There are many differences between No. 4 William and Mary Tribe and No. 14 Cal Poly Mustangs.
Well, not in the eyes of Old Dominion head coach, Bobby Wilder.
The two run different styles of offense, play in completely different parts of the nation and the Tribe, a team who could have been in the national championship last year, just upset the No. 1 team in the nation, Villanova. Yet, Wilder — whose Monarchs (3-2) will square off against the Mustangs (3-2) this weekend — sees many parallels between his opponent this week and the school out east.
“I think talent-wise, they are as good as William and Mary,” Wilder said at the Old Dominion weekly press conference. “(It) is going to present a tremendous challenge for our football team to play to that level of competition … I think they will be a playoff team this year. I think they’re that good.”
Well the team “that good” in Wilder’s eyes lost to Fresno State 38-17 last week and will be looking to rebound during the fourth game of its current five-game road trip. The team has gone 2-2 in its last four games, after opening the season 2-0.
“This is a huge game for us,” fullback Jake Romanelli said. “Every game going forth is huge for us in terms of trying to get where we want to be at the end of the season.”
Where Cal Poly wants to be, Romanelli said, is at the top of the Great West. Wilder’s comparison is accurate, and while the Mustangs are still outside of the top-10, the Mustangs still have the talent and firepower to piece together a run and snatch a top-5 ranking, Romanelli said.
““I think that there is tremendous talent on this team across the board,” Romanelli said. “I think that we have showed glimpses of that this year.”
This year, the Mustangs rank close to the top of just a few offensive categories; they rank first in the Great West in rushing offense and third in scoring offense. The reason the Mustangs may be able to say they have a winning record may be that their defense has kept them in games.
If you throw away the numbers given up against Fresno State this past weekend, Cal Poly has held its opponents to 19 points per game this year.
“I think our defense is playing extraordinary,” linebacker Kenny Jackson said. “I think we have grown tremendously. With this being our second year in the same defensive system, our knowledge has grown substantially.”
As a unit, the Mustangs rank first in scoring defense, first in rushing defense and have nabbed the most interceptions in the conference as well.
The Mustangs may be able to attribute their success to the strength and depth of the players on the defensive line. With the depth the Mustangs have in the trenches, they have been able to keep fresh legs in for most of the game. That depth up front has paid dividends to the Mustangs’ defense as a whole, Jackson said.
“It starts up front. Our linemen are much stronger this year than they were a year before,” Jackson said. “We got a lot more guys that are healthy and in the rotation so that makes us a lot stronger on defense.”
No matter how well the defense is playing, Cal Poly may have its hands full with Old Dominion this week. They may just be in their second year of football, but the Monarchs are making noise on the college football scene.
In their first year as a football team, the Monarchs went 9-2 and this year may be looking to continue their winning ways.
On the season, the Monarchs are averaging 27 points per game, while also averaging 392 yards per game as well.
Quarterback Thomas DeMarco is leading the team’s passing attack; he has thrown for 1,341 yards and 11 touchdowns this season. Around him are five different receivers who have tallied more than 100 yards receiving. Prentice Gill leads the team with 342 yards and three scores.
On the ground, Mario Crawford has rushed for a team-high 254 yards and a score this season.
“We better watch out,” Walsh said. “They are probably the most athletic (team) that we (will play) at the FCS level … they are a very, very good football team that is going to get better.”
There won’t be a Fresno State hangover to rattle the Mustangs’ focus this week, Romanelli said. The Mustangs are more than confident they will be fully prepared for this week’s matchup despite losing what might have been the biggest game on their schedule.
While the loss last week won’t rattle the Mustangs, the fact the Mustangs is traveling across the country this week might.
Old Dominion is located on the east coast, in Virginia. It will be the only cross-country trip the Mustangs will have to make this season and due to travel arrangements the Mustangs will be losing a day of practice. They will take off early on Thursday, Jackson said.
While this may be a potential speed bump for Cal Poly, Jackson said otherwise.
“Mentally, we still plan to prepare very hard,” Jackson said. “It’s not too much of a concern for us. We are still sure of what we can do. We lose a day of practice on Thursday, but we still feel like if we can mentally prepare, that will allow us to do what we can do. ”
If they are fully prepared, and play hard-nosed Cal Poly football, the Mustangs can contend with anyone, Romanelli said. But at this point in the season, it’s all about momentum and for Cal Poly to reach the top of the FCS they may need to establish consistency in the win and loss column.
To make Wilder’s comparison true, the Mustangs may not be able to afford another loss on their record.
That just makes this game that much more important.
“We just got to keep winning games,” Romanelli said. “We got to keep playing Cal Poly football week in and week out, there can’t be ups and downs. Every game is a must win.”