Wrapping up the 2014 Cal Poly Football season

Nick Dzubnar finished second in the nation in total tackles during the regular season. By Owen Main

Cal Poly football finished their 2014 campaign at 7-5 and was one win away from a playoff berth. There were so many “what-if’s” that Cal Poly fans could point to that make the playoff near-miss agonizing.

Three mini seasons:

Act 1:

The team is still trying to figure out what to do after that their star running back, starting wide receiver, and two defensive backs who had figured into the rotation are arrested. They have a flat performance at New Mexico State, get their butts kicked at South Dakota State, beat Portland State at home, and lose a close game at Northern Arizona. By the end of the fourth game, the Mustangs are 1-3. Fans can see their offense as something that is improving, but defense remains a huge question.

Act 2:

After the Northern Arizona game, most Cal Poly fans have all but written-off the playoffs. But the team is just hitting their stride. They reel-off three consecutive wins (two on the road) to put themselves back into contention. Big wins at home against Montana and Montana State on back to back weeks vault the Mustangs into the top-25. The Mustangs’ offense looks like it can’t be stopped. Their defense is actually starting to get off the field on third down.

A fan who chooses to think positively about this season will remember Act 2 — five consecutive Big Sky Conference victories is a solid feat. To get there, though, junior quarterback Chris Brown has an ungodly number of rushing attempts and, while the defense looks better, there are a few breaks that go the Mustangs’ way.

Act 3:

So, to make the playoffs, all Cal Poly has to do is probably win two of their final three games. Winning all three is absolutely an attainable goal, given that Idaho State was new to success, UC Davis hadn’t won a game against a Division I team all season, and San Diego is a team the Mustangs have easily handled the past two years.

Instead, the wheels started to fall off. All of Brown’s carries (along with the hard turf and physical defense) finally caught-up with him in Pocatello. Idaho State came with a great game-plan and Cal Poly had no counter. Even with the loss to Idaho State, the playoffs were still squarely in Cal Poly’s sights, until UC Davis came to town. In the Battle for the Golden Horseshoe, Cal Poly was physically outmatched again by UC Davis’ zone-blocking game for running back Gabe Manzanares. The loss to Davis was the first home loss of the season for Cal Poly and the only Division I win Davis got all season. Without numerous injured players, Cal Poly managed to totally dominate San Diego in the final game of the season, but it was too little, too late.

Recap:

Montana and Montana State are both hosting playoff games this year (vs. San Diego and South Dakota State, respectively). Cal Poly played all four of those teams this year and beat three of them. But the Mustangs lost to one of the worst teams in FBS, lost to their rival UC Davis during one of that school’s worst seasons, and only managed a 7-5 record. In college football — even when there is a playoff system — the margin for error isn’t that large, and this year’s Mustangs didn’t get into the playoffs.

The depth chart

Prior to the season, when Tim Walsh still thought he’d have his full compliment of players, he talked about taking some of the workload off his quarterbacks to keep them healthier than 2013, when at least five quarterbacks took some snaps in games.

When Kristaan Ivory and Cam Akins were suspended, Walsh no longer had the luxury to pick and choose. With Brown as the leading rusher, Cal Poly’s offense was still the top-ranked rushing offense in the nation. Cal Poly wasn’t quite as diverse, though. Brown, who is absolutely the most explosive rusher on the team, rushed the ball 89 times in three weeks, culminating with a 39-attempt performance at Idaho State in a game Cal Poly lost.

The question for me is always the true opportunity cost of getting the ball out of Brown’s hands and into the belly of Joe Protheroe and Lance Mudd more often. Cal Poly doesn’t like to give the ball to young players with the game on the line. With less depth than they expected, Mudd and Protheroe combined for six carries in the pivotal Idaho State loss.

To be clear, I don’t think I’m second guessing the coaching decision or even Brown’s decision to keep it on option plays. Without his courageous play, Cal Poly would never have had the chance to be a playoff contender. The real point I’m trying to make is that at some point in a football season — at any level — depth will catch up with you.

Chris Brown had a record-setting season at quarterback for Cal Poly. By Owen Main

Chris Brown

The notes on Chris Brown are really amazing to me. I’m not sure people realize the historic numbers he put up.

The junior quarterback rushed for 1,265 yards — obliterating the previous rushing record for a Cal Poly quarterback and setting a new Big Sky Conference record in the process. The old rushing record for a quarterback was 1,060. Brown finished first in the conference in scoring, second in rushing, and third in passing efficiency.

Brown was named third-team all-conference and

In the end, his 249 rushes might have been the biggest number. To put it into perspective, the leaders in rushes on the team the past two years carried the ball 172 times and 231 times respectively. Kristaan Ivory, who was first and second in carries over the past two seasons, had 281 total rushes.

Brown was a horse. Cal Poly saw what he could do and couldn’t help but to run him into the ground. Look for Brown to be a player other teams really key on next season.

Senior Leadership

Seniors on this year’s team acquitted themselves quite well. At linebacker, Nick Dzubnar set a school record for tackles and Cameron Ontko had 107 tackles for  the second straight season. Defensive tackle Chris Lawrence stepped out of the shadow of Sullivan Grosz and battled through injuries all season.

On offense, Brandon Howe became a dependable and steady triple-option fullback and Kenny Mitchell took advantage of his opportunity to play, providing key blocks and getting into the end zone on key passing plays throughout the season. Chris Nicholls played through some injuries and broke-off some big plays. Cal Poly’s offense was at its best and most-balanced when Nicholls was in the lineup this year.

In a season that started with so much tumult, the dialogue around the program developed into a real football conversation and fans were focused on the on-field product by the end of the season, which is perhaps the best compliment you can pay to this senior group.

Lance Mudd (25) along with Joe Protheroe and Alex Suchesk figure to get more carries next season. By Owen Main

The youngsters

I said earlier that Cal Poly doesn’t usually like playing true freshmen. Most of the key contributors on their roster redshirted their freshman year. They generally stayed true to that pattern this season, with the exception of Lance Mudd. Next year, they’ll have to depend on a stable of young backs. Thousand-yard rusher Kori Garcia will be a junior, but Mudd (sophomore) Joe Protheroe (sophomore), and Alex Suschek figure to get their share of carries.

After losing three all-conference linebackers over the past two years, next year’s linebacking corps will be somewhat inexperienced, if not young. Look for that to be a big area of focus come spring practice.

Final analysis

Overall, this season gets something like a B-, which is an improvement from last year, which was probably more like a C+. Cal Poly had two chances in the last three games to win a very winnable game and get into the playoffs. For some, this can leave a really bitter taste.

I’m not going to tell anyone to be satisfied with the way the season turned out, but all things considered, this season started 1-3 with five arrests and ended 7-5 with a record-breaking quarterback performance, a late chance at the playoffs, and some kind of bright outlook for the future. Cal Poly fans might not be satisfied, but the program is still together and next season is definitely something they can look forward to.