Sports

Published: Sunday, Sep. 20, 2009

Cal Poly Football: Ohio stifles Poly

Mustangs fall to 1-1 with 28-10 loss

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ATHENS, Ohio — Before Saturday’s 28-10 win over Cal Poly, Ohio coaches singled out the Mustangs’ triple-option offense for its propensity to throw the ball.

Cal Poly quarterback Tony Smith did have a terrific starting debut against Sacramento State the week prior, with the passing threat being an unmentioned fourth option that opened up lanes for all the runners.

That’s what separated Cal Poly (1-1) from some other option offenses and made the Mustangs a dangerous opponent, albeit one from the Football Championship Subdivision.

But the Football Bowl Subdivision Bobcats (2-1) had little trouble shutting down that pass option — and all but one of the other options, too — as the Mustangs were limited to just 12 yards through the air and the offense was shut out of the end zone.

The key was an Ohio pass rush that prevented Smith from ever getting comfortable in the pocket.

“If you look at Tony’s play last week, he was extremely efficient,” Cal Poly coach Tim Walsh said. “Why? He was able to get comfortable and get his feet set and our wideouts won in the coverages. And today he wasn’t allowed to get his feet set and that hurt us.

“I don’t think Tony ever, ever got in a comfort rhythm zone in this game and that really is the end result. We ran the ball well enough, really, to win the game, but we didn’t make any plays on offense.”

Ohio never sacked Smith but hurried nearly every one of his throws. The result was more interceptions than completions.

In his second game as the Mustangs starter, Smith was 1-for-11 passing with two interceptions. The lone completion came on a diving 12-yard catch by UCLA transfer Dominique Johnson, who got a foot down as he was falling out of bounds.

The option the Bobcats failed to stop was Cal Poly fullback Jordan Yocum, who gashed Ohio for 130 yards running up the middle. The 27 carries for Yocum were more than 21⁄2 times his single-game career high.

“Coach told me before the game that if they came out in that defense, I was going to get the ball a lot, just run hard,” Yocum said. “Every week, it could be different who gets the ball. It’s just whatever the defense gives us.

“It’s good to get the ball that much, but it’s jut part of the option.”

The other running backs combined for just 34 yards. Smith had 49 yards on 15 attempts.

The problem with running the offense exclusively through the fullback arises when the offense finds itself in predictable third-and-long situations, which it did often.

It also didn’t help that the Mustangs got behind early.

On his first pass of the game, Smith was picked off on a short route by Bobcats linebacker Errik Ejike, who returned the ball 23 yards for a touchdown with 7:08 left in the first quarter.

Ohio got its second touchdown early in the second quarter on a 5-yard pass from Theo Scott to LaVon Brazill to go up 14-0.

After a 42-yard field goal by Cal Poly kicker Chris Pinto late in the first half, a 42-yard touchdown pass from Scott to Taylor Price made it 21-3 and put the Mustangs into a more desperate situation.

Ohio knew it and reacted fiercely.

“They flew to the ball,” Yocum said. “They’re aggressive, they came in with a plan and executed it.

“Pass blocking, I think we got a little confused on everybody. Obviously, Tony didn’t have much time to throw the ball. We have to work on that, protecting him, because that’s our quarterback. We have to protect him.”

Cal Poly drops to 3-6 against FBS teams since 2003 and remains winless against Mid-America Conference teams.

The Mustangs also have little time to regroup before taking on another FBS team as they travel to San Jose State next weekend.

The Spartans are 0-3 after losing 42-17 to Stanford on Saturday. They were also beaten 56-3 by USC in the season opener and 24-14 by Utah last week.

But San Jose beat Cal Poly 17-7 in 2006 and still represents a big upgrade over the Sacramento State team the Mustangs beat 38-19 last week.

“San Jose will be a challenge, too, because they’ll be every bit as athletic as the team we just played, and that’s going to be a huge challenge to come back with,” Walsh said. “The good news is hopefully we’ll learn from the speed of this game and physicality of this game and maybe be a little more prepared and understanding what we’re getting into. So, guys like Tony should be better.”