A 6-4 record with Cal Poly's schedule means something

As I glanced through the CNNSI.com’s college football scoreboard Saturday, I came upon Cal Poly’s game: Mustangs 14, Bison 0.

It looked like Cal Poly had the game well in hand – it looked like they were going to the playoffs.

But looks are most certainly deceiving.

The Bison scored 51 straight. At one point, I withheld hope that the score was being posted wrong and that it was actually 51-14 in favor of Cal Poly. Sadly, that was not the case.

Cal Poly still has an extremely remote chance to make the Division I-AA playoff field, depending on how many low or unranked teams win their conference’s automatic bids. The Mustangs would likely also need a few teams ranked in front of them to lose in the final week.

No team with four losses has reached the postseason since Idaho went with a 6-4 record in 1995.

Cal Poly can finish 7-4 overall if it wins its season finale against visiting Savannah State (2-8) at 1 p.m. Saturday, but would still have only six wins against I-A or I-AA teams.

There’s no chance you can convince me that the Mustangs aren’t one of the top 16 in the nation. They have potential Buck Buchanan Award winner Kyle Shotwell, a Walter Payton Award candidate in James Noble and one of the top wide receivers in the nation in Ramses Barden.

Many will say you can trace the demise of the team back to that Homecoming game Oct. 21 against South Dakota State where the team blew a 22-point lead in the final eight minutes. However, don’t forget the comeback win at I-A San Diego State one week later. It’s impossible to point to one game and say, “That’s where the season turned around,” because the same problem has existed since Week 1. Cal Poly possibly has the best defense in I-AA, but the offense has sputtered.

How does an offense with Noble and Barden average a mere 16.5 points per game (if you throw out the 44-0 season-opening win against Division II Fort Lewis on Sept. 2)? Noble is one of the best running backs in the nation and Barden is nearly unstoppable with his 6-foot-6-inch frame.

Quarterback Matt Brennan is no Peyton Manning, but the sophomore showed glimpses of brilliance in the 10-9 loss at Montana and has a strong enough arm to consider the Mustangs a downfield threat. However, the stats aren’t terribly attractive. His touchdown-to-interception ratio is nearly 1-1 and his 44.5-percent completion percentage is troubling.

The offense has the ability to play with any I-AA team in the nation, but still fell short.

Meanwhile, Cal Poly’s defense has been superb. Throw out Saturday’s loss – the surmounting pressure finally broke a dam that had held opponents to a measly 14 points per game minus the North Dakota State and Fort Lewis games.

The defense has clearly carried the load this season, and Saturday’s loss was simply an anomaly.

Following the losses to South Dakota State and Montana, I’ve read letters to the editor and overheard some saying that coach Rich Ellerson should be fired – that his ultra-conservative style of play should be thrown out the door like an aged farm animal being put out to pasture.

I can’t argue with some of the points these people bring up, but the answer is not firing the coach who has brought this team to national prominence.

The Mustangs’ 31-14 record over the last four years is the program’s best since going 31-13 from 1977-80.

Ellerson is the reason fans were buzzing about a national championship squad. He’s the reason Cal Poly is on the I-AA football map.

Still, Cal Poly football fans are surely expecting a more productive offense in 2007 – and hopefully that’s what we’ll see.