Sports

Saturday, Aug. 30, 2008

Mustangs shooting for a sequel

Two seasons after upsetting FBS San Diego State, the Mustangs return to Qualcomm Stadium for a highly anticipated opener with Aztecs

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TODAY’S OPENER

Cal Poly at San Diego State

6:30 p. m.

(ESPN 1280 AM, KCPR 91.3 FM)

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Gameday page, including stats, depth charts, notebook and opponent

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Cal Poly is less than two years removed from upsetting San Diego State on the road and causing an ensuing hysteria for Aztecs fans.

But, on a national level at least, everything’s back to normal.

The 16-14 Mustangs win in 2006 has been described as one of the darkest days in San Diego State football history. Cal Poly won with a 37-yard field goal with 1 minute, 50 seconds left in the game, dropping the Aztecs to 1-6 in a season they’d finished 3-9.

When the two teams meet again in tonight’s 6:30 season opener at Qualcomm Stadium, San Diego State seems to have automatically regained the favorite status that accompanies any NCAA Division I Football Bowl Series team when it plays one from the second-rung Football Championship Series.

In an online college football blog, ESPN.com’s Graham Watson put Aztecs coach Chuck Long on the hot seat watchlist along with a couple of other coaches from Mountain West Conference teams. His assessment seemed to be that Long is safe this weekend.

“San Diego State plays Cal Poly,” Watson wrote, “but the other coaches have formidable opponents in Ohio and Utah State.”

That perception is part of the reason Long, who suffered the loss to Cal Poly in his first year at the helm, spent a good portion of his media appearances reminding reporters the

Mustangs are no pushover.

“Cal Poly is a team that beat us a couple years ago,” Long said during a game-week conference call. “We by no means have any reason to take them lightly.”

The focus of Long’s assessment was Mustangs receiver Ramses Barden, the 6-foot-6 All-American who tested the NFL Draft waters after breaking out for 1,467 yards and 18 touchdowns last season.

Long called Barden as good a receiver the Aztecs would see all year.

“He had a couple of great catches against us (in 2006),” Long said. “Obviously, you want to try and double him as much as you can.”

Barden understands he won’t be able to hide in one-on- one coverage since establishing a reputation for becoming a game-breaking receiver. He set the school record with four touchdowns in one game last season and averaged more than 25 yards per catch.

But Barden also gets the ongoing slight against FCS teams.

“I don’t even know if we have a mentality that’s an underdog or a favorite or anything like that,” Barden said. “We just want to play our game.

“They’re always gonna have that overtone of separate divisions, people are always going to expect the higher division team to have their way with the other team.”

Don’t expect the Aztecs to spend too many resources blanketing Barden, though. Since losing two defensive tackles to injury, San Diego State’s depth issues along the defensive line have become a question mark.

Former Morro Bay High standout Jerome Long, a true freshman, is expecting to get some playing time because of the injuries, and he said stopping the run would be the No. 1 concern.

With 10 of 11 starters back from last season’s record-breaking offense, Cal Poly appears much more comfortable with the triple-option attack installed in 2007.

Senior running back James Noble, fourth on the Mustangs’ all-time list with 3,051 rushing yards, is back healthy this season, as is fellow senior Ryan Mole, who rushed for 424 yards and three touchdowns and missed three games with a knee sprain last season.

Quarterback Jonathan Dally, who accounted for more than 3,000 yards of total offense and 41 touchdowns a year ago, said the team had a good training camp with so many starters back.

Even if Barden is limited, Cal Poly expects to take advantage of any opportunity it can get.

“The thing with having someone like Ramses, is it opens up so much other stuff,” said senior guard Stephen Field, a former Arroyo Grande High standout. “Having a threat that will allow us to run so many other run plays and be able to really attack them in other areas. They have to cover all the other threats we have out there, and with Ramses being out there, they have to account for him with at least a couple people.”

Defensively, Cal Poly returns just a handful of starters but appears at a definite size disadvantage with San Diego State starters along the offensive line all ranging between 280 and 330 pounds.

Long said San Diego State, with redshirt freshman Ryan Lindley taking his first career snaps at quarterback, wants to run the ball against a Cal Poly defensive front that doesn’t have one player over 260 pounds.

But the Aztecs’ depth at running back took a hit when Atiyyah Henderson injured a hamstring in practice this week and remains questionable to play.

Mustangs coach Rich Ellerson said it’s not necessarily his team’s top goal to harass Lindley because he’s a freshman. Cal Poly expects to start true freshman Asa Jackson at cornerback and Ellerson said it would be a mistake to make assumptions about Jackson because of his youth.

Going into a season-opener, Ellerson said, it’s hard to know what to expect from either team.

“We’re not gonna come in and run their offense at them and they’re not gonna run our defense at us,” Ellerson said. “We’re all doing things that are a little bit difficult for our opponents to prepare for in practice.

“Right now, we’re not sure who they are.”