Tribune file photo by Jayson Mellon

Because there’s nothing better than media overreaction to an early season upset, I’m going to jump all over the Cal Poly volleyball team’s 3-2 comeback win over No. 18 Arizona in the Shamrock Invitational at Notre Dame on Friday.

Could this mean that the Mustangs are back?

Some were ready to ask if Cal Poly head coach Jon Stevenson, who took the Mustangs from the doldrums of college volleyball and turned them into an NCAA Tournament contender in only a few years, was losing his Midas touch.

The team got the tourney in 2006 and went to a regional semifinal in 2007, but after starting the 2008 season in the top 10, Cal Poly failed to make the tournament at all, and a super young team took its lumps last year.

If this upset signals a return to relevancy for Cal Poly, those doubts about Stevenson might have to fade.

I wasn’t at the match, but on paper, the team looked balanced, and the new pieces seem to have helped give the team the boost that wasn’t there last season — when the team lost seven five-set matches, including five in a row during Big West Conference play.

The usual suspects were there. Senior Dominique Olowolafe had 14 kills and four blocks, and sophomore Jennifer Keddy, the pride of Missoula, Mont., blocked eight and tallied 15 kills.

“They’re two big kids who move really well and jump really high,” Stevenson told me by phone, “and our defense is so good. They’re trained really well, and they just had to hit their stride. They did and it was really a great thing.”

The Mustangs also got a solid contribution from first-year setter Sarah Cawrse (57 assists) and superstar freshman Kristina Graven (14 kills, 11 digs).

Cawrse, a former Oregon transfer, was thrust into the starting role when sophomore Anuhea Keanini — who got the majority of playing time at setter last season — did not return to the team. Cawrse had 50 more assists in one match than she previously had in her career with Cal Poly.

Graven made an immediate impact. Outside hitter Catie Smith tied for the team high with 15 kills, but hit only .077. Graven, the highest ranked recruit Stevenson has landed at Cal Poly, hit .178 and was the most effective threat from the outside.

“A lot of people said that we were real close last year and Graven would made the difference,” Stevenson said. “It was that way indeed. Kristina Graven, she is the real deal. She made huge plays and passed really well under pressure.”

During the best seasons, Cal Poly fans showed that they would support a winning team, and this season has gotten off on the right foot in that regard. If Stevenson and the ‘Stangs can keep up the winning ways, they may find an appreciative group waiting for them at the Sept. 19 home opener against Cal State Bakersfield.

There are 11 more matches to go before then. Put your prediction skills on the line for me here. What will be the Mustangs’ record when they next play in Mott Gym?

For everyone except the Cal Poly defense, Saturday’s scrimmage might have been ugly all the way around. And, for some, it had more to do with perceived class structure and socioeconomic status than what happened on the field.

In addition to being treated to an oft-stalled offense missing all but a few starters, the fans who showed up to Alex G. Spanos Stadium were ushered away from the newer, nicer and shadier side of the stadium (renovated in 2006) to the older, creakier, sun-baked side before kickoff.

The scrimmage was free and open to the public, but the plastic chairback seats on the west side of the stadium — shaded by the press box and luxury suites — were off limits.

The topic resonated on the message board at The Poly Report. Several representatives of the estimated hundreds of fans who showed up there took exception to the seating arrangements.

It was a cranky bunch after being banished to the cheap seats, while the comfortable accommodations went unused.

Well, almost unused.

A few spectators could be seen observing the scrimmage from the luxury suites above. The separation led one poster (I’ll give you one guess who that was) to compare himself and the people who sat in the sun to the “great unwashed,” a derogatory term introduced by Victorian author Edward George Bulwer-Lytton in 1830 to describe the working class.

So, you have this group of hardcore fans, perhaps the most emotionally loyal that Cal Poly has in the world, showing up to spend their sunny Saturday on a training camp scrimmage. And they feel like they’re getting treated like second-class citizens.

Here’s what happened as I understand it:

On normal game days, California Blvd. is shut down on campus, where the street actually tunnels underneath the stands on the renovated side of the field. The closure is done to make sure that no moving vehicles have the chance to crash into the pillars supporting the stadium.

If such a crash were violent enough, I guess the stadium could collapse.

The street was not closed during the scrimmage, so event staff were not allowing people to sit in the chairs on that side of the stadium.

That explanation sounds satisfactory. Weather reports had the temperature in the low 70s during the scrimmage, and who doesn’t have suncreen in a beach town?

I don’t believe anyone at the university is trying to enforce a caste system for seating.

Unfortunately for Cal Poly, that’s just not going to fly with fans who were forced to stare into the sun and lament the seats they could have had while someone else enjoys a suite upstairs.

Nobody wants to die in a horrific stadium collapse, but unfair treatment doesn’t pass unnoticed anywhere, not even among dogs. Selectively enforced rules will always feel like discrimination.

The easiest solution in the future is to just close California for afternoon scrimmages in the stadium. It would take minimal additional communication to get that accomplished.

Let everyone enjoy what amenities there are. The cost of having a few campus police on hand to block the way would be worth avoiding the public relations hit that comes with angering your most avid supporters.

Tony Smith had his knee wrapped in ice after the Cal Poly football team’s full-contact scrimmage on Saturday, but he seemed fine after a dominant defensive performance by the Mustangs.

Andre Broadous looked bummed about the offense’s lack of production in the scrimmage. But I didn’t see a bum leg.

Come Monday, however, the two quarterbacks battling for the starting job were both on crutches and sitting out of practice, leaving third-stringer Doug Shumway to take first-team snaps. Had there been a game this week, Cal Poly head coach Tim Walsh said, Shumway would have started.

On Wednesday, the injuries didn’t look near as severe. Smith was practicing, albeit not in full pads, and Broadous is projected to return Monday.

And the word out of 1 Grande Ave. was that several other injured players were only a short time away from rejoining the team.

But there are an awful lot of minor injuries keeping projected starters out right now, a troubling trend that helped contribute to the defensive tone of the scrimmage. It’s gotten to the point that some position battles are being watered down.

Take the QB job for instance. Walsh said in Monday’s press conference that the injuries have made it tougher to determine which guy, Smith or Broadous, deserves to win the job exclusively.

“To be honest with you,” Walsh said, “it would be pretty tough to make a decision, and I have never ever in, I don’t know how many years I’ve coached, 31 or 32, have played with two quarterbacks in the first game, but that would be a probability based on where they are right now.”

The merits of a two-quarterback system, with these two players specifically, can be a topic for another time. Some like it, some don’t.

The reality is this though: Injuries seem to be setting back this Cal Poly team already — and just one season after the Mustangs struggled to a 4-7 record through a string of them last year.

Here’s a rundown of the current injury list:

• Senior tackle Art Munoz — A projected starter at right tackle, he broke his leg in the second game last season and complications from the initial surgery have pushed his return date back to sometime within the next couple of weeks. He will almost certainly miss the first game or two.

• Sophomore tackle Giovanni Sani — Munoz’s primary backup, he played most of 10 games as a true freshman last season but missed portions of the scrimmage and has been bothered for more than a year by shoulder problems.

• Senior center Hal Kelley — A starter last season when it was determined Jason Cox would not return because of knee problems, Kelley missed the scrimmage with and ankle sprain and remains day-to-day.

• Junior tackle Scott Winnewisser — In his second year starting at left tackle, a hamstring injury forced him to miss the scrimmage and also has him on the day-to-day list.

• Junior left guard Maurice McClure — Suffering one of the more freak injuries, McClure dislocated his shoulder jumping on a loose ball and has been out since the first few days of training camp. He could be cleared to begin practice next week but would also be considered in jeopardy of missing the first game.

• Senior receiver Dominique Johnson — After playing most of last season after suffering his own shoulder dislocation, Johnson missed all of spring recovering from surgery and hasn’t done a whole lot this fall either. He missed the scrimmage with a tweaked hamstring that has him day-to-day.

• Sophomore cornerback Bijon Samoodi — Projected to start this season after serving as a primary backup as a true freshman in 2009, Samoodi hurt his hamstring in a conditioning drill early in camp and could lose his chance to start because of it.

• Senior cornerback Brandon Williamson — Like Samoodi, Williamson is on the day-to-day list, only his is a groin injury. He was in line to be the team’s nickel back.

• Junior running back Jarred Houston — Leaping over the pile on the offense’s best chance to score in the scrimmage, Houston hyper-extended his left knee. He was down for a while and feared much worse, but the converted receiver is likely to return to practice today (Thursday).

• Freshman running back K.J. Cusack — A very intriguing true freshman because of his standout senior season at St. Joseph High in Santa Maria last fall, Cusack has been injured almost from the start at Cal Poly. He could return from a concussion next week.

• Already back — Junior safety Greg Francis (hamstring) and senior receiver Eric Gardley (hamstring) returned to practice this week. I didn’t know Francis was hurt. He was one of the defensive standouts in the scrimmage, which Gardley missed because of injury.

From GoPoly.com: Cal Poly will practice twice Thursday and wraps up Fall Camp on Friday morning with a single practice session. After a weekend off, the Mustangs return to the field Monday morning to begin preparations for their 2010 season opener Saturday, Sept. 4, against Humboldt State at 6:05 p.m. in Alex G. Spanos Stadium.

How much do you think these injuries will hinder Cal Poly? Let me know your opinion. I’ll be getting the team’s thoughts at practice, so check back later.

I’ve been meaning to give you guys a taste of what it’s like talking to Cal Poly senior receiver Dominique Johnson, a former transfer from UCLA.

Since he arrived on campus last summer, I’ve been impressed with Johnson’s composure and his quiet confidence. It’s no wonder “D.J.” was able to endear himself to the rest of the team with ease. Now, he’s helping mentor another transfer — West Virginia’s Mark Rodgers — as Rodgers makes his transition with the team.

Last week, I talked to the 6-foot-4, 225-pound receiver about his demeanor and his weight room work in the offseason.  Check it out, and as a bonus, I linked a video of Johnson from his high school days. It’s cool to see how he’s changed. (But my video is cooler. Just sayin’.)

Johnson has been limited by nagging injuries this camp, and will have to sit out the season opener because of an NCAA ruling on his eligibility from his days on UCLA. He played in a game during his redshirt season. But he should be back for week 2 against Montana.

Here’s that high school video from Scout.com.

I wonder if he still has those earrings.

Much of the talk this week has been on the movement between the WAC and the Mountain West and how it might affect Cal Poly. More on that — and the football relationship between Cal Poly and UC Davis in a second — but there are also a couple big scrimmages to know about on Saturday.

The football team will be holding its only live scrimmage of the preseason at 2 p.m. at Alex G. Spanos Stadium. You won’t see Mark Rodgers fully dressed out for that one, but it will be the best opportunity for any armchair quarterbacks to evaluate the progress of the quarterback position battle between challenger Andre Broadous and incumbent Tony Smith.

Later Saturday the volleyball program will be holding its Green-Gold scrimmage at
7 p.m. in Mott Gym. Still in the midst of a major youth movement and a few years removed from their peak as a national power, the Mustangs lost both setters from last year’s team. The scrimmage stands to be the best chance volleyball fans will have to see how that situation might work itself out before Cal Poly goes on a lengthy road trip. The Mustangs will play their first 12 matches away from home before hosting Cal State Bakersfield on Sept. 19.

Now, back to the conference alignment issue. The biggest motivating factor in any decision regarding that topic is money. Expect the Cal Poly administration to do what’s in the institution’s best financial interest. Right now, that is what’s up for debate.

But here’s something I’ve found interesting that didn’t make it into previous reports on conference alignment: Cal Poly and UC Davis are great complements to each other.

I know the most caustic regional rivalry is between the Mustangs and UC Santa Barbara, but the Guachos’ athletic offerings just don’t match up with Cal Poly’s as well as UC Davis’ because there is no college football in Goleta.

Cal Poly and UC Davis have the same academic profile. They target the same athletes. They play the same sports. And, because football is such a driving force in decision-making, they may have more of a tie than other Big West rivals.

Though University presidents have the final word on such weighty decisions, athletic directors from both schools each said they highly value keeping their connection with the other intact through all of this turmoil.

“I would love to maintain conference affiliation with UC Davis,” Cal Poly athletic director Alison Cone said. “I love the rivalry that we have. I think it’s good. It’s exciting for our students and alumni. Is that the only consideration? No. But it is an important one? Yes. They’re a school very much like we are, and I think it’s a good, healthy rivalry.”

UC Davis athletic director Greg Warzecka has another football rivalry with nearby Sacramento State of the Big Sky Conference but shares even more in common with Great West and Big West mate Cal Poly.

“The relationship we have in football with Sac State end Cal Poly is very, very important,” Warzecka said, “and as far as the all-sport relationship we have with Cal Poly, it’s very important.”

I’ve heard rumors that the one thing keeping Montana from moving up to the FBS could be the unwillingness of a potential conference to accept Montana State in a package deal. There were similar issues being discussed when Texas was talking about going to the Pac-10 without all of the Lonestar State’s other institutions.

And while I don’t think that a UC and a CSU in California can have the same type of political bond as Montana and Montana State, I wouldn’t be surprised to see UC Davis and Cal Poly end up in the same place when this is all over.

What are your thoughts on where that might be?

Taking a break from talking football to instead talk some futbol.

Cal Poly men’s soccer training camp kicked off Wednesday, and the women got their exhibition season under way with a 3-2 win over NAIA visitor Azusa Pacific, too. I was at both events, talking to major players from both teams about their expectations for the coming season.

But before I break out the season previews, the men’s soccer team will be hosting the Mexican Under-20 national team for its first home exhibition next Wednesday (August 25).

It’s a matchup that fifth-year Mustangs coach Paul Holocher is very excited about. He said it will be the first time a Mustangs soccer team has taken on another country’s national team. In that way, it seems a lot weightier than last year’s preseason matchup with the Club America reserves.

“It’s a big, big, deal,” Holocher said. “They’re a full U-20 national team. There might be a couple guys here that go on to play in their national team and one day play in the World Cup.

“These are some of the best-known players in Mexico for their age. They’re going to be very skillful, very quick and very athletic. They’re going to be attacking. They always are, so the game should be very exciting. A good test for us, good gauge to see where we’re at.”

The match will be open to the public, and tickets are available at GoPoly.com. It might not have the same oomph as the UC Santa Barbara game, and it won’t count for anything in the standings, but Mexican national teams have a reputation for drawing supportive crowds.

I myself am half Mexican — (Yes, that’s also me in the photograph over on the top right. Believe it or not.) — and were I not covering Cal Poly and dedicated toward journalistic neutrality, I might go root for El Tri’s young stars.

Is this exciting any of you? Or has the World Cup luster from this summer worn off?

The Mountain West Conference formally invited Fresno State and Nevada to join up, and The Fresno Bee is reporting that the Bulldogs are jumping to leaving the Western Athletic Conference, despite a recent reported $5 million buyout clause standing in the way.

If one or both teams leave, it could open up the discussion of WAC expansion again, a topic that was tabled indefinitely over the summer.

Cal Poly would remain a prime candidate for the move. The Mustangs, as discussed in the past, would have to graduate to the Football Bowl Subdivision, a proposition that involves lots of money.

Players would certainly be in favor of the switch. I talked to Cal Poly junior cornerback Asa Jackson, who likely wouldn’t even be on the team by the time a change becomes reality, and he was excited about the possibility.

“I know it probably won’t happen while I’m here,” said Jackson, who was named Great West Football Conference Preseason Defensive Player of the Year on Wednesday, “but just even for something like our program being considered, it would be great.

“It’s everyone’s dream to play (FBS) football. All the traditions, we all want that.”

My question is whether Cal Poly would want to make such a financial commitment to be in a league where the only easy trip is San Jose State while also picking up bi-yearly road games at Hawaii and Louisiana Tech. If UC Davis and Sacramento State also made the jump, it’s probably worth it.

What do you think?

Also, it appears that BYU is joining the WAC for non-football sports. Could that mean the conference would soften its stance on not considering football-only members? Playing in the WAC for football while remaining in the Big West Conference in other sports seems like a dream situation for Cal Poly.

Check out more on Jackson — as well as an update from running back Mark Rodgers — in Thursday’s print edition of The Tribune. And let me know your stance on all of this new WAC wackiness.

Tribune file photo by Nick Lucero

You haven’t heard the last of Harlan Prather.

The former Cal Poly punter-slash-backup-QB might have run out of football eligibility, but he’s still attending classes at the university and is looking to try out for the golf team.

I never would have known any of this if I hadn’t been tipped off to a Prather’s recent hole in one by the crack crew at Dairy Creek Golf Course, where Prather cared an ace from 115 yards out with sand wedge on the eighth hole.

Not having as common a name as, let’s say, Tony Smith for example, I though it had to be the same Harlan Prather, but I got in contact with him Saturday just to make sure. And … confirmed.

“It landed about two feet past the hole and it just stuck and trickled back and went right in,” Prather said. “It was close to a slam dunk, and it’s weird because usually a lot of those shots, the depth perception is off … It was pretty.”

Apparently, it wasn’t Prather’s first hole in one either. He said he also sank one from 135 yards out with pitching wedge in a tournament playing for the San Lorenzo Valley High golf team his junior year at Boulder Creek Golf and Country Club.

Prather’s most shining moment on the football field had to be last year’s relief effort at Montana. With Smith injured and Andre Broadous struggling to hang on to the ball, Prather entered a close game late and looked pretty comfortable.

His 59-yard touchdown pass to Mike Anderson cut the Montana lead to 28-23 with little more than 8 minutes left in the game. Nobody wanted to talk about it at the time, but the third-stringer did much better than expected, going 4 for 7 for 68 yards and a touchdown in his only action under center in two seasons with the Mustangs.

A junior college transfer from Cabrillo College, Prather was also on the golf team at his JC, helping lead the squad to the state finals two years in a row. He was golf team MVP all four years of high school.

Prather said the time commitment to Cal Poly football squeezed out his passion for golf, a sport he’s played almost all his life, but he’s been getting back out on the local courses like Dairy Creek, Morro Bay and Avila Beach — anywhere with a student discount — in preparation for Mustangs golf tryouts in September.

Per NCAA regulations, a Division I athlete has five years to play two sports, so he technically could be a fifth-year senior if he makes the cut, even though he’s run out of football eligibility.

I’m not nearly golf savvy enough to be able to tell you whether he’ll make it or not, but I’ll be sure to let you know one way or another. It would be pretty impressive if Prather is able to join Jono Grayson (baseball) as the second Mustangs football player to catch on with another team on campus.

“I just feel like I need to get back into being consistent and being confident,” Prather said, “and that just comes with practice for me. I feel like I’ve been capable of doing it. I just haven’t had the practice or the time.”

It was good to see Cal Poly’s first full-pads practice on Friday.

When the players have all the armor on, it’s a lot easier for everyone from coaches to schmoes to get an idea of what individual players might be capable of on Saturdays.

Position battles get sorted out as the contact gets sorted in.

One of the most interesting developing battles, however, features the least amount of tackling.

Senior kicker Jake West, a former Atascadero High standout and at one time Rich Ellerson’s answer to walk-on kickers, is locked into a showdown with true freshman James Langford, a five-star recruit with plenty of power and professional aspirations.

West has known Langford was being brought in to take his spot since February, and on that first day of practice, it looked like he’d been preparing for war ever since.

Known mainly as a directional kickoff specialist, West’s field goal attempts soared high through a new set of mobile goalposts. The focus and motivation showed in his eyes.

Langford, on the other hand, was being harped on by head coach Tim Walsh for having too low a trajectory on his attempts. And he spent some time asking the holder to place the ball at a specific angle.

“Welcome to kicking off the ground,” senior punter Chris Pinto said poignantly when the freshman came off the field.

By Friday, it seemed a lot more neck and neck. West’s kicks were still coming off higher and quicker — and shorter because of it. And Langford was booting balls farther but still lower to the ground. Both seemed pretty consistently between the pipes.

If West still has the lead, it can’t be by too much, and Walsh (who’s been spending each kicking drill with a front-row view and getting in plenty of hands-on instruction) said the battle could rage on into the regular season.

“It’s going to be really good competition,” Walsh said, “and I think it’s making Jake a better kicker, and Jake’s presence is going to make James a better kicker. That decision’s probably not going to be made for good until we go on the road. They’ll both probably dress for the first couple of games, and will they both kick? No. The guy that’s in the lead will kick, but if he’s not doing it, then the other guy might get an opportunity.”

It sounds like whoever gets the job to start the season could be on a short leash for season opening games at home against and Division II Humboldt State and FCS power Montana.

It also sounds like Walsh is only planning to travel one kicker and one punter. Pinto has the punting job. Either Langford or West would be staying home by Game 3.

James Chen missed a little bit of time last year because of a groin injury, finished off the season thanks to a “MacGyver” job by the training staff, then spent a big chunk of the offseason rehabbing.

He’s back full healthy — maybe for the first time since the start of his redshirt freshman season — and he leads a defensive line that is fast, and most of all, deep this season.