Well, that Eastern Washington game was the worst. If you’re a Cal Poly fan, there were so many things that went wrong in that game that it’s kind of hard to count.

A first-quarter interception in the end zone on a drive that would have put the Mustangs ahead.

An Eastern Washington touchdown the guy caught against his shoulder pad.

Despite over 100 yards rushing in the first half, Dano Graves couldn’t stave off the Eastern Washington onslaught. By Owen Main

Too many Cal Poly punts.

At the end of the first half, a Jerek Rosales interception seemed like it could be a turning point. Cal Poly had nearly four minutes and a touchdown would have put them even going into halftime, but the drive failed.

Eastern Washington scored on their first possession of the 3rd quarter to go up two scores. Then Cal Poly fumbled and the Eagles promptly scored another touchdown to go up by 21 points. At that point, Kyle Lewis looked like he wasn’t coming back and a Cal Poly comeback didn’t really seem possible, but the Mustangs kept fighting.

Joe Protheroe scored a touchdown and Cal Poly was at the EWU 9 yard line with 7:50 to go, but couldn’t convert on fourth down. Instead of scoring and being within a touchdown, Cal Poly’s defense gave up a sixth and final touchdown to Eastern in what was the final score of the game.

Cooper Kupp is good at the football. By Owen Main

Cooper Kupp is good

Cooper Kupp is, by a lot of numbers, the best receiver in FCS history. He’s going to be in the NFL next year. He showed why, throwing two strikes on trick plays and adding the game-sealing touchdown.

Kupp is one of the most exciting players in the FCS and he put on a show with 11 catches for 154 yards.

Big opportunities

Despite the discouraging loss, Cal Poly still has a great chance to make the FCS playoffs. Wins at Weber State and at home against Northern Colorado to end the year would all but assure the team of a playoff birth. If they lose one of the two, a 7-4 record might not be enough.

To get there, the Mustangs will have the find a way to game-plan through bumps and bruises. The ongoing health of Joe Protheroe, Kyle Lewis, and Dano Graves will mean everything for the Cal Poly offense.

Joe Protheroe has had a great season, but will need help if Cal Poly wants to make it into the playoffs. By Owen Main

Not at the bottom

Weber State and Northern Colorado haven’t been in the top half of the Big Sky standings much during the last few seasons. It’s not the case this year. Weber State is 4-2 and Northern Colorado has only dropped to 3-3 recently. Neither games will be gimmes. Not by a long shot.

If the Mustangs want to make the playoffs, they’ll have to take care of business. Two more weeks. Two more games.

One big opportunity.

Photos by Owen Main – View them on photos.fansmanship.com here. 

Tonight at 6pm, #14 Cal Poly football will take on #3 Eastern Washington in what is sure to be the biggest game for the program in years.

The four headed monster of Joe Protheroe, Kyle Lewis (pictured), Kori Garcia, and Dano Graves will have to be running full cylinder to keep up with Eastern Washington’s explosive attack tonight. By Owen Main

Cal Poly has earned this particular opportunity — they beat ranked South Dakota State and Montana teams earlier in the season and took FBS team Nevada to overtime en route to their current 6-2 record and 14th ranking. Eastern Washington has been their typical dominant selves, en route to a 7-1 record. They are deserving of their #3 national ranking.

The last time these two teams met in San Luis Obispo was 2013. That year, Cal Poly ended up at 6-6 and lost to the Eagles 35-22 in a game that wasn’t even really that close. Cooper Kupp was a freshman on that team. Vernon Adams was the best quarterback in FCS that year. Cal Poly’s defense just couldn’t figure out how to stop them.

Eastern Washington was really good then. They’re really good right now too. They’re always really good.

Here’s the Lucas Clark preview from the SLO Tribune.

Return of Eti Ena

Former Cal Poly defensive line coach Eti Ena, a 2005 graduate of Eastern Washington, returned to Cheney this past offseason to coach the defensive front and defensive ends. Having been at practice with the Mustangs over the past three seasons may give the Eagles a slight scheme advantage, though the triple option — on some level — doesn’t change much. Keep a close eye  out for the battle in the trenches, what kinds of line schemes are happening, and whether Eastern Washington is able to get into Cal Poly’s backfield and interrupt Dano Graves’ rhythm handing it off and passing.

Cooper Kupp is… good. Really good.

Cooper Kupp. He’s good. By Owen Main

In case you have been under a rock, Cooper Kupp is amazing. I remember the last time he was here, as a freshman or sophomore. Vernon Adams would throw a pass and you’d look up and there was that guy again with 5-10 yards between him and the nearest defender. It was kind of a helpless feeling.

Look for Cal Poly to use well-timed pressure schemes to try to disrupt Eastern Washington quarterback Gage Gubrud. It’s probably the best chance they have to get some turnovers and get the ball back to their offense. When you’re playing the third-ranked team in the country, maybe your scheme has to include some well-placed gambits and chances.

Either way, Cal Poly fans should keep an eye on number 10 in red. He’s good.

Playoff-bound?

A win for Cal Poly would make an FCS playoff birth all but a lock. With two games remaining (at Weber State and at home vs. Northern Colorado), the Mustangs would be sitting on seven wins with three of them vs. top-10 or 15 opponents.

What if Cal Poly wins out? Well, I’d have to think that a first-round bye and home playoff game would be in order. I told you, this team has given itself an opportunity to be one of the greats in Cal Poly history. I’m not trying to put more pressure on them than is due, but the opportunity is there. Right in front of them.

The anticipation of what they’ll do with that opportunity will be fully felt in what should be a packed Alex G. Spanos Stadium on Saturday night.

Let me be clear. Before the season started, I was in the “Chris Brown” camp. “Team Chris” seemed to have more upside than “Team Dano,” more poise than “Team Tanner,” and more explosiveness than “Team Vince.”

While Cal Poly head football coach Tim Walsh ultimately chose Vince Moraga, the more savvy veteran, the perception was that all four potential starting quarterbacks were very close. When Moraga went down to a knee injury, the theory fans were told to operate under was that Brown and Graves were close enough that, on some level, it shouldn’t matter that much who was in there.

After Moraga got hurt, Brown decent until the Yale game. Graves looked solid until the Montana game. Trosin has looked good in limited mop-up action. Brown looked great the last two weeks. Round and round we’ve gone — the door wide open for armchair coaches to criticize and second-guess coaches’ decisions about who should play the most important position on the field.

Chris Brown has established himself as the best quarterback Cal Poly has. By Owen Main

Throughout the year, we have maintained the de facto premise that all the quarterbacks are still very close in what they can bring to the table. This week, they were close enough in the minds of the coaching staff that Chris Brown at less than 100 percent meant that going with Dano Graves was the best option. Brown rushed for a program record (for a quarterback) 195 yards and three touchdowns in Davis, then threw four touchdown passes last week in a big win over Sacramento State, a team who beat Cal Poly last year in Sacramento. But he was hurt this week, so he didn’t start.

Instead, Dano Graves did. Graves, who transferred into the program after last season, has looked slippery at times, running the ball decently and generally taking care of the ball. He has been able to move the ball some. But it has been nothing like Brown, especially against tougher opponents. With Brown not starting, I figured Trosin would probably be the number two quarterback. If Brown could play at all, I thought, he would be in the game after the last two weeks he’s had.

So, when the Mustangs only scored three points in the first half, despite multiple opportunities and great field position, I thought Walsh might make a move. Yes, it would be uncharacteristic for him to make a change that quickly, but down 14-3 to the number-three team in the country might have called for a little shake-up. Instead, Graves stayed in. Here’s how the third quarter went for Cal Poly:

* EWU six-play, 65-yard touchdown drive (21-3)

* Mustangs run six plays, gain 16 yards in under three minutes, and punt. The punt goes 21 yards

* EWU five-play, 70-yard touchdown drive with a second-string quarterback (28-3)

* Graves drives Cal Poly to the EWU 40 yard line, but is intercepted. Again, a six-play drive, taking up less than 2:00.

* EWU five-play, 80-yard touchdown drive for their final score of the game. The score was 35-3, in favor of the Eagles.

* Graves and the Mustangs again drive a little. Graves is again picked-off — his third of the game.

After Eastern Washington punted, Cal Poly got the ball back at the 50. Three plays later, the Mustangs were punting, again unable to move the ball.

When Cal Poly got the ball back, Chris Brown, not Tanner Trosin, was the quarterback and things changed quickly for the Cal Poly offense. Brown led three consecutive touchdown drives in the quarter, running the option to perfection. He showed-off his best-on-the-team speed, long-striding for a 47 yard run. He showed his best-on-the-team arm, going 4-7 passing for 87 yards and a touchdown. He showed his good decision-making, committing zero turnovers. Brown put guys in position to make plays, and they did.

Maybe it was against a bunch of EWU second-stringers. Maybe the visiting third-ranked team in the country let down after going up 35-3. We saw at Fresno State what can happen when a good team takes their foot off the gas pedal too quickly. But, at this point in the year, with the information I have, I don’t care. Chris Brown has to be the guy. For this year and, for my money, to start next year.

The premise that the quarterback options are still so close has, at this point, been busted. I’m not saying that Graves is that bad. Maybe he’s not, but Brown seems to really be that good. At this point, Brown is good enough that he can take limited reps, be a little hurt, and still be effective. He has done enough to be the guy. When his health is “borderline,” like he was today, he has earned the right to give it a try. It’s a luxury that Graves was afforded at Montana, where he admitted he could barely stay upright for much of the second half with an injury. If Graves is allowed to stay in under those circumstances, why wasn’t Brown starting?

Brown will make some mistakes, I think we’ve always known this. But if the alternative to Brown is an offense that is held to three points over three quarters, I’ll take a few mistakes as a fan — and the learning that goes with them. All four remaining candidates for next year’s starting position — as of now, they’ll all be back — have something going for them. But Brown has put himself head and shoulders above the others. We have more information now than we did at the beginning of the year about all of these players. Eleven games have been played. Five quarterbacks have been used. Brown has started five games, Graves four, and Moraga two. Decisions need to be made based on that information, not on a stale premise established at the beginning of the year.

If my calculations are correct (and it’s possible they aren’t), Andre Broadous threw five interceptions in 28 games where he threw a pass. To expect that out of any quarterback isn’t realistic. Cal Poly does have a talented quarterback who has proven himself better than the rest. Perhaps Broadous spoiled everyone over the past few seasons, but if we are still searching for the next Andre Broadous, we’ll be looking for an awfully long time.

For now, Brown is the best Cal Poly’s got, and even though there is only one game remaining, he needs to be given the reins of the Mustangs offense. If there is one thing we’ve learned this year, it’s how things can be offensively when the starters are different week-to-week.

By the Numbers:

PASSING

RUSHING

Photos by Owen Main

[See image gallery at www.fansmanship.com]

Early in the year, the Cal Poly football team had swagger. You could tell by their words. You could see it in their body language. In conference or out of conference. Confidence was not an issue for Tim Walsh’s team.

Despite clawing and scratching, the Mustangs couldn’t regain their swagger last week at Eastern Washington’s “Inferno.”

Over the past three weeks, Cal Poly has learned a lesson, though. Other teams in the Big Sky have swagger too.

Portland State had swagger. Three weeks ago, they came into Alex G. Spanos Stadium on a drizzly Saturday and gave Cal Poly all they could handle. Going up 7-0 and 14-7, the Vikings were the first team to shut off the corner and start to slow-down Cal Poly’s offense taking control of the “edge.” Tim Walsh’s old school used strong defensive end play to force Cal Poly to go back to running the ball inside between the tackles. Though they lost the game, they gave other teams a blueprint for frustrating Cal Poly’s offense.

Sacramento State had swagger. In an emotional game, the Hornets used the defensive blueprint from the Portland State game to slow down Cal Poly’s offense throughout the game. Sacramento State’s offense also had swagger. His name was Morris Norrise. Norrise knew he was physically more gifted than almost everyone on the field and played like it, racking up 97 receiving yards and two touchdowns.

For the first time, Cal Poly’s frustration and uncertainty began to cut into their swagger. Fumbles were lost at crucial times. Injuries to linemen began to stack-up. Backups didn’t have the same swagger as the starters. It showed.

Last week, Cal Poly went to school. The class: Swagger 101. The Professor: Eastern Washington University.

The Eagles are a team that has a recent National Championship. They boast huge amounts of talent. They play on a red field. They are really good. They have swagger.

While he’s continued to “run like a Mustang,” Cal Poly’s commissioner of swagger — running back Deonte Williams — hasn’t found holes as easily during the past few games.

The assumption of Eagles fans and onlookers is that Eastern Washington will win every game they play this year, especially at home. They are used to winning. They have winning talent across the field. Good programs build on themselves. A National Championship is a great recruiting tool.

Cal Poly was out-played from the beginning of the Eastern Washington game. The one time when the momentum looked like it might be turning Cal Poly intercepted a pass — finally stemming the momentum of the Eagles’ juggernaut offense. Except the defensive back who intercepted the pass promptly fumbled the ball. Fumbles like that are plays teams with swagger shake-off and overcome (see: the beginning of the Sacramento State game). Instead, it broke any momentum the Mustangs might have had.

Teams with swagger are not surprised by winning. EWU averaged 9 wins per year over the last three seasons. They are on-pace for at least that many this year. They are not surprised by scoring. Like Cal Poly, they average over 30 points per game. Their swagger causes teams like Cal Poly to try to do things they don’t usually do. They put unusual pressure on opposing teams on both sides of the ball and also between the ears.

While Cal Poly will not play Montana or Montana State this season, and the Eastern Washington game was not technically a conference game, I have to believe the top teams in this conference have similar swagger.

It’s a major reason the Mustangs joined the conference. But to get more legitimacy than the Great West offered, you have to be able to deal with confident, skilled, and even dominant teams.

Sometimes swagger can annoy opposing fans. Eastern Washington’s television play-by-play guys, featured on Big Sky TV last Saturday, were at times condescending and rude. Already-frustrated Cal Poly fans were not pleased. But when you’re getting your collective butts kicked, there isn’t much anybody can say. Which brings us back to another great thing about swagger.

Without the Yankees and the swagger of their fans, baseball isn’t as much fun. With that swagger, opposing fans have extra reason to care about the game. When teams with swagger-rich fan bases (think Yankees, Lakers, Patriots, Kentucky basketball, Alabama football, etc…) are playing, everyone they play benefits. Fans of their team root harder, opposing teams love to root against them, and the level of fansmanship for everyone is raised.

As they’ve learned so far this year, the Big Sky is a conference laden with swagger. Cal Poly has lost some of theirs over the past few weeks. I don’t know where it went, but to win a conference title, they’ll have to find it again. And then some.