Not long after Cal Poly senior quarterback Jonathan Dally was named by The Sports Network the fifth-best QB in the Football Championship Subdivision (formerly Division I-AA), the network has extended an even loftier opinion of the Mustangs’ running backs.
Collectively, it ranked Cal Poly’s backfield as the best in the FCS, and individually, senior James Noble as the No. 10 running back and junior Jon Hall as the second-best fullback. (Interestingly, Hall has been elevated to the school’s No. 2 pro prospect by NFLDraftScout.com.)
When asked earlier this year if Noble would receive more carries, akin to years past, re-hired offensive coordinator Ian Shields (who directed previous Noble-driven offenses) didn’t seem to indicate such a reversion, instead choosing to harp on the strengths of the group as a whole rather than of one player or two.
Maybe the Mustangs’ loaded stable of ball carriers is why Wisconsin reportedly reached out to perennial Great West Conference cellar-dweller Southern Utah, apparently before it did with the same offer to Cal Poly (which, of course, accepted).
Had Southern Utah taken a bite, it may have drawn even more hilariously vitriolic scorn from the Badgers’ fan base than the arrangement with San Luis Obispo’s finest has.