Cal Poly offensive line paves the way to fourth straight FCS rushing title

A certain stigma has followed Cal Poly’s offensive line over the past four years.

Despite consistently being one of the elite units in the Big Sky Conference, the Mustangs’ front five haven’t always received the recognition their statistical performance seemed to warrant.

That changed this fall, as No. 21-ranked Cal Poly (7-4) led the FCS in rushing for a fourth consecutive season on the way to its first FCS playoff berth in four years.

Senior left tackle Matt Fisher and junior center Joey Kuperman each garnered first-team all-conference honors Tuesday, and sophomore guard Harry Whitson was a third-team selection. Not since Lefi Letuligasenoa in 2013 had a Mustangs’ offensive lineman been named to the first-team all-Big Sky squad.

“We’ve led the nation in rushing four consecutive years and to have only one guy in that four-year stretch make first-team all-conference, that’s disappointing,” eighth-year head coach Tim Walsh said after the team’s practice Tuesday in preparation for Saturday’s first-round home matchup against Pioneer Football League champion San Diego inside Alex G. Spanos Stadium (4 p.m., ESPN3). “To have two guys on one team do it — I feel for (senior right tackle) Nick Enriquez, because he’s been a big part of all four of those years, same with (senior right guard) Billy Shipman.”

It’s easy to see why the Mustangs’ offensive line has had so much success this year.

Few position groups within the Cal Poly program have avoided injury-related attrition this season better. It also might be the team’s most experienced unit, with a combined 180 games played between the starting five of Fisher, Whitson, Kuperman, Shipman and Enriquez.

Redshirt freshman Tyler Whisenhunt and sophomore Zach Shallcross have been key contributors as well, and both will likely be competing for starting spots next season.

“Those offensive linemen, those are going to be tough guys to replace, but they’ve kind of left a legacy of how we want to play on the offensive line,” Walsh said. “I think that’s going to be a positive for the younger guys in our program to carry on with.”

One of the more impressive aspects of the Mustangs’ fourth straight rushing title is the overall efficiency. Cal Poly’s 669 rushing attempts were the fewest since 2013 and yielded 3,967 yards and 37 rushing touchdowns. Yet the Mustangs’ 360.6 rushing yards per game were the second-highest total during the last four years.

It was still a small regression from 2015, when Cal Poly broke its own school and conference rushing records with more than 4,200 yards on the ground, an average of 387.3 per contest. The Mustangs averaged 351.7 rushing yards in 2014, and 309.2 in 2013.

The 6-foot-5, 280-pound Fisher, an all-conference performer as a freshman who was hindered by injuries and limited to one game as a sophomore, said he’s aware the Mustangs are viewed differently within the conference given their triple option attack.

Cal Poly’s resurgent passing game with fifth-year senior quarterback Dano Graves under center provided perhaps a little more legitimacy when Big Sky coaches filled out their all-conference ballots earlier this month.

“I think it’s impressive that we can still do it this year,” Fisher said, “and have a balance through it all.”

There’s been a small misconception that the Mustangs are throwing the ball much more frequently this year. But the numbers reveal a slightly different story.

Cal Poly attempted 232 passes during a 12-game season in 2013. The Mustangs threw 182 times in 2014, also playing a 12-game schedule, and that number dipped all the way to 134 attempts last fall. They’ve thrown the ball 145 times in 2016, an average of just one more attempt per game from the previous year.

The difference is Graves emerged as the most efficient passer in the conference behind an offensive line that allowed eight sacks in 11 games, tied for the fifth-fewest among 122 FCS teams.

On Saturday, they’ll face a Toreros defense that surrendered an average of 12.1 points per game during the regular season. Junior defensive end Jonathan Petersen sets the tone up front as one of the top pass-rushers in the country, despite being well undersized for his position.

The 6-1, 230-pound Petersen made 38 tackles in 10 games, including 19 tackles for loss and 11.5 sacks, which ranked No. 2 in the nation. He’s led San Diego in both tackles for loss and sacks three straight seasons.

“It’s gonna be a fight out there and of course we’re on a bigger stage, a national stage,” Fisher said. “Things will just be different. But we’re still looking to go out there and get off the ball as fast as we can and hit ‘em in the mouth.”

This story was originally published November 23, 2016 at 1:03 PM with the headline "Cal Poly offensive line paves the way to fourth straight FCS rushing title."