Andrew Santos-JohnsonThis story was posted at 8:40 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 26.
Cal Poly football players darted around Mott Gym’s basketball court Wednesday morning, tucked away from rain that forced them to move practice inside from its typical setting at the I Field.
“I think it’s the second time I’ve done it since I’ve been here,” redshirt junior linebacker Carlton Gillespie said. “You slip a little because you’re used to having cleats, but really, once you get going, it feels the same.”
Although the proceedings were relocated to prevent injuries and preserve the field for later in the week, the sheltering was perhaps symbolic.
“When you first get in (the gym), it’s interesting and different,” Gillespie added. “But once you start practicing, you almost forget about it.”
The Mustangs, who open the Football Championship Subdivision (formerly Division I-AA) playoffs by hosting Weber State at 6:05 p.m. Saturday in Alex G. Spanos Stadium, are trying to forget the sting of last week’s 36-35, overtime loss at Wisconsin, in which they never trailed before the final play and missed three extra points.
“That’s ancient history,” Cal Poly head coach Rich Ellerson said. “We didn’t win, but we proved that we belonged. And anybody that was there – on their team, on our team, in the stands or watching on TV – knows we belonged. We’re sitting right here exactly where we hoped we’d be.”
Although Cal Poly (8-2) stayed No. 3 in the Sports Network poll for the fourth week in a row, and in the coaches poll for the seventh consecutive week, it found itself entering the postseason unseeded when pairings were announced Sunday on ESPNU’s selection show.
“They said on the show, ‘Well, if you’d have just beaten Wisconsin (you’d be seeded),’ ” Ellerson joked. “Well, OK, there are two Big Ten (Conference) teams that have won at Camp Randall Stadium in the last eight years. So if that’s all we had to do, you just let us know that ahead of time.”
Ellerson, though, was relieved to have a home game, especially after the show mistakenly indicated Cal Poly would visit No. 12 Weber State (9-3), the co-Big Sky Conference champion.
“That’s a blow, to think you have a home game and you don’t,” Weber State head coach Ron McBride told The Salt Lake Tribune.
Two of the Wildcats’ losses came to Hawaii, 36-17 (after leading 17-7 at halftime), and Utah, 37-21.
“(There was) something else they said on that show that made a lot of sense to me,” Ellerson said. “(Its commentators said) if we were just trying to do this thing from a seeded standpoint and get the best teams to the end of it, we wouldn’t be playing Weber State. We’re playing Weber State because of the dynamics of travel and the economics of travel.”
The Wildcats, one of the 123-team FCS’ 13 teams west of Texas, saw their unbeaten streak against the subdivision come to an end last week when a comeback from a 33-7 third-quarter deficit came up short in a 33-26 loss to Eastern Washington.
The Mustangs defeated the Wildcats 17-0 in Ogden, Utah two seasons ago and 47-19 at home last year.
A week after the latter defeat, though, then-redshirt freshman quarterback Cameron Higgins replaced Jimmy Barnes under center and went on to earn Big Sky Newcomer of the Year honors.
This season, the 6-foot-2, 195-pound Higgins, a Walter Payton Award candidate, has completed 67.6 percent of 392 passes for 3,808 yards and 34 touchdowns with 12 interceptions (four of which came last week) and is third in the FCS in passing efficiency, behind Cal Poly’s Jonathan Dally and Appalachian State’s Armanti Edwards.
“He has a quick release and makes good decisions,” Gillespie said of Higgins.
Running back Trevyn Smith is the next-most explosive threat for the Wildcats, who are eighth in the FCS in total offense. Smith, a 5-9, 210-pound junior, has rushed for career highs of 1,344 yards and 18 touchdowns on 253 carries.
Five Wildcats, including Smith, have caught at least five touchdown passes.
“Speed, speed, speed,” Gillespie said. “They do a lot of run-after-the-catch.”
Defensively, the Wildcats are led by junior safety Beau Hadley, who’s made 111 tackles, forced five fumbles and intercepted three passes, and junior defensive end Kevin Linehan, who’s collected a team-high 10.5 sacks and also forced five fumbles.
“They’ve matured,” Ellerson said. “They’re going to challenge you physically on both sides of the ball.”
Cal Poly leads the FCS in both yards (481.4) and points (45.3) per game.
Receiver Ramses Barden, center Stephen Field and running back James Noble – now seniors – were all key contributors as redshirt freshmen in 2005 during the Mustangs’ last and only FCS playoff run.
Then, though, Cal Poly exclusively played on the road, winning 35-21 at Montana before being eliminated 14-7 at Texas State.
“We’re already back on track,” Gillespie said of recovering from the Wisconsin defeat. “(A home playoff game) is something none of these guys have ever experienced. It’s just exciting when there’s a first time for something like this, and it’s a good feeling.”
The winner will face either No. 4 seed Montana or Texas State in the second round.
“There’s no bowl bonus, no bowl packets, none of that stuff,” Ellerson said. “What we get is a chance to play the game that we love so much again.”
Notes: Cal Poly’s last home playoff game came in 1990 at the Division II level. The Mustangs beat Cal State Northridge 14-7 before losing at North Dakota State 47-0. . The 3,500 tickets allotted to students for free during the regular season will cost $7. Tickets can be bought at Mustang Box Office adjacent to the Cal Poly Recreation Center from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday, at 3 p.m. Saturday at Spanos Stadium, over the phone at 756-5806 or at gopoly.com. . Wednesday night forecasts predicted Saturday to be sunny, between about 50 and 75 degrees.