Cal Poly secondary expects to be tested early and often by Montana Grizzlies

As well as Cal Poly’s secondary played through the first two games of the season, South Dakota State proved to be a much bigger challenge in Week 3.

Giving up 265 yards and four touchdowns through the air didn’t sit well with junior cornerback Jerek Rosales, who tied for the team lead with six tackles in the 38-31 upset victory.

One of the fortunate parts for the Mustangs (2-1) is they were able to identify some areas in need of addressing heading into this week’s matchup against No. 6 Montana and standout quarterback Brady Gustafson.

Eighth-year head coach Tim Walsh and Rosales agreed Cal Poly’s defensive backs were in good positions on those scoring plays last week. Now, the focus in practice has been winning the 50-50 balls that could swing the momentum and, potentially, the outcome of a game.

“We’ve just got to find a way to get it,” said Rosales, who has broken up a team-high three passes this season. “Winners find a way to win. Losers find a way to lose.”

Cal Poly’s starting secondary — safeties B.J. Nard (13 tackles) and Kitu Humphrey (12), along with Rosales (11) and Kevin Griffin (10) — occupies four of the team’s top seven spots in total tackles this year.

That group, which also includes juniors Aaryn Bouzos and Dominic Frasch in nickel formations when five defensive backs are needed, expects to have its hands full against the Griz on Saturday afternoon.

Montana (2-0) lost its top three wide receivers in Jamaal Jones, Ben Roberts and Ellis Henderson to graduation and the NFL, leaving Gustafson with a new supporting cast that features freshmen Justin Calhoun and Jerry Louie-McGee, along with sophomore Keenan Curran and junior Josh Horner.

“When you have a quarterback that enters a new system and throws for as many yards and touchdowns as he did last year,” Walsh said, “then he gets into his second year, he’s gonna be better.”

Despite missing six games with a broken leg, Gustafson completed 57.6 percent of his passes for 1,984 yards and 12 touchdowns in 2015.

When the two teams met last fall in Missoula, Gustafson completed 40 of 64 pass attempts for 353 yards and one touchdown. He also threw three costly interceptions, all by Nard, and was sacked twice.

This year, the shifty Louie-McGee, who stands 5-foot-9, 168 pounds, is one of the more exciting newcomers to watch in the Big Sky Conference.

He was a standout during spring camp and his 81-yard punt return for a touchdown against Northern Iowa in Week 2 proved to be the game winner.

Rosales said the Mustangs’ secondary is excited for the challenge of facing an offense that passed more than 550 times in 13 games last fall, an average of more than 42 attempts per contest.

“I feel like there’s a target on our backs, for sure,” Rosales said. “I feel like that’s just giving us more confidence to prove who we are. Last game, we were in the spots. Now, we’ve just got to go make it.”

This story was originally published September 23, 2016 at 1:21 PM with the headline "Cal Poly secondary expects to be tested early and often by Montana Grizzlies."