Cal Poly Hosts Weber State Saturday on ESPN+ to Close 2023

Saturday, November 18

San Luis Obispo, CA

5:02 p.m.

Weber State

Tickets

Woods Stiff Arm Sacramento State (Betwos)

Photo by: Eyasu Betwos

Cal Poly Hosts Weber State Saturday on ESPN+ to Close 2023

11/15/2023 10:57:00 AM | Football

CAL POLY VS. WEBER STATE
SATURDAY, NOV. 18 (5:02 P.M.) / ESPN+
MUSTANG MEMORIAL FIELD PRESENTED BY FRENCH HOSPITAL (SAN LUIS OBISPO, CALIF.)
WEEKLY RELEASES: CAL POLY | WEBER STATE | BIG SKY CONFERENCE
ESPN+ | LIVE STATS | AUDIO

SAN LUIS OBISPO – The Cal Poly football program closes the 2023 season, playing its sixth, final and first home game in five weeks when welcoming Weber State to Mustang Memorial Field Presented by French Hospital on Saturday, Nov. 18. Kickoff on ESPN+ is 5:02 p.m. for Cal Poly (3-7, 1-6), which resumes play following a narrow 41-30 setback at No. 9 Sacramento State (Nov. 11) and seeks to snap a two-game slide during Saturday's season finale. Weber State (5-5, 3-4), meanwhile, enters Saturday's matchup with successive victories, first having topped Idaho State, 33-21 (Nov. 4), before derailing Idaho's Big Sky Conference title aspirations with a 31-29 home triumph against the Vandals (Nov. 11).

CAL POLY VERSUS WEBER STATE: The Mustangs look to snap a five-game series slide against Weber State dating to a 30-24 home victory on Oct. 11, 2014. The Wildcats prevailed in the last meeting between the two sides on Oct. 2, 2021 (38-7) at Mustang Memorial Field and lead both the Big Sky Conference (5-3) and all-time (10-6) series.

HUARD ON TARGET IN FIRST SEASON: Placing the final touches on one of the most prolific passing seasons in program history, sophomore quarterback Sam Huard's 483-yard performance at No. 9 Sacramento State (Nov. 11) comprised the second highest single game total by a Mustang and a new single game record of 37 completions. Also completing 31 attempts as part of a 333-yard passing effort versus Northern Colorado (Oct. 21) – at the time, the highest completion total by a Mustang in 23 seasons – Huard became just the third player in program history with six touchdown completions in one game during Cal Poly's 41-20 home victory against Lincoln (Sept. 16). Also with a 368-yard afternoon during his Cal Poly debut against San Diego (Sept. 2), Huard has thrown for 300-plus yards in four of eight appearances. Huard – despite missing Cal Poly's Sept. 30 game versus UC Davis and Oct. 7 matchup with No. 3 Idaho – leads all Big Sky quarterbacks with 16 passing touchdowns while ranking second for passing yards per game (256.0) and fifth for total yards (2,048) and completions (168). His 87-yard completion to sophomore tight end Carlton Brown against San Diego remains the second longest pass completion by a Big Sky quarterback this season and 12th longest by an FCS player. In Cal Poly single season history, Huard ranks seventh with 168 completions, eighth with 2,048 yards and 11th with 16 touchdowns.

INTO THE WOODS: Fueled by a 10-catch outing – the 18th double-digit catch game in Cal Poly's 30-year Division I history – and 107 receiving yards at Sacramento State (Nov. 11), junior Giancarlo Woods enters Saturday's finale leading the Mustangs and ranked 11th among Big Sky receivers with 51.2 yards per game. Also seventh in the Big Sky with 46 total receptions, Woods caught seven balls against both Lincoln (Sept. 16) and UC Davis (Sept. 30). His performance in the Lincoln victory also included 77 yards and a career best three touchdowns.

FAIRLY-DIYEM, FAIRLY GOOD: Alongside Giancarlo Woods, Sam Huard's other favorite touchdown target this season has been freshman wide receiver Tyrece Fairly-Diyem, who co-leads Cal Poly with four touchdown receptions. Fairly-Diyem, third in Cal Poly's lineup with 41.8 receiving yards per game and 29 catches, caught a season best seven balls for 123 yards and a touchdown in the season-opening win against San Diego (Sept. 2). He also owns touchdown receptions against Lincoln (Sept. 16), No. 3 Idaho (Oct. 7) and No. 2 Montana State (Oct. 14).

PONDER LEADS THE DEFENSE: The Big Sky Conference's sack leader remains junior lineman Elijah Ponder, who boosted his total to nine with another at No. 9 Sacramento State (Nov. 11) and now ranks seventh among all FCS performers. Second among Mustangs with 49 total tackles, Ponder – whose nine sacks have moved opposition passers back 49 collective yards – has enjoyed three multi-sack games, beginning with a career best three to fuel Cal Poly's season-opening victory against San Diego (Sept. 2). Sophomore safety Brian Dukes, Jr., third in the lineup with 45 tackles, became Cal Poly's fifth different tackler with a season best nine at No. 2 Montana State (Oct. 14). Most recently, sophomore linebacker Je'Kob Jones and sophomore cornerback Jamauri Jackson became the sixth and seventh different leading tacklers with 11 apiece at Eastern Washington. Having kept the opposition under 300 yards of total offense three times, Cal Poly's 27-10, season-opening victory against San Diego marked the program's first performance without conceding an offensive touchdown in 81 games.

THE WULFF OF CALIFORNIA BOULEVARD: Cal Poly's 27-10, season-opening win against San Diego (Sept. 2) provided Paul Wulff his first victory as Cal Poly head coach and first triumph as a collegiate head coach in 12 years. Having led Eastern Washington to three FCS Playoff appearances (2004-05, 2007) before serving as head coach at Washington State (2008-11), Cal Poly's victory was Wulff's first as a head coach since guiding the Cougars to a 37-27 victory against Arizona State on Nov. 12, 2011. Named the Cal Poly program's 18th head coach on Dec. 6, 2022, Wulff – a near three-decade collegiate coaching veteran – is a three-time Big Sky Coach of the Year recipient at Eastern Washington (2001, 2004-05) while having directed the Eagles to a share of two Big Sky titles. Wulff's other Big Sky coaching stops include Sacramento State (2016-18) and UC Davis (2019). The 2023 season marks Wulff's 13th as a collegiate head coach.

HISTORY IN THE MAKING: Saturday's game is the 990th in university history and the 330th game Cal Poly will have played since moving to the Football Championship Subdivision level in 1994. The Mustangs are currently 158-171 as an FCS program. The 100th game at the FCS level was a 34-13 win at Texas-El Paso (Sept. 6, 2003) while the 200th was a 41-10 triumph at South Alabama to end the 2011 season. Game No. 300 was a 48-14 loss to South Dakota (Sept. 18, 2021). The 100th FCS win was at Old Dominion, 50-37 (Oct. 9, 2010), and the 100th loss was to Eastern Washington, 35-22 (Nov. 16, 2013). Cal Poly earned its 500th all-time win at Portland State in October 2017 and is playing its 105th overall season and 30th in the FCS this fall. Cal Poly was a member of the now-defunct American West Conference (Southern Utah, Sacramento State, CSUN) before becoming an independent in 1996. After eight years as an FCS Independent, the Mustangs became a charter member of the Great West Football Conference in 2004. Following eight seasons in the Great West (and four titles), Cal Poly moved to the Big Sky Conference in 2012, capturing the title in its first season.

BIG SKY'S THE LIMIT: Competing in the Football Championship Subdivision's deepest conference, four of Cal Poly's 11 games this fall – 36 percent – came against ranked Big Sky opponents (ranking current at time of matchup):

Date             Opponent (Coaches Poll/Stats Perform)           Result
Sept. 30        UC Davis (20/21)                                              L, 31-13
Oct. 7           Idaho (3/3)                                                         L, 42-14
Oct. 14         at Montana State (2/2)                                       L, 59-19
Nov. 11        at Sacramento State (11/9)                                 L,

CAL POLY AGAINST THE BIG SKY: Since moving to the Football Championship Subdivision in 1994, Cal Poly is 64-93 against Big Sky opposition. Since joining the conference as an associate member for the 2012 season, Cal Poly is 35-54 in Big Sky play.

ETC.: The Cal Poly program is in its 105th all-time season and playing its 29th fall of Football Championship Subdivision competition … Cal Poly improved to 8-1 all-time against San Diego with a 27-10, season-opening win (Sept. 2) while improving to 9-1 all-time against Pioneer Football League opposition … Cal Poly's leading tackler last fall, junior linebacker David Meyer was named to the Big Sky Media Preseason All-Conference Team as part of the league's July Football Kickoff Weekend … quarterback Sam Huard's 87-yard completion to sophomore tight end Carlton Brown during Cal Poly's Sept. 2 opener against San Diego marked Cal Poly's lengthiest pass play since an 89-yard effort by Chris Brown at South Dakota State (Sept. 6, 2014) … Cal Poly dropped its ninth straight matchup against FBS competition Sept. 9 at San Jose State, a streak dating to a 24-22 victory at Wyoming (Sept. 15, 2012) … Sam Huard became just the third quarterback in program history with six passing touchdowns in a game against Lincoln (Sept. 16) and the first since Tony Smith against South Dakota (Nov. 14, 2009) … in just 28 minutes against Lincoln (Sept. 16), junior wide receiver Giancarlo Woods became the first Mustang in four years and 13th in program history with three touchdown receptions in a single game … UC Davis retained the Golden Horseshoe against Cal Poly with a 31-13 rivalry victory (Sept. 30) … Cal Poly's Oct. 7 home matchup with No. 3 Idaho marked just the fourth all-time meeting between the two programs … Sam Huard's 31 pass completions against Northern Colorado (Oct. 21) marked the highest total by a Cal Poly player in 23 years and the most since Seth Burford established a Cal Poly Division I record with 34 against Northern Iowa on Nov. 4, 2000 … Cal Poly set a new program record by recording three safeties at Eastern Washington (Nov. 4).