As he rides his bicycle across the Cal Poly campus during the week, senior Jonathan Dally looks like a typical college student, on his way to or from class.

It's on the weekends, though, that Dally electrifies the masses at Alex G. Spanos Stadium, leading what may be the best offensive unit in all of college football.

“It's a lot of fun. I can stop worrying about everything else,” says the Santa Maria native about running the Mustangs' triple-option attack. “I just worry about what's the right play, and I know it's going to work because of all the athletes I've got to work with.”

Those athletes - Dally, slotbacks James Noble and Righetti graduate Ryan Mole, and receivers Ramses Barden and Tre'dale Tolver - have been the backbone of the Mustangs' successful 2008 season, one which continues in Saturday's Golden Horseshoe Classic against longtime rival UC Davis.

But the point man in the whole show has been Dally, the 2005 Righetti graduate who led the Warriors to a 13-9-1 record in his final two seasons, earning All-League honors in both seasons. He then followed it with two standout years as the starter at Hancock College, throwing for 2,229 yards and 24 TDs in a run-oriented attack.

Since winning the starting QB job at Cal Poly in the summer of 2007, the Mustangs have posted a 14-5 record and moved up to the No. 3 spot in both the major NCAA Football Championship Subidivison (FCS) polls, making them a darkhorse contender for a national title.

In that time, Dally - named the Great West Conference Offensive player of the week last week after totaling four TDs (two rushing, two passing) against UNC Central - has put up some impressive numbers in his own right. He has thrown for 1,585 yards, 18 touchdowns and only one interception on only 136 attempts this season, giving him a 205.54 passing-efficiency rating, best in all of the FCS. This comes one year after throwing for 2,238 yards and a school-record 29 TD passes. Dally also tied the school mark for scoring passes in a game with six, a mark he's hit twice.

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As a result of his play, the Mustangs are No. 1 this year in the FCS rankings in yards per game (490.1) and scoring average (45.9 points per game).

Another area that changed a lot from his Hancock days was his running on the ground: After having only run for 310 yards in his sophomore year with the Bulldogs, he has cracked the 1,100-yard mark going into the Davis game, leading the Mustangs last year with 763 yards on the ground and chipping in with 353 this season. The Mustangs rank third in rushing offense with 288.1 yards per game.

“It wasn't a difficult transition (to run the ball), because the option to throw the ball a lot more was there,” Dally says of his emphasis on keeping the ball more with the Mustangs. “It put the ball in my hands, so that I had the decision to throw it if I felt like throwing it, or if I had the option to run.

“At Hancock, (coach Kris Dutra's offense) was a lot of I-backs and handing the ball off, so when we did run play-action, it was successful,” he adds. “The (passing) attempts that we got didn't really force me out of the pocket. The transition from junior college to the FCS is a little faster, so I was more eager to hold the ball than force it up into a bad situation.”

Dally did add that while the jump from high school to college was tougher, the jump from a junior college to an FCS team had its own challenges.

“Everything's more precise in the jump from junior college to the FCS, because everyone's been in the system long enough that they know where the mistakes are,” he says, “and know how to run more efficiently to the ball. It's a big jump going from facing Moorpark to facing San Diego State, but you have the athletes that are used to playing in those game situations.”

Still the emphasis this week is all about UC Davis, a team that enters the week with a 5-5 mark after a 29-19 loss to Sacramento State last weekend. Dally says that, even with the offense clicking and the defense improving by the week, all bets are off against the Aggies.

“We've put a lot of emphasis on this game, not only because it's a rivalry game, but because they're capable of coming in here and pulling off an upset,” he says. “It also helps that we've played Davis before. A couple of the teams we've played this year, we've never played before, and we didn't know how they were going to line up. But we've got a rough idea of what they're going to do. It'll be a lot of fun.”

After the Classic looms another big game, next weekend's trip to face the Big Ten Conference's Wisconsin in Madison, and beyond that a likely spot in the FCS playoffs. After that, however, the picture gets murkier for Dally, who says that he hopes to continue his career after his time with the Mustangs ends.

“Right now, football is 15 years and counting for me, hopefully,” he says. “After this season, I hope to get an opportunity to play at the next level. And I would give Canada or the Arena Football League a try, most definitely.”

He also says that he would be shocked if Barden wasn't a first-day selection in April's NFL Draft.

“Every time that he's been presented with an opportunity to make a play, he makes it,” Dally says. “I don't have a lot of time to watch college football because I'm playing, but I believe that he's the top receiver in Division I, be it the FCS or BCS (Bowl Championship Series).”

Until then, it's back to class for Dally, and the agricultural business major has words for all those on their way out of high school.

“One thing that everyone else needs to know: College is not like high school,” he says. “When you become a senior in high school, classes slow down for you. You've gotten your Math and your English out of the way, so you can work on three-on-three basketball. When you get into college, it doesn't get any easier, so Senioritis isn't an option.”

November 13, 2008