Sheila SobchikJunior quarterback Jonathan Dally connected with wide receiver Ramses Barden for four touchdowns in the second and third quarters of the Mustangs’ 47-19 home-opening rout of Weber State Saturday at Alex G. Spanos Stadium.
“We’re still banged up and sore but we got ourselves fresh, we came out and we executed some things better and we’re still going to look at film (Sunday) and see a thousand things we need to be doing better if we’re going to have the chance to be the team that we want to be,” head coach Rich Ellerson said following the game. “It’s a lot more fun to go to work with that behind you; can coach a little bit harder, you can be a little tougher on yourself as a player and a coach when you have that (win) behind you.”
The Mustang Dally-Barden duo accounted for two of three records that were broken on Saturday. Dally, who surpassed Seth Burford’s previous school record of five touchdowns against Montana State on Sept. 23, 2000, threw for six touchdowns and Barden, who was on the receiving end of four of those, bypassed nine other Mustangs who shared the record of three touchdown receptions in a game.
“I’m happy to come home and, you know, have a victory,” Barden said. “We had some tough times on the road in Idaho and out in Texas, close games that we definitely had an opportunity to win, so it’s nice to put some things together that we’ve been working so hard on in practice and see the scoreboard as a result of that hard work.”
The third record set was for attendance at the recently renovated Spanos Stadium, which filled 11,075 of its 11,750 seats. The previous record was 9,387 set in 2004 when Cal Poly played UC Davis.
The Mustangs jumped out to an easy lead in the opening minutes of the game when Wildcats center B.A. Harrell overshot the snap to punter Mike Snoy in the end zone, resulting in a Cal Poly safety.
After being forced to punt on the first possession, Cal Poly drove 47 yards in 10 plays in its second possession and got the ball down to the Wildcat 2-yard line but failed to get six, settling for a 19-yard Andrew Gardner field goal.
The Wildcats closed the gap to their narrowest deficit of the game with a 36-yard field goal from Conor Foley with 13 seconds left in the first quarter.
Dally, who passed for only 34 yards in the first quarter, picked up the pace in the second by firing out 174 yards and four touchdowns.
Barden scored the game’s first touchdown with a 9-yard pass in the left corner of the end zone to put Cal Poly up 12.
Cal Poly scored on its next three possessions, the second touchdown coming on another Dally-Barden connection, this time for 24 yards. Jono Grayson scored on a 59-yard reception for the third score and Tredale Tolver picked up a touchdown on a 38-yard reception from Dally.
Barden, though, was quiet with tight and – sometimes – double coverage by the Wildcats. He had only two catches for 34 yards in the first quarter but came up with 81 yards on four catches in the second and 104 yards on three catches in the third.
“I expect teams to come in and look at me as a threat from the first gun in the game but the great things about this team is that we have so many other weapons so that you can only eye someone such as myself for so long,” Barden said. “Eventually you’re going to find the fast guy on the other side of the ball . we’ve got James (Noble), as small as he is, he’s probably the strongest running back I’ve ever seen.”
On top of the school record, Barden broke his single-game record of 209 yards, set in the season opener at Texas State, with 219 receiving yards on nine catches.
Barden’s other two touchdowns came in the third quarter on receptions of 9 and 67 yards.
On the passing side of the spectrum, Dally said that good protection and communication from the line was one of the key components of the offensive success.
“The line did great,” Dally said. “Hats off to the line.”
Dally completed 13 of 20 passes for 328 yards without being picked off and was only sacked once.
The Mustangs harvested 185 yards in the run category with Noble being the top rusher with 66 yards on 15 carries. Jono Grayson had 45 yards on seven carries.
Back up quarterback Matt Brennan came into the game in the fourth quarter but did not attempt any passes.
Despite the win, head coach Rich Ellerson said the team will be addressing issues concerning the triple-option offense that seemed to lack an adequate run presence in Saturday’s game.
“I’m not sure we’re running the option well enough to go out there and score 30 points and chew up the clock and be consistently physical enough inside, read it well enough to distribute the ball the way it’s supposed to go, to check the play in the direction is supposed to go,” Ellerson said of the triple option. “There’s a learning curve with that play and we’re on the curve but I’m not sure we’re on the front end of the curve.”
The Mustangs host Western Oregon next week in the second of their three-game homestand.