Cal Poly Rallies for 28-21 Season-Ending Win Over Northern Colorado

Saturday, November 23

Greeley, CO

11:5 am

3-8 , 2-6

Northern Colorado

2-10 , 2-6

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Cal Poly

Northern Colorado

Cal Poly Rallies for 28-21 Season-Ending Win Over Northern Colorado

11/23/2019 12:00:00 AM | Football

Box Score

VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS

GREELEY, Colorado – Three interceptions in the second half, two by Kevin Howell – one returned for a touchdown – sparked Cal Poly to a 28-21 victory over Northern Colorado in a season-ending Big Sky Conference football game Saturday afternoon at Nottingham Field.

Howell's second theft with 36 seconds remaining was returned 30 yards for a touchdown, giving Cal Poly the lead for the first time, 28-21.

The win snapped a six-game Mustang losing streak and lifted Cal Poly, which trailed 14-0 and 21-7, to 3-8 for the season and 2-6 in the Big Sky. Northern Colorado finished 2-10 and 2-6. Five teams -- Cal Poly, Northern Colorado, Northern Arizona, Southern Utah and Idaho State -- shared ninth place in the Big Sky at 2-6.

"With all the close losses we had the past seven weeks, when we got down 21-7, we played our best defense of the year," said 11th-year Mustang head coach Tim Walsh, now 7-4 in season finales, "and the offense tied the game, overcame a missed field goal and we came up with three interceptions.

"The fourth quarter was an inspiring effort," Walsh added. "That was a great tribute to our players and coaches of fighting the fight! The seniors went out with a great effort from them and their teammmates."

The Mustangs won a game after trailing at halftime for the first time since 2016 and when trailing after three quarters for the first time since turning a 31-28 deficit into a 42-39 victory over Southern Utah in 2014.

Sophomore fullback Duy Tran-Sampson scored two of Cal Poly's first three touchdowns on runs of 65 and 1 yards and became the 23rd Mustang to surpass the 1,000-yard mark for a single season.

The 65-yard romp up the middle with 16 seconds left in the third quarter put him over the 100-yard mark for the fourth time this season and over the 1,000-yard mark as well. He finished Saturday's game with 135 yards on 20 carries, giving him 1,037 yards for the year.

Kyle Reid, substituting for Jalen Hamler (hamstring pull) midway through the second period, rushed for 143 yards on 24 carries and scored Cal Poly's first touchdown of the game on a two-yard run late in the second quarter, trimming Northern Colorado's lead to 14-7.

Reid also completed four of nine passes for 45 yards.

"That was a gutsy effort by Kyle Reid with Jake Jeffrey sick and Jalen nursing a hamstring injury," said Walsh. "But the defense truly stole the show in the fourth quarter. Kevin Howell made big plays along the way and we were determined to win.

"When we got down, it would have been easy to just finish the game," Walsh added. "But we had no quit!"

Northern Colorado built its 14-0 lead on a 20-yard run by Milo Hall and a 13-yard pass from Jacob Knipp to Sam Flowers in the first 20 minutes of the game.

After Reid's scoring run late in the first half, Knipp's 46-yard pass to Willie Fairman with 4:01 left in the third quarter gave the Bears a 21-7 lead and capped a quick two-play 80-yard drive.

The three interceptions, all in the fourth quarter, fueled Cal Poly's comeback.

The first theft by Howell (pictured above) set up Tran-Sampson's one-yard touchdown run that tied the game at 21-21. His second theft put Cal Poly ahead 28-21 and Matt Shotwell intercepted Knipp with 11 seconds to play to clinch the victory.

For Howell, he has four career thefts at Cal Poly and his first pick six, the first by a Mustang since Kelly Shepard returned an interception 63 yards for a touchdown against San Diego in the 2016 NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision playoffs. He also had a pick six at Thousand Oaks High School.

Aaron Cooper had eight tackles, including a sack, to lead Cal Poly defensively.

Senior wide receiver J.J. Koski caught two passes for 11 yards, lifting his career totals to 121 receptions for 2,311 yards with 18 touchdowns. He is sixth in Cal Poly's record book for career catches, fifth in receiving yards and tied for fifth in rceiving touchdowns.

For Northern Colorado, Hall finished with 87 yards on 17 carries and Knipp completed 20 of 31 passes for 255 yards and two scores. Jaren Mitchell caught six passes for 70 yards and Noel Ried led the Bears defensively with 13 tackles.

Weber State, which defeated Idaho State 38-10, and Sacramento State, a 27-17 winner over UC Davis, are co-champions of the Big Sky with 7-1 marks -- the Wildcats earning the automatic qualifying berth in the FCS playoffs by virtue of their 36-17 win over the Hornets on Nov. 2 -- and will join Montana and Montana State in the postseason.