2022 Cal Poly Football Schedule Has a Similar Look to 2021 Slate
12/16/2021 9:26:00 AM | Football
2022 CAL POLY FOOTBALL SCHEDULE
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. -- Cal Poly played the fifth-toughest schedule in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision this fall.
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. -- Cal Poly played the fifth-toughest schedule in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision this fall.
It won't be any easier next year. Coach Beau Baldwin's Mustangs will play 10 of the 11 teams that were on the 2021 schedule — six FCS playoff teams and bowl-bound Fresno State along with Pioneer-League co-champion San Diego.
Cal Poly released its 2022 schedule this week and will play the same three non-conference opponents — Fresno State, San Diego and South Dakota — and seven of the eight Big Sky Conference foes it faced in 2021.
The lone switch leaves 2017-20 Big Sky champion Weber State off the slate, replaced by Eastern Washington, where Baldwin served as head coach from 2008-16 and led the Eagles to five Big Sky titles and six FCS playoff berths, including the 2010 FCS National Championship.
"I'm excited about the challenge this schedule presents," said Baldwin, heading into his third season at the helm of the Mustangs. "It was a challenging schedule last year and it will be more challenging this fall.
"Just like in any year in the Big Sky Conference, it's going to be a challenge," Baldwin added. "It won't be any easier."
Cal Poly opens the 2022 campaign at Fresno State, the 44th meeting between the Central California rivals — on Sept. 3, followed by its home opener against San Diego on Sept. 10 and a return trip to Vermillion, S.D., to face South Dakota on Sept. 17.
The Mustangs draws the bye on the opening day of the Big Sky slate Sept. 24.
Cal Poly's conference home games will be against Sacramento State on Oct. 1, Eastern Washington on Oct. 22, Montana State on Nov. 12 and Portland State on Nov. 19. As they did this past season, the Mustangs will play their final two games at home.
Cal Poly and Fresno State were members of the California Collegiate Athletic Association from the 1940s through 1970s before the Bulldogs elevated their athletics program to Division I. The Bulldogs lead the series, 33-10 with two ties, including a 63-10 triumph three months ago in Bulldog Stadium. Fresno State plays UTEP in the New Mexico Bowl on Dec. 18 in Albuquerque.
San Diego, from the Pioneer Football League, and Cal Poly have played seven times since the 2012 season, including an NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision playoff game in 2016. The Mustangs enjoy a 7-1 advantage over the Toreros, opening the 2021 season with a 28-17 victory in San Diego.
South Dakota was a 48-14 winner over Cal Poly in September, the first meeting between the two schools since the final year of the Great West Football Conference in 2011.
Cal Poly's Big Sky games on the road include Northern Arizona on Oct. 8, Idaho State on Oct. 15, UC Davis in the Battle for the Golden Horseshoe on Oct. 29 and at Montana for the second straight year Nov. 5.
The Mustangs have played an FBS school in 15 of the last 16 seasons, excluding 2020 when the season was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Cal Poly has won five games against FBS schools — New Mexico State in 1997, UTEP in 2003, San Diego State in both 2006 and 2008 and Wyoming in 2012.
Montana State, Sacramento State, Montana, Eastern Washington and UC Davis all were 2021 Football Championship Subdivision playoff qualifiers along with South Dakota, Montana State and Montana will play quarterfinal-round games this weekend.
Cal Poly will not play Big Sky members Idaho, Northern Colorado and Weber State in 2022. The conference falls back to 12 teams this fall with the departure of Southern Utah to the Western Athletic Conference.
Cal Poly will compete in its 11th Big Sky season this fall, capturing the conference crown in 2012, its first year in the Big Sky.
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