Cal Poly football’s spring practice set to open with position battles at quarterback, on defense
With nearly five months remaining before the start of the 2016 season, the Cal Poly football team is set to begin its initial preparations when the 15-practice spring schedule begins Wednesday morning at the Upper Sports Complex.
The Mustangs are coming off an uneven 4-7 season in which they led the FCS in rushing for a third consecutive year. Replacing standout quarterback Chris Brown will be among the key storylines to follow over the next month of practices, which culminates in the April 30 Spring Game inside Alex G. Spanos Stadium.
Cal Poly also must replace offensive-line stalwarts Stephen Sippel at center and Weston Walker at tackle, two players who provided consistent veteran leadership. A defense that allowed more than 35 points per game in 2015 needs to replace its top two tacklers now that linebackers Tu’uta Inoke and Burton De Koning have graduated.
Mustang football fans also should be excited to see senior Josh Letuligasenoa back atop the depth chart at rush linebacker after sitting out his entire junior season.
That unit will be led by new defensive line coach Payam Saadat, who returned in February for his third stint as an assistant on the Cal Poly staff. Saadat replaced Eti Ena, who left the Mustangs to coach at his alma mater and Big Sky Conference opponent Eastern Washington.
As Cal Poly begins on-field preparations at 6:20 a.m. Wednesday, here are a few items to keep an eye on:
Quarterback competition
Replacing the statistical production and vocal leadership of the graduated Brown won’t be easy.
However, fifth-year senior Dano Graves strategically used his redshirt last fall to be the next in line to lead the Mustangs’ triple-option offense.
The former Air Force transfer who earned 2010 MaxPreps National Player of the Year honors as a senior at Folsom High has proven to be an effective dual-threat quarterback.
In 16 career games at Cal Poly, Graves has completed 60 percent of his passes (51 of 85) for 499 yards and four touchdowns. He rushed for 536 yards on 99 attempts, an average of 5.4 yards per carry.
The biggest question mark with Graves is how he might hold up physically over the course of an 11-game season. At 5-foot-10, 185-pounds, he isn’t as physically imposing as Brown, who carried the ball more than 200 times during consecutive 1,000-yard seasons as a junior and senior.
Behind Graves, sophomore-to-be Khaleel Jenkins is an explosive athlete who won’t concede the starting job without a fight. He appeared in three games as a true freshman and started against then-No. 14 Portland State when Brown was injured in late October.
Jenkins showed flashes of brilliance in directing Cal Poly to 536 total yards in a 38-35 loss to the Vikings. How the 6-foot-2, 200-pound Jenkins progresses during his first spring camp could make for a potentially difficult decision when the Mustangs begin their season Sept. 3 at Nevada.
Running back depth
Though the Mustangs lost their leading rusher in Brown, they return 11 players who tallied at least one carry in 2015.
All-conference slotback Kori Garcia enters his senior season with 2,036 rushing yards, the eighth-most in program history. He played through a series of nagging injuries last fall to finish with 780 yards and five touchdowns.
Senior DJ Peluso (278 yards rushing, one touchdown) and versatile junior Kyle Lewis (336 yards, six touchdowns) return with another year of experience at the slotback position, along with third-year sophomores Malcolm Davis and Alex Suchesk.
Junior fullback Joe Protheroe earned All-American accolades as a sophomore despite playing in nine of 11 games. The 6-foot, 225-pound Protheroe was a force early in the season, but the constant collisions that accompany the fullback position hindered his production late in the year.
Juniors Jared Mohamed and Reagan Enger and redshirt freshman Raven Middleton will compete for playing time behind Protheroe.
Tacklers needed
For the second straight season, Cal Poly lost its top two tacklers to graduation.
With Inoke and De Koning gone, look for Joseph Gigantino to have a breakout senior season. He was third on the team with 75 tackles a year ago, including a team-high 9 1/2 for lost yardage. Gigantino is one of five defensive returners who started all 11 games last season.
The most intriguing player to watch this spring could be the 6-foot-2, 267-pound Letuligasenoa. As a junior in 2014, he was one of the more disruptive players along Cal Poly’s defensive front. Letuligasenoa made 65 tackles with three sacks, tallied two forced fumbles and recovered another at the rush linebacker position.
Special teams standout Chris Santini, who transfered from Boise State before last season, is listed as another starter at linebacker, along with junior R.J. Mazolweski.
In the secondary, senior B.J. Nard figures to anchor a group that gave up more than 287 per game through the air last season and allowed 24 touchdowns. Fellow senior Kevin Griffin moves from safety to the starting right cornerback spot, where he’ll line up opposite junior Jerek Rosales.
Redshirt freshman Kitu Humphrey is listed as the starting left safety. The Long Beach Poly graduated garnered praise from his teammates last fall and will compete with sophomore Aaron Johnson and junior Aaryn Bouzos to keep his starting spot.
This story was originally published April 5, 2016 at 2:46 PM with the headline "Cal Poly football’s spring practice set to open with position battles at quarterback, on defense."