Before the season began, Northern Colorado coach Kay Dalton’s biggest concern about the 2005 schedule was what to do with back-to-back bye weeks after Saturday’s game against defending Great West Football Conference champion Cal Poly.
Now he hopes the three weeks between games will be enough time for senior quarterback Nick Hager’s dislocated shoulder to heal. With Hager sidelined by the injury suffered in the Bears’ 41-17 loss at Portland State last Saturday, the Bears (2-2) will open conference play against the Division I-AA No. 10-ranked Mustangs (3-1) with T.J. Swanson, a 6-foot-3, 220-pound redshirt freshman from Sykesville, Md., at quarterback.
As luck would have it, Cal Poly’s best player is nose tackle Chris Gocong, the conference’s defensive player of the year last season, when he had 17 1/2 sacks. He has seven this season. The Mustangs, who had a school-record 50 sacks a year ago, already have 19.
“We need to pass protect,” Dalton said. “They do a lot of (man-to-man) coverage, so we need to identify the people we’re going to block and get on them and stay on them.
“No coach likes to lose his quarterback, but (Swanson has) a lot of potential. He moves decent, and he’s got a powerful arm. I thought he threw the ball pretty good at Portland, so I’m pretty sure he’s excited.”
With Andre Wilson coming off his fourth consecutive 100-yard rushing game, UNC’s preference is to run the ball well and not put pressure on Swanson.
“I’d like to run the ball all day,” Dalton said, “but this team’s too good for that.”
Swanson, who completed 9-of-17 passes for 173 yards and one touchdown at Portland State, is pumped up.
“More than you can imagine,” he said. “I can’t wait. I’ve been watching a lot of film, and it’s a really complicated defense they run. They have a linebacker who sets about 10 yards deep and kind of roams around, so we’re going to have to pass around that guy. But I think our running game will help set up the pass for us, and I think we’ll be able to move the ball.”
On a three-game winning streak after losing their opener at Division I-A Troy, the Mustangs are led by senior quarterback Anthony Garnett, who ran for three touchdowns and passed for 182 yards in leading Cal Poly to a 24-16 victory over South Dakota State last week in the conference opener for both schools.
“On offense, they’re one of these wide-open deals, people all over the field,” Dalton said. “They’re not a power offense like we are. They really hurt us with quick screens to their wideouts (in a 31-0 loss) last year, so I’m sure we’ll be seeing some more of that this year.”
Joseph Sanchez can be reached at 303-820-5458 or jsanchez@denverpost.com.
