Cal Poly fullback Joe Protheroe earns weekly award from Big Sky Conference

Cal Poly junior Joe Protheroe turned in arguably the best performance of his impressive career during the Mustangs’ upset of No. 9 South Dakota State over the weekend.

The 6-foot, 225-pound fullback rushed for a career-high 217 yards on 31 carries and scored two touchdowns in leading Cal Poly to a thrilling 38-31 win over the nationally respected Jackrabbits. And for his efforts, Protheroe was chosen as the Big Sky Conference Offensive Player of the Week for the first time in his career.

A pair of fourth-quarter touchdowns, including a 76-yard run that gave the Mustangs a 31-24 lead with more than 12 minutes remaining, helped Cal Poly secure its second road upset of a top-10 team since the start of the 2015 season.

Protheroe averaged an eye-popping 7 yards per carry as the Mustangs posted 601 yards of offense, including 440 on the ground. Kori Garcia averaged 8.2 yards on his 10 carries, while Kyle Lewis (9.4) and Dano Graves (6.1) averaged more than 6 yards per rush against South Dakota State.

Protheroe has rushed for 467 yards in three games this fall — more than 155 per contest — which ranks No. 1 in the Big Sky by a wide margin and leads the entire FCS heading into the fourth week of the season.

The Mustangs (2-1) are scheduled to host No. 6 Montana at 12:05 p.m. Saturday inside Alex G. Spanos Stadium. When the two teams met last September in Missoula, Protheroe rushed for 112 yards on 29 carries in the first start of his Cal Poly career.

Eastern Washington linebacker Miquiyah Zamora and North Dakota cornerback Deion Harris shared Big Sky Defensive Player of the Week honors, and Eastern Washington kick returner Antoine Custer was selected as the conference’s Special Teams Player of the Week.

This story was originally published September 20, 2016 at 10:20 AM with the headline "Cal Poly fullback Joe Protheroe earns weekly award from Big Sky Conference."