Four years before Jared Allen was sacking NFL quarterbacks as an all-pro defensive end, he was at Idaho State wrecking opposing backfields, and Cal Poly wasn’t immune.
The current Minnesota Viking not only scored two touchdowns during a 38-31 win at Cal Poly on Nov. 15, 2003, but he made nine solo tackles, including a crucial fourth-and-goal stop of Mustangs quarterback Chris Peterson.
How times have changed.
The Bengals, once feared for their defense, enter Saturday’s 6:05 p.m. contest with the Mustangs at Alex G. Spanos Stadium winless and giving up 478.6 yards per game – dead last in the Football Championship Subdivision (formerly Division I-AA).
That doesn’t seem too fortuitous against Cal Poly (5-1) – which is ranked third in the FCS coaches poll, fourth in the media poll and averages an FCS-best 44.8 points per game.
Their meeting comes on the heels of last year, when the Mustangs won 48-28 in Pocatello, Idaho. They held the ball for nearly 37 minutes while amassing 687 yards of total offense.
“They scorched us,” Idaho State head coach John Zamberlin said.
It may be more of the same Saturday.
Cal Poly is coming off of a 69-41 win over Southern Utah in which it set a program Division I record for points in a game.
“Cal Poly’s playing extremely well,” Zamberlin said. “They present a lot of different options.”
In their last game, though, the Bengals (0-8) were within 16-13 of Portland State before losing 36-13. The Bengals defense, which starts three sophomores and a freshman, allowed just 12 rushing yards and claimed four turnovers.
“We’ve given up some big plays this year because we’ve had a lot of injuries up front and have guys playing for the first time right now,” Zamberlin said. “I thought we played well enough last week to win.”
Although Cal Poly’s offense could say the same, its defense gave up five touchdowns in the first half, which Southern Utah trailed just 35-34. Four of the scores came through the air, setting the tone for a night when the Thunderbirds completed 34 of 59 passes for 469 yards.
Mustangs head coach Rich Ellerson said Cal Poly’s first-half struggles stemmed not necessarily from flaws in alignment or personnel, but simply in mindset.
“You’re watching a game like that and you think every time the ball gets thrown, it’s supposed to get caught,” he said. “Somehow that picture can get planted in people’s minds, including the defenders’ minds.”
Ellerson said there wasn’t “an awful lot technically that changed” at halftime other than the mentality to compete for passes.
“We imposed our will,” he said. “We changed the picture in their mind. They put a picture in our head in the first half and we put our picture back in theirs in the second. Frankly, it came down to, when the ball came down, whose was it?”
At halftime, Cal Poly’s coaching staff told players, “How you play now is who you are,” Ellerson explained. “This isn’t just a game, just ‘Oh shucks, something bad happened.’ We’re going to make a statement about who we are.”
In the second half, the Mustangs held Southern Utah scoreless until 43 seconds remained.
“I like who we are,” Ellerson said of the defense.
Cal Poly’s offense, which starts seniors at every skill position – and features the FCS’ top-rated passer in Jonathan Dally and Division I’s leading receiver in Ramses Barden – has had seven players amass at least 200 all-purpose yards.
Cal Poly senior receiver Tre’dale Tolver said the game against Southern Utah, in which both teams combined for more than 1,100 yards of total offense, was “definitely the most exciting game” he’d ever played in.
“I looked up (at the scoreboard) and was like, ‘Are you serious?’ ” Mustangs junior running back Jono Grayson said of marveling at the 42 first-quarter points Cal Poly and Southern Utah combined for.
Just three seniors start defensively for Cal Poly.
“Everybody expected us to play well offensively,” Ellerson said. “The reason I think we can progress here is because I really believe this defense will mature and is maturing into something really formidable to complement that.”
The Mustangs, who lead the FCS with four-and-a-half sacks per game, will be facing the subdivision’s seventh-best passing attack.
Bengals sophomore Russel Hill has completed 61.4 percent of his 355 passes for 2,322 yards and 14 touchdowns with 13 interceptions.
Eddie Thompson has been his primary target. The 5-foot-11 senior receiver’s 55 catches through seven games place him second in FCS per-game averages.
Junior Jaron Taylor isn’t far behind, taking his 47 catches for team highs of 621 yards and six scores.
Thompson left the Bengals’ loss to Portland State with an ankle injury, but is “getting better” according to Zamberlin, who said Wednesday he expects him to be “ready to go.”
Defensively, the Bengals are led by senior linebacker Ryan Phipps, a transfer from Oregon who has a team-best 71 tackles, and 6-2 senior cornerback D.J. Clark, who intercepted two passes in the end zone last week.
“Last year they matched us in athleticism tit-for-tat,” Tolver said.
Clearly, however, the Mustangs executed better.
“There could be slivers from last year’s game in the back of your head, but that’s not what we’re playing,” Grayson said.
Cal Poly, which can’t have an automatic postseason bid in the five-team Great West Conference, was put in a bind when McNeese State canceled the teams’ third-week meeting due to Hurricane Ike.
Consequently, the Mustangs, left with a 10-game slate and needing at least seven wins against fully-fledged Division I competition for at-large consideration, likely have to win their three final FCS games – starting Saturday.
“There really aren’t bad teams in college football,” Grayson said. “Every weekend can be a season-changer, no matter what a team’s record is.”