Cal Poly football team sees opportunity in rematch with Portland State

The two best rushing attacks in the Big Sky Conference will collide Saturday afternoon in the Rose City when No. 19-ranked Cal Poly takes on Portland State.

It’s homecoming weekend for a sliding Vikings team (2-4 overall, 1-2 Big Sky) that has lost four of its last five contests. Another setback would likely eliminate Portland State from FCS playoff contention, marking a sharp turn from last year’s resurgent 9-3 campaign.

Meanwhile, the Mustangs (3-2, 1-1 Big Sky) are coming off a bye last week and had extra time to prepare for a 2:30 p.m. kickoff inside Providence Park. It has the makings of a potentially emotional weekend for Cal Poly’s coaching staff.

Matching up with Portland State likely brings back fond memories for head coach Tim Walsh, who guided the Vikings for 14 seasons and won 90 games there. Offensive coordinator Juston Wood and wide receivers coach Jim Craft both played for Walsh at Portland State. And running backs coach Aristotle Thompson is a Portland native who was something of prep legend when he attended Jesuit High School.

“You’ve got to keep it in perspective,” said Walsh, now in his eighth year at Cal Poly. “This is about our 2016 team, and we want to make sure that we take care of that as much as we want to see our family and our loved ones.”

Between the lines, both the Mustangs and Vikings take pride in their run-first offenses. Cal Poly leads the Big Sky and ranks third nationally with more than 330 rushing yards per game. Portland State is averaging 237.2 yards per contest on the ground — No. 2 in the conference — and has scored a Big Sky-leading 16 rushing touchdowns in six games.

Perhaps the biggest difference between the two offenses is passing efficiency.

As a triple-option attack, the Mustangs average less than 13 passing attempts per game. Fifth-year senior quarterback Dano Graves has more than taken advantage of those opportunities, having completed 64.5 percent of his passes for 729 yards and nine touchdowns.

Graves’ pass efficiency rating of 204.7 leads the conference by a wide margin, though he’s attempted significantly fewer passes than the 12 other quarterbacks.

Second-year Portland State coach Bruce Barnum said he recruited Graves during his standout prep career at Folsom High School in Sacramento and has a lot of respect for the senior’s talent.

“He runs that option with a burst, but then he can chuck and duck,” Barnum said. “So he adds a serious dual-threat to their offense.”

Conversely, dynamic Vikings quarterback Alex Kuresa has struggled with accuracy and turnovers. His completion percentage of 51.6 is down from last season and the lowest in the Big Sky, and his eight interceptions are the most among his conference peers.

Portland State was at its best in a 45-20 rout of Idaho State on Oct. 1, when Kuresa did not complete a pass and the Vikings set a school record with 531 yards rushing.

Senior running backs Nate Tago (199 yards, one touchdown) and Paris Penn (184 yards, four touchdowns) both averaged more than 11 yards per carry in a dismantling of the Bengals’ defense.

“This might be the quickest game in NCAA history,” said Barnum, only half joking. “If we repeat Idaho State and they run their stuff, this game might be over in 69 minutes.”

If that ends up being the case, Cal Poly hopes to be the one celebrating when the final whistle blows. The Mustangs held advantages in nearly every statistical category when the two teams met last fall, but four lost fumbles proved too much to overcome.

Walsh said he wants to see Cal Poly’s defense make aggressive plays on the ball and generate more turnovers of its own during the second half of the season. He also challenged them to get off the field on third downs, particularly early in the game to give the offense time to establish its footing.

“We see opportunities there,” senior right tackle Nick Enriquez said. “But they’re a solid defense. They’re sound like mostly every defense in the Big Sky.”

This story was originally published October 14, 2016 at 2:39 PM with the headline "Cal Poly football team sees opportunity in rematch with Portland State."