal Poly held the Vikings to just 154 yards on 42 attempts, including many Kuresa scrambles. Aside from the quarterback, Portland State netted just 53 yards on the ground on 24 carries.

The numbers game

Cal Poly ran 21 more plays than Portland State and held the ball for about 10 more minutes than the Vikings. The Mustangs out-gained Portland State by 150 yards for the game, but committed half as many fumbles in this one game that they committed all of last season.

Khaleel Jenkins showed some promise starting his first game. He rushed for 93 yards including a spectacular touchdown scamper, but his three fumbles turned out to really be the difference. Mustang fans know there will be growing pains going forward as Jenkins gets more experience. Jenkins is the first true freshman quarterback to start a game in as long as I can remember and his development will absolutely be the future of Cal Poly football.

Since playoffs aren’t really in play at this point, it’s natural to start to peek toward next year — even with over a month to go. A quarterback battle is already brewing in my head. Maybe it’ll stay there. Maybe it’s better that way.

For now, in the present, the Mustangs will try to go on a run to finish their season above .500. It won’t be easy. Six of their first seven opponents have been either FBS or top-25 FCS teams. Their eighth, Southern Utah, has moved up into the top-25 and will be the 7th top-25 or better team the Mustangs play in their first eight games. If you want to be the best, you’ve got to beat the best. Cal Poly has had their chances this season and despite some excruciatingly close games, hasn’t come out on the right side of their must-win games early in the schedule.

Five games remain.

Karlton Dennis and Cal Poly’s defensive secondary played one of the most complete games I’ve seen out of them since Nico Molino roamed the passing lanes. By Owen Main

“Is this the most points the triple option has ever scored,” texted a friend of mine Saturday night in the waning moments of Cal Poly’s 42-14 shellacking of Portland State.

It was interesting trying to explain that two years ago with Andre Broadous and Deonte Williams, the Cal Poly offense regularly put up big numbers.

On Saturday, Chris Brown and the Cal Poly offense rose beyond the pressure of a home opener and an 0-2 record. To put it simply, they ran the triple option with high levels of efficiency and trounced a Portland State team that stuck close with Oregon State only a week ago.

The numbers speak for themselves. Cal Poly got off 74 rushing plays, gaining 470 yards on the ground. When they did pass it, they were mostly efficient — 4/7 for 61 yards and a touchdown. The Mustangs committed zero turnovers.

Cal Poly led in first downs 25-15, and that number seemed even more one-sided before the fourth quarter. Chris Brown, Cal Poly’s starting quarterback, didn’t need to play in the fourth quarter and Cal Poly controlled possession for almost 60 percent of the game.

Kori Garcia managed his first 100-yard rushing game for Cal Poly — going for 103 yards on a team-high 18 carries. Brandon Howe touched the ball early and often en route to two touchdowns, 81 yards, and 14 carries. Brown showed why he’s the starter, rushing for 159 yards himself on just 12 carries, including two touchdowns. He didn’t play in the fourth quarter.

While the offense finished drives with touchdowns, the defense chose the home opener to get stingy. Improved play from defensive backs Fernando Cabico, Chris Fletcher, Jordan Williams, and Karlton Dennis went a long way to stifle Portland State’s passing game. Whatever gap responsibilities the Mustang front-seven that had been missing over the first two weeks were apparently fixed, too. Big plays from Jake Irwin, Chris Lawrence, and Josh Letuligasenoa sparked a unit that showed it can also play at a pretty high level — something that fans wondered about after the Mustangs’ first two performances.

Tim Walsh’s comments after the game were really interesting, especially when it came to his own mentality and emotions over the past few weeks. I think anyone could see this win really meant a lot for the team and program coming off a six-week stretch where they lost five key players and two football games that they felt like they could have won. There might have been a lot of pressure coming into the game, but the Mustangs answered the bell, and then some.

Senior fullback Brandon Howe scored a pair of touchdowns as Cal Poly got back to a more varied triple-option. When a fullback gets three-plus yards on pretty much every play, the triple option offense is really hard to stop.

Chris Brown had a huge game, too. He has always been one of the more exciting players on the field and now it seems like the game is slowing down for him. His commentary also seems to reflect that maturity and growth.

Photos by Owen Main

To view on an iPhone or iPad, click here.

Early in the year, the Cal Poly football team had swagger. You could tell by their words. You could see it in their body language. In conference or out of conference. Confidence was not an issue for Tim Walsh’s team.

Despite clawing and scratching, the Mustangs couldn’t regain their swagger last week at Eastern Washington’s “Inferno.”

Over the past three weeks, Cal Poly has learned a lesson, though. Other teams in the Big Sky have swagger too.

Portland State had swagger. Three weeks ago, they came into Alex G. Spanos Stadium on a drizzly Saturday and gave Cal Poly all they could handle. Going up 7-0 and 14-7, the Vikings were the first team to shut off the corner and start to slow-down Cal Poly’s offense taking control of the “edge.” Tim Walsh’s old school used strong defensive end play to force Cal Poly to go back to running the ball inside between the tackles. Though they lost the game, they gave other teams a blueprint for frustrating Cal Poly’s offense.

Sacramento State had swagger. In an emotional game, the Hornets used the defensive blueprint from the Portland State game to slow down Cal Poly’s offense throughout the game. Sacramento State’s offense also had swagger. His name was Morris Norrise. Norrise knew he was physically more gifted than almost everyone on the field and played like it, racking up 97 receiving yards and two touchdowns.

For the first time, Cal Poly’s frustration and uncertainty began to cut into their swagger. Fumbles were lost at crucial times. Injuries to linemen began to stack-up. Backups didn’t have the same swagger as the starters. It showed.

Last week, Cal Poly went to school. The class: Swagger 101. The Professor: Eastern Washington University.

The Eagles are a team that has a recent National Championship. They boast huge amounts of talent. They play on a red field. They are really good. They have swagger.

While he’s continued to “run like a Mustang,” Cal Poly’s commissioner of swagger — running back Deonte Williams — hasn’t found holes as easily during the past few games.

The assumption of Eagles fans and onlookers is that Eastern Washington will win every game they play this year, especially at home. They are used to winning. They have winning talent across the field. Good programs build on themselves. A National Championship is a great recruiting tool.

Cal Poly was out-played from the beginning of the Eastern Washington game. The one time when the momentum looked like it might be turning Cal Poly intercepted a pass — finally stemming the momentum of the Eagles’ juggernaut offense. Except the defensive back who intercepted the pass promptly fumbled the ball. Fumbles like that are plays teams with swagger shake-off and overcome (see: the beginning of the Sacramento State game). Instead, it broke any momentum the Mustangs might have had.

Teams with swagger are not surprised by winning. EWU averaged 9 wins per year over the last three seasons. They are on-pace for at least that many this year. They are not surprised by scoring. Like Cal Poly, they average over 30 points per game. Their swagger causes teams like Cal Poly to try to do things they don’t usually do. They put unusual pressure on opposing teams on both sides of the ball and also between the ears.

While Cal Poly will not play Montana or Montana State this season, and the Eastern Washington game was not technically a conference game, I have to believe the top teams in this conference have similar swagger.

It’s a major reason the Mustangs joined the conference. But to get more legitimacy than the Great West offered, you have to be able to deal with confident, skilled, and even dominant teams.

Sometimes swagger can annoy opposing fans. Eastern Washington’s television play-by-play guys, featured on Big Sky TV last Saturday, were at times condescending and rude. Already-frustrated Cal Poly fans were not pleased. But when you’re getting your collective butts kicked, there isn’t much anybody can say. Which brings us back to another great thing about swagger.

Without the Yankees and the swagger of their fans, baseball isn’t as much fun. With that swagger, opposing fans have extra reason to care about the game. When teams with swagger-rich fan bases (think Yankees, Lakers, Patriots, Kentucky basketball, Alabama football, etc…) are playing, everyone they play benefits. Fans of their team root harder, opposing teams love to root against them, and the level of fansmanship for everyone is raised.

As they’ve learned so far this year, the Big Sky is a conference laden with swagger. Cal Poly has lost some of theirs over the past few weeks. I don’t know where it went, but to win a conference title, they’ll have to find it again. And then some.