Brennan AngelAfter routing UC Davis 63-28 last week in Davis, the Cal Poly football team will travel to Brookings, S.D. Saturday to square off against South Dakota State, which is coming off of a bye week.
The Jackrabbits have posted a 2-4 record so far this season, something Cal Poly head coach Rich Ellerson said is deceptive.
“It’s a real trap,” Ellerson said. “That record is a product of the schedule they have.”
Two of South Dakota State’s four losses have come to Football Championship Subdivision teams that were in the top 10 in the Sports Network poll at the time of the games, and three of those teams are currently among the top 25 teams in that poll.
Perhaps the Jackrabbits’ toughest game of the season was against Northern Iowa, which was ranked No. 5 when the game took place, but is now ranked as the top team in the country. South Dakota State lost 31-17.
A week prior to South Dakota State’s game with Northern Iowa, the team lost a close contest 23-17 against a then-No.6 Youngstown State, which was ranked No. 12 in this week’s Sports Network poll.
The Jackrabbits are coming off of a bye last week following a narrow 41-38 loss to Georgia Southern.
“They’re going to be what we were last week,” Ellerson said, alluding to his team’s recent bye.
South Dakota State runs a “balanced” offense, Ellerson said.
The offense utilizes play action, according to Ellerson, and has passed for 1,342 yards this season. The team has supplemented its passing game with 707 yards rushing.
Leading the rushing attack for the Jackrabbits is Cory Koenig, who has netted 399 yards and four touchdowns so far, and averages 66.5 yards per game.
Kyle Minett is also a key player on the ground. Minett averages 8.2 yards per carry and has contributed three touchdowns.
“They want to run the football,” Ellerson said.
Ellerson said that they run the ball well downhill and have an extremely physical line up front.
“They’re a bunch of maulers,” he said of the Jackrabbit offensive line.
The physical South Dakota State offensive line, which hasn’t allowed a sack in its past three games, may make it difficult for the Mustangs to get to Jackrabbit quarterback Ryan Berry, who connected on 25 of 47 pass attempts for 335 yards and one interception in the Georgia Southern game.
Berry is averaging 218.5 yards per game and has thrown 11 touchdowns, but has been picked off six times.
JoRon Harris continues to be the top target for Jackrabbit quarterbacks, with 494 yards on 31 catches.
Harris is no stranger to the Mustangs. In Cal Poly’s 29-28 homecoming loss against the Jackrabbits last year, he caught three touchdowns of 14, 12 and 19 yards in the fourth quarter.
Harris’ final touchdown with 1:05 left in the game set up quarterback Andy Kardoes’ run for the two-point conversion that capped a 23-0 Jackrabbit rally to take the win away from Cal Poly.
“Harris is a go-to guy,” Ellerson said.
South Dakota State has put points on the board 19 out of 20 times from inside of the red zone with 10 of those scores being for touchdowns.
The Mustangs, according to Ellerson, are healthier coming off of the UC Davis game than they have off of games in weeks prior.
“We came out of last week better than we have been,” Ellerson said.
The Mustangs continue to have success through the air and have made steady improvements to the ground game as well.
Last week, junior wide receiver Ramses Barden, who was put on watch for the Walter Payton Award, hauled in five receptions for 173 and three touchdowns.
He currently leads the Great West, as well as the entire Football Championship Subdivision in total receiving yards per game and is seventh in the nation in scoring.
Connecting with Barden has been quarterback Jonathan Dally, who is No. 2 in the FCS in passing efficiency with a 208.6 rating.
Dally has a 17-1 touchdown-interception ratio and has passed for 1,272 yards on the season.
The Mustangs have a diversity of threats in the backfield.
Wingbacks Ryan Mole and James Noble returned to the lineup last week and combined for 186 yards on 18 carries and ran for three touchdowns.
Dally netted 88 yards on the ground and eight other Mustangs combined for 166 yards.
Saturday’s game will mark the fourth time the teams have met, with Cal Poly leading 2-1 in the series. The game starts at 5 p.m. PST.