Cal Poly Seeks First Win Over Fresno State Since Late 1970s
9/10/2021 9:39:00 PM | Football
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FRESNO, Calif. -- The last time Cal Poly defeated Fresno State in football, Jimmy Carter was president, Washington was dealing with the Iran hostage crisis, the Sony Walkman was invented, YMCA by the Village People climbed the music charts and Pittsburgh won Super Bowl XIII and the World Series.
That was in 1979. Fresno State has reeled off seven straight victories since that historic night of Oct. 6, 1979, when 8,680 fans crammed into 8,500-seat Mustang Stadium and watched Cal Poly shut out the Bulldogs 26-0, thanks in part to five Mustang interceptions.
Fresno State and Cal Poly, once rivals in the Division II California Collegiate Athletic Association from 1939 through 1968, resume their 99-year rivalry Saturday night inside Bulldog Stadium after an eight-year absence. Kickoff is set for 7:05 p.m. and the Bulldogs own a 32-10-2 advantage in the series.
First meeting was in 1922, won by Fresno State 20-0 in San Luis Obispo, and the two teams haven't met since 2013 when the Mustangs, trailing 41-3 late in the third quarter, rallied to within two possessions at 41-25 before the Bulldogs held on for the 16-point win.
In the game 42 years ago, Paul Dickens replaced the injured Louis Jackson (ankle injury) and rushed for 163 yards on 35 carries while Robbie Martin did almost everything else on offense, rushing for 61 yards on nine trips, throwing a seven-yard touchdown pass to Mike Gilmore, catching four passes for 69 yards and returning four punts 32 yards.
But it was the Mustang defense that stole the show. Chris Jones notched two of the Mustangs' five interceptions, Ralph Gallagher returned one theft 22 yards for a touchdown, Tom Gilmartin sacked Fresno State quarterback Gary Kaiser in the end zone for a safety and recovered a Bulldog fumble and the Mustangs held the Bulldogs to 188 total yards of offense.
Mel Kaufman and Steve Booker earned the other interceptions as Cal Poly improved to 3-1 on the year with its first and only shutout of the series and finished with a 7-3 record.
Though Fresno State owns a lopsided advantage in the series, Cal Poly head coach Joe Harper was 7-5-1 against the Bulldogs in his 14 seasons (1968-81) in San Luis Obispo.
Another of those seven wins occurred the year before, a 24-12 Cal Poly triumph at Ratcliffe Stadium in Fresno. What was remarkable about that game was that the Mustangs had suffered a 52-3 loss to the Bulldogs just one year earlier in San Luis Obispo.
Again, Fresno State turned the ball over five times, this time losing four fumbles. Randy Smith returned the lone interception 34 yards to set up a Cal Poly touchdown and the aforementioned Jackson, who remains in the top five in numerous Mustang rushing records, contributed 179 yards on 30 carries with two going for touchdowns.
"It was simply a matter of execution," Harper said of the 1978 victory, which propelled Cal Poly to another 7-3 mark and a berth in the NCAA Division II playoffs.
* Saturday night's game features two former Pac-12 quarterbacks.
Spencer Brasch, a transfer from Cal, completed 23 of 38 passes for 316 yards and two touchdowns in the Mustangs' season-opening 28-17 win at San Diego last weekend. Jake Haener played in four games at Washington in 2018 after a redshirt year in 2017 before transferring to Fresno State in September 2019.
Haener, who had to sit out that year, completed 150 of 232 passes for 2,021 yards and 14 touchdowns last fall en route to All-Mountain West honorable mention praise, leading the Bulldogs to a 3-3 mark in the COVID-19 pandemic-shortened 2020 season.
A graduate of Monte Vista High School in Danville, Calif., Haener has connected on 50 of 69 passes (72 percent) for 629 yards and four touchdowns in two games this fall -- a 45-0 win over UConn and a 31-24 loss at No. 11 Oregon.
* Saturday's game will be a Homecoming of sorts for four players on the field.
Former Cal Poly defensive end Ryan Boehm is a graduate student at Fresno State and playing for the Bulldogs this fall. He was a Mustang for five seasons, including a redshirt year, and compiled 53 total tackles. Boehm earned a degree in political science with a minor in law and global politics from Cal Poly and is in the MBA program at Fresno State.
Cal Poly has three Fresno State transfers on its roster this fall.
Wide receiver Chris Coleman, who caught four passes, one for a touchdown, last week at San Diego, earned a degree in criminology-victimology at Fresno State last spring and is enrolled in the master's program for public policy at Cal Poly. He is a graduate of Garces Memorial High School in Bakersfield.
Defensive end Emeka Ndoh earned two tackles at San Diego in his Mustang debut. He is a graduate student majoring in packaging value chain at Cal Poly. Ndoh spent two years at De Anza College and two more at Fresno State, where he majored in pre-psychology, and did not play football in 2019 or 2020. He played in high school at Hanford and Immanuel.
Tight end Micah Pasion was at Fresno State in 2019 (redshirt) and 2020 (no game action) after graduating from Kamehameha High School in Kapalama, Hawai'i. The Ewa Beach, Hawai'i, native has four years of eligibility remaining and is majoring in communication studies at Cal Poly.
* Fresno State has won all of its 15 games since 2000 against Football Championship Subdivision teams. That streak includes victories over Cal Poly in 2010 and 2013 and the two teams are scheduled to play again next September 3 in Fresno.
The Bulldogs have won those 15 games against FCS schools by an average of 30.1 points per contest, including a 79-13 romp past Idaho in 2018, 66-0 over Incarnate Word in 2017 and 51-0 against UC Davis in 2009.
The Mustangs have won five games against Football Bowl Subdivision schools, the last a 24-22 triumph at Wyoming in 2012. Cal Poly also defeated UTEP 34-13 in the 2003 opener, San Diego State 16-14 in 2006 and 30-28 in 2008 and New Mexico State 38-35 in overtime in 1997.
* Eleven Fresno State players caught passes against UConn two weeks ago and 10 made receptions last week at Oregon.
Against San Diego, Cal Poly threw the ball to nine different receivers, the most in any of the Mustangs' 298 Division I games from 1994 to the present.
* Fresno State is playing its 100th season of football this fall. Cal Poly celebrated its 100th season in 2018.
AUDIO STREAM | VIDEO STREAM | LIVE STATS | TICKETS
MUSTANG INSIDER PODCAST WITH SPENCER BRASCH
FRESNO, Calif. -- The last time Cal Poly defeated Fresno State in football, Jimmy Carter was president, Washington was dealing with the Iran hostage crisis, the Sony Walkman was invented, YMCA by the Village People climbed the music charts and Pittsburgh won Super Bowl XIII and the World Series.
That was in 1979. Fresno State has reeled off seven straight victories since that historic night of Oct. 6, 1979, when 8,680 fans crammed into 8,500-seat Mustang Stadium and watched Cal Poly shut out the Bulldogs 26-0, thanks in part to five Mustang interceptions.
Fresno State and Cal Poly, once rivals in the Division II California Collegiate Athletic Association from 1939 through 1968, resume their 99-year rivalry Saturday night inside Bulldog Stadium after an eight-year absence. Kickoff is set for 7:05 p.m. and the Bulldogs own a 32-10-2 advantage in the series.
First meeting was in 1922, won by Fresno State 20-0 in San Luis Obispo, and the two teams haven't met since 2013 when the Mustangs, trailing 41-3 late in the third quarter, rallied to within two possessions at 41-25 before the Bulldogs held on for the 16-point win.
In the game 42 years ago, Paul Dickens replaced the injured Louis Jackson (ankle injury) and rushed for 163 yards on 35 carries while Robbie Martin did almost everything else on offense, rushing for 61 yards on nine trips, throwing a seven-yard touchdown pass to Mike Gilmore, catching four passes for 69 yards and returning four punts 32 yards.
But it was the Mustang defense that stole the show. Chris Jones notched two of the Mustangs' five interceptions, Ralph Gallagher returned one theft 22 yards for a touchdown, Tom Gilmartin sacked Fresno State quarterback Gary Kaiser in the end zone for a safety and recovered a Bulldog fumble and the Mustangs held the Bulldogs to 188 total yards of offense.
Mel Kaufman and Steve Booker earned the other interceptions as Cal Poly improved to 3-1 on the year with its first and only shutout of the series and finished with a 7-3 record.
Though Fresno State owns a lopsided advantage in the series, Cal Poly head coach Joe Harper was 7-5-1 against the Bulldogs in his 14 seasons (1968-81) in San Luis Obispo.
Another of those seven wins occurred the year before, a 24-12 Cal Poly triumph at Ratcliffe Stadium in Fresno. What was remarkable about that game was that the Mustangs had suffered a 52-3 loss to the Bulldogs just one year earlier in San Luis Obispo.
Again, Fresno State turned the ball over five times, this time losing four fumbles. Randy Smith returned the lone interception 34 yards to set up a Cal Poly touchdown and the aforementioned Jackson, who remains in the top five in numerous Mustang rushing records, contributed 179 yards on 30 carries with two going for touchdowns.
"It was simply a matter of execution," Harper said of the 1978 victory, which propelled Cal Poly to another 7-3 mark and a berth in the NCAA Division II playoffs.
* Saturday night's game features two former Pac-12 quarterbacks.
Spencer Brasch, a transfer from Cal, completed 23 of 38 passes for 316 yards and two touchdowns in the Mustangs' season-opening 28-17 win at San Diego last weekend. Jake Haener played in four games at Washington in 2018 after a redshirt year in 2017 before transferring to Fresno State in September 2019.
Haener, who had to sit out that year, completed 150 of 232 passes for 2,021 yards and 14 touchdowns last fall en route to All-Mountain West honorable mention praise, leading the Bulldogs to a 3-3 mark in the COVID-19 pandemic-shortened 2020 season.
A graduate of Monte Vista High School in Danville, Calif., Haener has connected on 50 of 69 passes (72 percent) for 629 yards and four touchdowns in two games this fall -- a 45-0 win over UConn and a 31-24 loss at No. 11 Oregon.
* Saturday's game will be a Homecoming of sorts for four players on the field.
Former Cal Poly defensive end Ryan Boehm is a graduate student at Fresno State and playing for the Bulldogs this fall. He was a Mustang for five seasons, including a redshirt year, and compiled 53 total tackles. Boehm earned a degree in political science with a minor in law and global politics from Cal Poly and is in the MBA program at Fresno State.
Cal Poly has three Fresno State transfers on its roster this fall.
Wide receiver Chris Coleman, who caught four passes, one for a touchdown, last week at San Diego, earned a degree in criminology-victimology at Fresno State last spring and is enrolled in the master's program for public policy at Cal Poly. He is a graduate of Garces Memorial High School in Bakersfield.
Defensive end Emeka Ndoh earned two tackles at San Diego in his Mustang debut. He is a graduate student majoring in packaging value chain at Cal Poly. Ndoh spent two years at De Anza College and two more at Fresno State, where he majored in pre-psychology, and did not play football in 2019 or 2020. He played in high school at Hanford and Immanuel.
Tight end Micah Pasion was at Fresno State in 2019 (redshirt) and 2020 (no game action) after graduating from Kamehameha High School in Kapalama, Hawai'i. The Ewa Beach, Hawai'i, native has four years of eligibility remaining and is majoring in communication studies at Cal Poly.
* Fresno State has won all of its 15 games since 2000 against Football Championship Subdivision teams. That streak includes victories over Cal Poly in 2010 and 2013 and the two teams are scheduled to play again next September 3 in Fresno.
The Bulldogs have won those 15 games against FCS schools by an average of 30.1 points per contest, including a 79-13 romp past Idaho in 2018, 66-0 over Incarnate Word in 2017 and 51-0 against UC Davis in 2009.
The Mustangs have won five games against Football Bowl Subdivision schools, the last a 24-22 triumph at Wyoming in 2012. Cal Poly also defeated UTEP 34-13 in the 2003 opener, San Diego State 16-14 in 2006 and 30-28 in 2008 and New Mexico State 38-35 in overtime in 1997.
* Eleven Fresno State players caught passes against UConn two weeks ago and 10 made receptions last week at Oregon.
Against San Diego, Cal Poly threw the ball to nine different receivers, the most in any of the Mustangs' 298 Division I games from 1994 to the present.
* Fresno State is playing its 100th season of football this fall. Cal Poly celebrated its 100th season in 2018.
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