The Cal Poly football team simply kept the ball moving, drive after drive.
But the Mustangs weren’t doing so within the triple-option scheme they had become so famous, and infamous, for sticking to the past few years. They came out in multiple new formations en route to showing that their new offense wasn’t one to be taken lightly.
Cal Poly quarterback Andre Broadous finished 12 of 19 passing with 135 yards and two scores, along with 113 yards rushing, and the Cal Poly football team defeated San Diego 41-14 on Saturday at Alex G. Spanos Stadium.
It was the Mustangs first opportunity to debut their additions to the offense, and those new formations coupled with the original triple-option sets Cal Poly already has under its belt will give the Mustangs a versatility the team hasn’t had in years.
“We are still in the evaluation process of how much we want to use it,” head coach Tim Walsh said. “We used it more than we had planned tonight, but it was great to be able to use it in a live situation against an opponent. I think if we add under-center triple-option to all that shotgun stuff we were doing, that’s a lot of stuff for an opponent to prepare for.”
It certainly proved to be the case for San Diego. The Mustangs were able to gain 458 yards of total offense against the Toreros. Along with the contributions they received from Broadous, they had 109 yards rushing from Deonte Williams, and 60 yards receiving from Lance Castaneda.
“We don’t want no one keying in on one person.” Williams said. “If you have weapons, you might as well use them. You don’t want to keep them reserved. So with that, we like to keep the defense on their toes, feeding different players the ball. That’s how we put up 41 points.”
The Mustangs indeed put up that point total along with a few clutch plays from a completely new secondary, which looked hardly the part. Dave Douglas and College of San Mateo transfer Alex Hubbard made their presence known in a secondary operating without Asa Jackson, a former four-time all-conference performer, for the first time in four years. Along with fellow starters Vante Smith-Johnson and Nico Molino at cornerback, the secondary combined for 15 total tackles, a fumble recovery, an interception and three passes defended.
“Well Alex Hubbard, we recruited him from College of San Mateo and we knew he was a phenomenal player. But we didn’t know how quickly he would learn how we play and what we do,” Walsh said. “He’s picked things up — he’s a good football player. I think Dave Douglas, after being here for two years really got his opportunity, and really played well too.”
But despite their contributions on defense, the spotlight, was indeed on Cal Poly’s offense. Broadous and company scored five total touchdowns, one being a career-long 59-yard touchdown run from the senior quarterback. That helped push him over the 100-yard rushing mark for just the second time in a Mustangs uniform.
“We wanted to come out and show a lot of stuff so that the defense couldn’t focus on one area like a couple of years ago,” Broadous said. “We ran some option out of shotgun, some option out of center and then some pass plays, some quick passes and some deep passes. We wanted to keep them off balance and I think we did that pretty well.”