Cal-Poly

[89rabbit]

Here is a link to the Cal-Poly prospectus for all you true football junkies.

http://www.calpolymustangs.com/footb...Prospectus.pdf

Go State, beat the Mustangs! ;D

[89rabbit]

Re: Cal-Poly

Story coming out of Central California. Looks like the Mustangs are fired up for this coming season.

http://www.sanluisobispo.com/mld/san...ne/9371561.htm

High expectations

Cal Poly expects a run at the conference title and possibly a national title this season

Brian Milne

The Tribune


BY BRIAN MILNE

The Tribune

In his first three years at Cal Poly, Rich Ellerson would've hunted down the player who uttered the two forbidden words and "kicked his tail up and down the field."

But this year, his fourth at the helm of the football program, Ellerson holds back a proud smile when he hears his veterans are saying they expect to compete for a "national championship" this fall.

Believe it or not, the Mustangs -- who have never been to the 16-team Division I-AA playoffs -- report to training camp today with a mountain of optimism, a good degree of preseason hype and expectations that are higher than they've ever been in the Ellerson era.

"The older guys expect to win a national championship," said senior strong guard Jessie Bender, light years removed from Larry Welsh's 3-8 team he was part of as a freshman. "We know you have to put (the season) together piece by piece, but we feel we have the kind of team that can win our conference and win all of our playoff games. If we don't get our championship, we're going to be disappointed."

Disappointed because of how close the Mustangs were to making the playoffs last season.

Disappointed because this year's team returns 47 players from a 2003 team that went 7-4, including preseason All-Americans Jordan Beck and Darrell Jones on each side of the ball.

Disappointed because all but six players (all freshmen) stuck around this summer to work out and prepare for the 2004 campaign -- despite the fact that Cal Poly cut nearly all of its summer classes.

"There's a buzz around the guys this year because of how hard we worked this summer," said Cal Poly junior John Mende, a slight frontrunner for the starting quarterback job. "We had so many guys better themselves this summer and that's why this team has a better chance than any team we've ever had to compete for a national title."

Praising the summer workout regimen and the work of strength and condition coach Chris Holder is nothing new for Mustang players this time of year.

The team credited Holder up and down for his work last September when the Mustangs ran circles around Texas-El Paso in the season opener.

But what's different about the praise this year is that it's coming from all the players. Eighty-five players stuck around this summer as opposed to forty something last summer and less than 25 the year before. . . .

So what exactly did Holder do to these guys?

For one, he helped implement a four-day workout schedule that included nearly two hours of weightlifting and an hour of running or speed work each day. Some days there was more lifting. Some days there was more running. Most of the time, there was more of everything.

All of the above has laid the foundation for what Mustangland hopes is a championship season.

"We're a team that had a good year and we know we can be good again this season," Ellerson said. "We know it's not going to be easy, but the guys know what it's going to take to succeed. They've gone about their offseason the right way, now it's time to see if those are realistic expectations."

Those expectations aren't solely the players'. Although, they might not come right out and say it, the Mustangs coaching staff has lofty expectations, too. As do the coaches around the newly-formed Great West Football Conference, selecting Cal Poly to win the conference crown in the inaugural season. . . .


I have now read stories about the Jackrabbits (SDSU), Jaguars (Southern University) and Mustangs (Cal-Poly) and their summer strength programs. Glad to see we were ahead of the power curve on this one, looks like it is important.

Go State! ;D

[89rabbit]

Re: Cal-Poly

Here is a link to a break down of each position on the team for true football junkies.

http://www.sanluisobispo.com/mld/san...ts/9371560.htm

Go State, beat the Mustangs! ;D

[89rabbit]

Re: Cal-Poly

Good story, comming out of Mustang land, about the option offense where it is today and where it is going.  We will face two option teams this season in Cal-Poly and Georgia Southern.  Good read.

http://www.sanluisobispo.com/mld/san...ts/9467044.htm

Posted on Sun, Aug. 22, 2004

Optioned out

Nebraska has dropped the option offense. National powerhouses like USC and Miami wouldn't even consider it. So why do colleges like Cal Poly cling to a system that's no longer in vogue?

Brian Milne

The Tribune


Take a glance at Cal Poly co-offensive coordinator Ian Shield's resume and you'd think option football is the scheme of the millennium:

• St. Mary's, 2000-02 -- Coached a spread-option offense that ranked fourth in Division I-AA rushing each season.

• Bucknell, 2003 -- Coordinated a spread option that led the Patriot League in rushing, passing efficiency and turnover margin.

• Cal Poly, 2004 -- In his first year at the helm of the Mustangs' spread-option attack.

But look outside the cult that is option football -- or in this case, Shield's reference list -- and you'll see the option has become the California condor of the football kingdom. An endangered species in this new era of college football where the pass sells and the option no longer compels.

Sure, a majority of the teams in college football have a couple option plays stuffed in the back of their playbooks. But out of 117 Division I-A schools, only three still devote their entire offensive package to the option. Air Force, Navy and Rice are the only teams still drawing from the old wishbone offense that became popularized by the likes of Texas and Oklahoma three decades ago.

In Division I-AA, the option is a bit more common, with six-time national champion Georgia Southern among the handful of schools still running a form of the wishbone.

So why do the same coaches who agree the option is one of the most difficult schemes to defend, refuse to run it?

Look no further than the National Football League, where Cal Poly head coach Rich Ellerson jokes, "There must be a law or something that prevents them from running it."

Seems that way, with pass-happy schemes becoming all the rage and the option becoming nearly obsolete.  .  .  .



Tons more to read, but too long for the board so hit the web site and read it all.

Go State, beat the Mustangs and Eagles ( purveyors of the option offense)!  ;D

[GOEWU]

Re: Cal-Poly

Thanks for the info...you guys see them on 10/2 while Eastern Washington plays them on 11/6. I've never seen Cal Poly so that info is some good stuff!

[89rabbit]

Re: Cal-Poly

Well it is time to turn our attention to the Mustangs of Cal-Poly. The guys are going to have to turn it up a notch as the Mustangs are 3-0 and ranked #13 in the Nation. They also had a bye last week so they have had extra time to get ready for us (or get rusty ).

Here is the offical Cal-Poly site:

http://www.calpolymustangs.com/football/mens/index.html

Here is link to the Cal-Poly fan board:

http://p205.ezboard.com/fcalpolymustangsfrm2

Go State, beat the Mustangs! ;D

[SDSUFAN]

Re: Cal-Poly

From SDSU's offical website, here is the outlook for this Saturday's game with Cal Poly. You need Adobe Reader to look at this file.

http://www3.sdstate.edu/ClassLibrary...5/FB_92804.pdf

[Chris_Kelly]

Re: Cal-Poly

Here is my outlook: I wish it were more favorable on the Jacks, but this defense is damn good. We'll see what happens.

http://greatwestfootball.collegespor...092904aaa.html

[SDSUFAN]

Re: Cal-Poly

Chris:

I think you did a good job in your analysis and to me it was informative. I have not read that much about Cal Poly.  I haven't a clue on how this flex defense works, so the stats dont lie in regards to Cal Poly. They are a good team, and wins over ISU and MSU are impressive.

We can only hope and pray our staff has made a thorough analysis of the game films received from Cal Poly.  Coach Stig said in the SU post game show that they had spotted the ability to run against SU and that is why they were able to have that 90 yard drive to start the second half.  Hopefully our coaches will see something this week to and adjust accordingly.  Right now I am of the opinion that the coaching changes amongst the asisstants are an improvement over those who left the program and went on to Southwest State.  Not to pick on personalities but the new guys have about the same amount of football savy if not more and more fire in the belly as far as getting the guys up for the game.

I think the UCD game was one in where SDSU came in so intimidated. The game was lost on the first 19 plays of the game.  UCD was up 31-0 after 19 plays and had won the game.  To UCD's credit they kept us away from the goal line for the rest of the game, but we also saw that Andy Kardoes, second string QB, could step in if Nelson goes down. Plus he is more of a running QB than Nelson.

I sure they are going to do everything possible to prevent this type of situation that occurred in the first game  from happening again.

I might disagree with the score you picked, but we will have to play the game Saturday to see what really happens.

[Chris_Kelly]

Re: Cal-Poly

Good post, SDSU fan.

It will be an interesting game. I've talked to some poeple who see the game a little closer 7-10 points.

Honestly, Cal Poly is not a team that's going to blow teams out, their offense doesn't allow for that. What does happen is that the defense forces so many mistakes that they play good offense. They score defensively, and they put their O in good position to score. That is exactly what SDSU must do to win. They must win on the offensive side of the ball to make a short field. If they are consistently starting from inside their 25 or 30 it will be difficult to score.

It's all about the Jacks O-line this week, as I highly doubt Watson will average more than 3.0 yards per carry.

[bisonguy]

Re: Cal-Poly

CK,

Is Cal-Poly's option attack a flexbone, ala Georgia Southern?

If so, it will provide some great experience for the Jacks later in the season.

[OK_Jackrabbit]

Re: Cal-Poly

Hi Chris: I think you're doing a great job of analyzing each game. I look forward to your weekly outlook and have learned a lot about the teams in the conference and about the bigger D1AA picture. No doubt Cal-Poly will be a tough test for the Jacks. It has been interesting to watch this Jackrabbit team grow and adapt (with some really good coaching making the difference, I think) over the last three weeks.

I do think this is a different team than the one that came into Davis a few weeks ago, confidence-wise. I'm sure they will perform better this time, but we'll see how much better.  The Jacks seem to be at enough of a disadvantage, from an athletic-ability and speed standpoint, that they really need to play smart and with confidence to have success.

It seems like every week from here on out (with the possible exception of Augustana) brings a tougher challenge. All in all, this is sure a lot more interesting and exciting than yet another DII season playing the same old teams in the NCC would have been.

[89rabbit]

Re: Cal-Poly

All in all, this is sure a lot more interesting and exciting than yet another DII season playing the same old teams in the NCC would have been.

Amen, Brother!

Go State! ;D

[IowaBison]

Re: Cal-Poly

All in all, this is sure a lot more interesting and exciting than yet another DII season playing the same old teams in the NCC would have been.

what are the bison, chopped liver?

[OK_Jackrabbit]

Re: Cal-Poly

Last time I checked, NDSU is no longer in the NCC or DII.

Nobody here has disrespected NDSU. It's a fine school with a great program, and we're glad to have them as our partners as we leave the NCC and move up to D1.