Nov. 5, 2005

SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif.--Redshirt freshman running back James Noble rambled for 221 yards and redshirt freshman quarterback Matt Brennan passed for 157 yards and a pair of scores while rushing for two other touchdowns as No. 18 Cal Poly defeated No. 11 Eastern Washington 40-35 in a non-conference NCAA Division I-AA football game Saturday before 7,901 homecoming fans in Mustang Stadium.

Noble averaged 11.6 yards on his 19 carries and became the first Mustang running back to surpass the 200-yard mark in a game since Craig Young rushed for 232 yards against Southern Utah in 1998.

Noble scored one touchdown on a 74-yard run early in the fourth quarter, giving Cal Poly a 40-21 cushion with 12:25 to play.

Eastern Washington scored twice -- a three-yard pass from Erik Meyer to Eric Kimble with 10:04 to go and a 35-yard pass from Meyer to Craig McIntyre with 3:02 to play -- but the Eagles had used all of their timeouts and Cal Poly was able to run out the final three minutes to preserve the victory and even its series against Eastern Washington at 2-2.

Brennan completed eight of 21 passes, including scoring strikes of three and 48 yards to Ramses Barden, another redshirt freshman.

Cal Poly scored the first 20 points of the game and led all the way.

Brennan ran two yards for the first Mustang score, Barden caught his three-yard scoring pass from Brennan and Brennan scored on a nine-yard run to stake Cal Poly to its 20-0 lead with 5:42 to play in the first half.

The Mustangs also held leads of 26-7, 33-14 and 40-21 en route to their sixth win in nine tries. Eastern Washington fell to 5-4 and likely dropped out of the Division I-AA playoff chase.

Senior fullback Adam George scored Cal Poly's other touchdown on a 21-yard run early in the third quarter.

Eastern Washington also scored on runs of 14 and 16 yards by Ryan Cole and a 47-yard pass from Meyer to McIntyre.

Brennan finished with 72 yards rushing on 22 carries for Cal Poly. Barden was the top Mustang receiver with four catches for 76 yards. Jonah Russell added two receptions for 59 yards.

For Eastern Washington, Meyer completed 26 of 38 passes for 428 yards and three touchdowns. Meyer was the last Mustang opponent to throw for over 400 yards, netting 417 in last year's 38-21 Eagle victory at Cheney, Wash.

Raul Vijil caught nine passes for 164 yards while Kimble added eight receptions for `0` yards and McIntyre seven catches for 160 yards for Eastern Washington.

Cole finished with 78 yards on 16 rushes.

Cal Poly sacked Meyer six times, including thee by Matt Chachere and two by Chris Gocong.

Linebacker Kyle Shotwell collected 12 tackles (11 solo) for Cal Poly and Gocong added nine (seven solo and four for lost yardage).

Eastern Washington's defensive leaders were defensive back Brandon Keeler with 12 tackles and linebacker Joey Cwik with 11.

Next Saturday, Cal Poly plays the second of three consecutive home games to close out the 2005 regular season, hosting Southern Utah for a 6 p.m. Great West Football Conference contest at Mustang Stadium.