Cal Poly football matchup to watch: Kitu Humphrey vs. Weber State’s Jadrian Clark
Looking back at last week’s loss to No. 3 Eastern Washington, Cal Poly safety Kitu Humphrey described the game as another step in the learning process that is his redshirt freshman season.
The 5-foot-10, 195-pound graduate of Long Beach Poly High School made five tackles and broke up two passes against the Eagles and their trio of explosive senior wide receivers. The Mustangs’ played six defensive backs throughout the 42-21 defeat, building more depth with key reserves such as Carter Nichols, Aaryn Bouzos and Mekai Sheffie.
“I feel like iron sharpens iron,” said Humphrey, whose 36 tackles are the fifth-most on the team. “At the end of the day, going against guys as talented as that, you can only appreciate it and look forward to going against guys like that in the future.”
Cal Poly (6-3, 4-2 Big Sky Conference) faces another dynamic quarterback this week in Weber State senior Jadrian Clark, who is averaging more than 257 passing yards per contest. Only Eastern Washington’s Gage Gubrud (396.7) and Montana’s Brady Gustafson (342.1) average more passing yards among conference peers.
Clark also is the Wildcats’ second-leading rusher with 252 yards and two touchdowns on 82 carries.
“One thing with Jadrian, he’s about as competitive as they come,” Weber State coach Jay Hill said. “Sometimes the emotions of the game can even get to him because he’s just so competitive.”
Clark will be without his favorite target, Cameron Livingston, for the final two games of the regular season. The senior wide receiver broke his leg last week in a loss to Northern Arizona, finishing his final season as a Wildcat with 49 receptions for 485 yards and four touchdowns.
“They’re definitely going to challenge us mentally,” Humphrey said. “We’ve really got to dial into that and just communicate with our guys.”
This story was originally published November 11, 2016 at 1:10 PM with the headline "Cal Poly football matchup to watch: Kitu Humphrey vs. Weber State’s Jadrian Clark."