Coming off a well-timed bye week, the Sioux head out to San Luis Obispo to take on Cal-Poly in a pivotal game for the Sioux. Poly is 4-3 on the year and is currently #21 in the latest coaches poll. They just came off a ridiculous 5 game road trip which saw them in 5 different states for those games. Poly has 2 nice wins against Montana and McNeese St. If you are into score comparisons, Poly beat up on McNeese (40-14) by more than LSU did last week (32-10).
Poly Offense/UND Defense
Cal Poly is running their traditional triple option attack again this year. They are averaging 248 yds/game rushing, which puts them 6th in the nation.  Poly is led by QB #3 Andre Broadus. He is more of a runner in this offense, rushing 87 times for 313 yards and 3 TDs while in the passing game he is 41/64 for 510 yds and 4 TDs.
Broadus’s main pitch back is #1 Mark Rodgers, a transfer from West Virginia. He is a very dynamic runner who leads the team in rushing with 372 yds and 4 TD’s. Two Fullbacks, #30 Jordan Yocum and #34 Jake Romanelli are also threats in the running game with 110 carries for 565 yards and 3 TD’s between them. WR Dominique Johnson, a UCLA transfer is their main receiving threat. The 6’4″ 225 senior is a deep threat averaging 14 yards/catch and has 3 TD’s on the year.
As you can see Poly will distribute the ball evenly to try and keep the defense off balance. The key to the game will be the outside linebackers, as it usually is against veer/option teams. Broadus will keep the ball some when running the option game but prefers to give it to the fullbacks and pitch it to Rodgers. The Sioux will counter the QB/Rodgers part of the option by playing games with their outside linebackers. One play they will crash down hard and take the QB, forcing the quick pitch. Next play they will slow play it with the OLB and make the QB continue down the line waiting to see what the Sioux OLB is going to do. Also, they can tell the OLB to go straight to the pitch RB at the snap, effectively taking him out of the play and making the QB keep it. That is when the backside pursuit must be there for the Sioux. If the backside LB’s get cut off by the offensive lineman for Poly that will create a hole for Broadus to cut it up.
Another major point of emphasis this week for the Sioux defense and especially the front seven is doing your job. Against the triple option every player has a job to do to stop all 3 options. The Sioux defensive line is beat up to say the least. Ross Brenneman is out for at least 2 more weeks and Seth Stanchik is out for the year. That leaves 4 defensive lineman with experience to take all of the snaps vs. Poly and 3 are on the field at all times.  Offensive lineman Darren Deneui has been taking reps and getting acquainted with the defensive end position this week in case of emergency. Any more injuries along the DL and we may need to go to a new defense.
If the D-line holds their ground and at times pinches down for the FB, ILB’s take the dive or pursue backside, OLB’s play what is called in from the sideline, and DB’s pursue to the ball and make sure not to over pursue giving a cut back lane, the defense will have a good day. This defense is built to stop the option. The players are naturally aligned in places to stop this type of attack. They just need to go out and do it.
UND Offense/Poly Defense
Poly brings an experienced defense back that returns 8 starters. As usual, they will show a 4-3 look against running personnel and play a cover 2 shell over the top where they will mix in cover 2 (halves) and cover 4 (quarters) coverages. When they get spread out by UND, they will walk out their linebackers and reduce the numbers in the box to better match-up with personnel and formations. Sioux WR’s will have their hands full with junior cornerback Asa Jackson, who has started every game at corner since his arrival on campus as a true freshman. Jackson earned 1st team All-GWC honors last year as a sophomore and hails from the same high school as UND true freshman Ekenna Anya-Gafu.
This is a classic battle of speed vs power. Cal-Poly’s team speed on defense is tough to match, but what they gain in speed, they lose in size up front. UND needs to establish the run game early and lean on the Cal-Poly front seven to make them respect the north/south power running game in between in the tackles. Yards outside the tackles will be hard to come by given Poly’s team speed. The UND running backs need to hit the holes hard and get downhill like they did last year against Poly at the Alerus. Having a rested and healthy Mitch Sutton back will only help the running game. Josh Murray will need to get back on track this week as well. UND’s o-line has the ability to control the tempo of this game, and we think it will be essential for UND to win. A sprinkled-in and controlled passing game to supplement the running attack will also help. It just needs to be effective, not explosive. Just enough to move the chains and keep the Poly defense from stacking the box. Jake Landry needs to play a controlled, disciplined game. He doesn’t have to win this one by himself – just manage the game.
Control the tempo, clock and time of possession with the running game, win the turnover battle and execute the big plays when you do take shots down field on offense. The defense MUST get off the field this week. They can’t afford to have sustained, long drives against the option attack.
Our Prediction
This is a talented Cal-Poly football team. After playing 5 weeks in a row on the road, they finally get a home game. Another motivational factor is that Poly probably needs to win out their last 4 games to get into the playoffs. It’s very doable with 3 of their last 4 games being at home. Can UND limit their mistakes on offense and make some plays on defense to get off the field? Or will the beat-up defensive unit continue to get driven on all game by the Poly option attack?
Special teams could also play a huge swing in either direction. After making big plays and winning the special teams battles in the first 4 games of the season, this has been a pretty quiet phase of the game lately. It would be nice to add that advantage to the end of the game list again after Saturday night’s game.
UND 20
Cal-Poly 24
