Cal Poly football still motivated by last year’s ‘frustrating’ loss to North Dakota

It’s been more than 10 months since the North Dakota football team came to San Luis Obispo and outclassed Cal Poly in the 2015 regular season finale.

That brisk November night, which ended in a 45-21 defeat for the Mustangs and their 18 graduating seniors, stuck with head coach Tim Walsh throughout the offseason.

As No. 16-ranked Cal Poly prepared for its rematch with the Fighting Hawks at 11 a.m. Saturday in Grand Forks, Walsh made sure to remind the current Mustangs of what he called, “my worst career performance.”

“They physically embarrassed us last year on both sides of the ball,” Walsh said. “All of the characteristics of who I think we are, that game, we weren’t.”

At 3-1 overall and 1-0 in the Big Sky Conference, Cal Poly seems to have turned things around and put last year’s uneven performance in the rearview mirror.

The Mustangs have won three straight contests — including wins over No. 9 South Dakota State and No. 6 Montana — while playing to their two main strengths: running the football and opportunistic defense.

With fullback Joe Protheroe, quarterback Dano Graves and slot back Kori Garcia all ranked among the top 10 rushers in the Big Sky, Cal Poly again leads the conference and the nation in rushing at more than 362 yards per game.

Coupled with the emergence of all-purpose player Kyle Lewis as Graves’ top down-field target, the Mustangs will bring a more balanced attack into the 12,000-seat Alerus Center on Saturday. It will be the 100th contest played inside UND’s home venue, and no opponent has more victories there than Cal Poly’s three.

“We’re looking forward to it, having a top-20 team come to town,” Fighting Hawks coach Bubba Schweigert said. “But we sure need to have a good week of preparation and we’ll have to play very well if we want to get a positive result on Saturday.”

UND shook off back-to-back losses to open the season with wins over South Dakota and Montana State in the conference opener last week to improve to 2-2 overall. Much like the Mustangs, the Fighting Hawks rely on their power running attack and a defense that ranks among the stingiest in the Big Sky in 2016.

When the two teams met last year, co-Big Sky Freshman of the Year and eventual All-American John Santiago rushed for 117 yards and three touchdowns. Quarterback Keaton Studsrud was an efficient 17-of-20 for 255 yards and two scores in what was a dominant all-around showing by the visitors.

“Everything just kind of went downhill quick,” Cal Poly defensive end Kelly Shepard said of falling into a 35-0 hole against UND. “It was super frustrating to end the year like that.”

The Fighting Hawks haven’t exactly been an offensive power through the first month of the season. They rank 13th in the Big Sky in total offense at 325.5 yards per game and have struggled to consistently convert on third down (26.2 percent), despite being one of the league leaders in time of possession.

Unlike pass-happy Montana last week, UND wants to play the same grind-it-out offensive style as Cal Poly. That could put some added pressure on the Mustang linebackers, already a thin position group. Walsh confirmed this week starting outside linebacker R.J. Mazolewski will not return this season because of an injury, and key reserve Charlie Davis might not return as well.

Those absences paved the way for sophomore Anders Turner to play more than 70 snaps against the Grizzlies last week. He responded by making 10 tackles, including four for lost yardage, and was selected as Cal Poly’s defensive player of the game.

“I was obviously super focused,” Turner said. “… I was out in space a lot so they were kind of attacking me, so I just had to really lock in. I knew our team needed me.”

A win Saturday would go a long way for the Mustangs, who have a bye next week and travel to Portland State on Oct. 15. The opportunity to get some needed rest and recovery heading into the final six-week stretch of the regular season sets up favorably for a potential playoff push.

“There’s a lot to play for in every week that you play,” Walsh said. “But this week’s got a little more special meaning to all of us as far as where we are in our season.”

This story was originally published September 30, 2016 at 3:19 PM with the headline "Cal Poly football still motivated by last year’s ‘frustrating’ loss to North Dakota."