Cal Poly football faces stiff road test against ranked South Dakota State University

If the non-conference schedule is all about gauging where a college football team stands — especially in FCS where one loss usually won’t derail an entire season as it can in the FBS — then Cal Poly’s road trip to face South Dakota State University on Saturday is bound to do just that.

The trip to Brookings, South Dakota, is one mighty big test for the unproven Mustangs, who narrowly missed out on a chance to upset in overtime FBS opponent Nevada in their season opener before rolling over an outmatched San Diego squad last weekend.

The Missouri Valley Conference’s Jackrabbits, currently ranked ninth in the STATS FCS Poll and 10th in the FCS Coaches Poll, are well versed in postseason play and are one of just five teams to reach the FCS playoffs in each of the last four seasons. They just about knocked off then-No. 13 TCU in Forth Worth, Texas, before eventually falling 59-41. Drake took the brunt of their frustration the following week, suffering a 56-28 loss to the Jackrabbits.

And then there’s this: Cal Poly is SDSU’s guest for the 50th-annual Beef Bowl, a yearly celebration put on by the football team to honor South Dakota’s cattle industry that features pregame barbeque festivities and other such related revelry that all benefits the university’s Animal and Ranges Sciences Department. And the Jackrabbits take their Beef Bowl seriously, winning nine of the last 10 and posting a 29-20 overall record in the game.

“They’re legit. I think it’s going to be interesting to see how we play,” Cal Poly head coach Tim Walsh said this week. “I’m excited to see how we play and get on the road and play a team of that quality.”

The two teams couldn’t be more different, either.

Cal Poly has led FCS in rushing the past three seasons and is currently ranked No. 2 (368.5 yards per game), while SDSU goes about its business offensively through the air. Their top two receivers from last year — Jake Wieneke and tight end Dallas Goedert — were both preseason All-American picks this year.

Wieneke hauled in eight catches for 196 yards and two touchdowns last week, and Goedert had 96 yards and a touchdown on five catches. Quarterback Taryn Christion threw for 333 yards and three touchdowns on 19-of-30 passing. He has 557 yards and seven touchdown passes with no interceptions in two games this year out of South Dakota’s pro-style offense.

“Really, with the numbers that they’re putting up against TCU and the numbers they put up today against Drake, offensively we’re going to need to roll,” Walsh said. “We’re gonna need to be as good as we’ve been on offense in order to keep up with them probably.”

That means Cal Poly’s triple-option offense is going to need to keep it out of the hands of the Jackrabbits’ playmakers. Enter senior quarterback Dano Graves, who has orchestrated two commendable showings by the Mustangs offense in their first two outings.

Against Nevada, Cal Poly fell behind 21-7 in the first quarter before outplaying the Wolfpack the rest of the way, accumulating more yards (445-363), first downs (23-18) and offensive plays (83-58) in the 30-27 overtime loss. Last week, the Mustangs racked up 354 rushing yards behind 98 and a touchdown from Graves and a game-high 131 yards and two touchdowns from All-American fullback Joe Protheroe.

“When you run an option offense, you end up with one guy having to execute his responsibility on a bunch of different plays,” longtime SDSU head coach John Stiegelmeier said of Cal Poly this week. “So they will force us to take care of the dive, the quarterback, and then to add to that, they use a ton of different formations. They’re really, really good at what they do.”

Throw out the 21-point first quarter against Nevada, and Cal Poly’s defense has been awfully strong, as well, allowing just 22 points in the seven quarters since.

“We’ll go out there and just got to play Cal Poly football,” Graves said. “We’ve got to just hold on to the ball. We’ve got to keep moving the chains on offense, keep the ball out of their hands on offense and just play our game and good things will happen for us.”

Turnovers, or more accurately fumbles — five of them against Nevada — are the likeliest culprit in Cal Poly’s only loss. Handing the Jackrabbits’ high-power attack extra chances on their home field just won’t do for the Mustangs.

“Like we’ve talked about earlier, keeping the ball off the ground, and it should be a good night,” Graves said.

Cal Poly does enjoy a 5-3 advantage in the all-time series against SDSU, although they lost the last time the two teams met, 44-18 in Brookings two years ago. Saturday’s meeting will be Cal Poly’s final non-conference game before opening Big Sky Conference play Sept. 24 at home against Montana and the first of four matchups against teams currently ranked in the FCS top-25.

“I think it’s got the makings of an interesting game, but I’m excited to get to work and have an opportunity to truly watch and study them,” Walsh said. “I’m sure our coaches are (excited), and I’m sure our players will be excited to play a top-10 team.”

This story was originally published September 16, 2016 at 3:24 PM with the headline "Cal Poly football faces stiff road test against ranked South Dakota State University."