31 2020-21 Cal Poly Football Season Preview Duy Tran-Sampson left a lot of defensive players in his wake as a sophomore fullback a year ago, rushing for 1,037 yards and eight touchdowns.
Really, however, between all five of these guys, we were able to get a decent amount of reps in the short amount of practice time we did have in October and November. It's a good battle. It really is, something that quite honestly it'll probably take some time to surface itself.
amassed 1,037 yards and eight touchdowns as a fullback in 2019. Other challengers for the starting nod include seniors Lepi Lataimua and Chuby Dunu, junior Will Semone, sophomore Mark Biggins and redshirt freshmen Shakobe Harper and Sam Stewart
They all have some different skill sets to bring to the table." "Shakobe and Stewart opted out in the fall," said Baldwin. "Of the As a redshirt freshman, Hamler completed 57 percent of his passes guys who were out there, Chuby probably took as many reps as any(62 of 108) for 1,156 yards and a dozen touchdowns. He was inter- body. He was healthy and showed some really good things. cepted just five times. Hamler also called his number 194 times "Lepi definitely showed why he in the Triple Option, rushing for made a lot of plays with the pre2020-21 CAL POLY SCHEDULE 522 yards and another nine vious staff," Baldwin added. Will Feb. 27 *#at UC Davis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1:05 p.m. scores. stepped up and did some things. March 6 *WEBER STATE . . . . . . . . . . . .12:05 p.m. Duy is just a completely different March 13 *SOUTHERN UTAH . . . . . . . . .12:05 p.m. Raquet played his freshman and type of running back, a unique March 20 Bye sophomore seasons at Monterey running back with such top-end Peninsula College sandwiching a speed, and he's big. We've got to March 27 *at Eastern Washington . . . . . . . .1:05 p.m. redshirt year at Fresno State. In find ways to truly fit Duy into April 3 *at Northern Arizona . . . . . . . . . .1:05 p.m. two seasons with the Lobos, the what were doing. April 10 *#UC DAVIS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12:05 p.m. San Benito High School graduate April 17 Bye completed 331 of 598 passes for "Biggins didn't get as many reps *Big Sky Game #Battle for the Golden Horseshoe 5,013 yards and 52 touchdowns. as some of the other guys in the All Times Pacific fall, but when he was able to Pavitt passed for over 5,200 yards practice he showed some serious and 60 touchdowns in his last two varsity seasons at Cardinal stuff. I can't tell you who emerged as this guy or that guy just because Newman High School in Santa Rosa, leading the Cardinals to the it was such a small a sample size and some of the guys didn't get as CIF-North Coast Section Division 3 co-championship in 2018 and many reps as the others." CIF-NCS Division IV title and state 3-AA crown in 2019. Cardinal Newman was 25-2 in those two campaigns. Lataimua gained 274 yards and scored one touchdown in 2019. Running Backs The Triple Option under Walsh with its two slot backs and fullback has been transformed into one running back under Baldwin's multiple-formation offense. The preseason roster has over 10 players who filled three spots in the Mustang backfield a year ago but are now vying for playing time in one position. Of course, there will be a need for a fullback on certain downs as well. Heading the list of running backs is junior Duy Tran-Sampson, the 23rd Mustang to rush for over 1,000 yards in a season when he
How are all the slot backs and fullbacks of last season adjusting to the fact that there will be just one running back on the field most of the time? "They're smart and they know it's a different offense with a different style, but you always go through a year needing three, four or five different running backs still contributing to what you do offensively," said Baldwin. "The guys not getting the reps they might want have to stay patient. Everyone wants to be a starter, everyone wants a ton of reps, they all
