San Diego brings championship pedigree to Cal Poly’s home opener

Winning seven conference championships over an 11-year stretch would qualify most programs within the college football landscape as a national power.

Yet, that hasn’t been the case for the San Diego Toreros, who have developed a championship pedigree as the team to beat in the Pioneer Football League since former coach Jim Harbaugh won consecutive conference titles in the mid-2000s.

It wasn’t until the 2013 season that the PFL — the lone non-scholarship, football-only conference in the country — was given an automatic berth into the FCS playoffs. San Diego earned its first and only playoff bid in 2014, following a 31-point nonconference defeat against Cal Poly in the regular season finale.

Fast forward two years, and the Toreros have their sights set on ending a four-game losing streak against the Mustangs when the two teams meet at 4:05 p.m. Saturday inside Alex G. Spanos Stadium.

“If they’re ever going to take that next step and be competitive in the playoffs, they’ve got to beat somebody like a Big Sky school,” eighth-year head coach Tim Walsh said. “Their opportunity this year is us. I guarantee that they’re going to be excited to play us.”

Cal Poly (0-1) is coming off a season-opening overtime loss to FBS opponent Nevada, a game full of encouraging signs and a handful of troubling miscues. San Diego (1-0) shutout Division II Western New Mexico a week ago and extended the program’s winning streak to seven games dating back to last season.

There were many positives to be taken from the Mustangs’ Week 1 setback, most notably a resilient defensive performance following a shaky first quarter. Cal Poly’s defense held the Wolf Pack to 94 total yards in the second half and overtime, made eight tackles for lost yardage and sacked senior quarterback Tyler Stewart twice.

What impressed Mustangs defensive coordinator Josh Brown the most was the number of negative plays generated. Of Nevada’s 58 total plays on offense, Cal Poly limited the Wolf Pack to two yards or less 23 times, or nearly 40 percent. That often forced Nevada into second-and-long situations, allowing the Mustangs to bring more pressure on third down.

“In the nature of our scheme,” Brown said, “we think for us to be successful, we have to create negative plays.”

A renewed emphasis on making stops near the line of scrimmage gave way to some tense moments on the back end, leaving safeties Kitu Humphrey (seven tackles, two for a loss) and B.J. Nard (four tackles, one sack) as the last line of defense.

The secondary figures to be tested Saturday against San Diego quarterback Anthony Lawrence, who was the PFL Offensive Freshman of the Year and the Toreros’ most valuable player in 2015.

Lawrence completed more than 63 percent of his passes for 2,392 yards and 23 touchdowns a year ago, and he led the PFL with a 153.5 pass efficiency rating. He was a sharp 17 of 26 for 211 yards and one touchdown in the season opener.

“It’s a lot to process mentally,” said Humphrey, a redshirt freshman. “I think the coaches are doing a good job of getting us dialed in to everything that we need to be focused on mentally as far as formation adjustments and things like that.”

Fifth-year senior Dano Graves will be back on the Alex G. Spanos Stadium grass for the first time since the 2014 season. He rushed for a career-high 140 yards and two touchdowns against Nevada and received positive reviews from Walsh after the game.

The frustrating part for the coaching staff was seeing Cal Poly fumble five times in Reno. Though the Mustangs lost only one of those, it wasn’t exactly an encouraging sign for a team that fumbled a conference-worst 26 times last fall.

“We have to get better with the football, there’s no question,” Walsh said. “Five times on the ground is reminiscent of losing games last year because we put the ball on the ground.”

This story was originally published September 9, 2016 at 7:58 PM with the headline "San Diego brings championship pedigree to Cal Poly’s home opener."