Cal Poly Visits Portland State Saturday in Big Sky Opener

Saturday, September 23

Portland, OR

1 p.m.

Portland State

Tickets

Photo by: Owen Main

Cal Poly Visits Portland State Saturday in Big Sky Opener

9/19/2023 10:46:00 AM | Football

CAL POLY WEEKLY RELEASE | PORTLAND STATE | BIG SKY CONFERENCE
ESPN+ | LIVE STATS | AUDIO (ESPN 1280)

SAN LUIS OBISPO – The Cal Poly football program opens its 11th fall season of Big Sky Conference action when visiting Portland State on Saturday, Sept. 23. Kickoff from Hillsboro Stadium (Hillsboro, Ore.) is 1 p.m. on ESPN+ for Cal Poly (2-1), which completed Big Sky preparations with a 41-20 home victory against non-affiliated Lincoln University (Sept. 16). Big Sky co-champions during their initial 2012 season, Cal Poly looks to open a Big Sky fall schedule triumphantly for the third time in four seasons (Cal Poly is 5-5 all-time in Big Sky opening games). A win Saturday at Portland State would allow Paul Wulff to become the first, first-year Mustang head coach with wins in three of his first four games since Larry Welsh (1997). Second among Big Sky programs with 38.3 points per game after closing non-conference play with a 91-0 home win against NAIA North American (Sept. 16), Portland (1-2) opened the year with successive FBS setbacks at Oregon (Sept. 2) and Wyoming (Sept. 9).

CAL POLY VERSUS PORTLAND STATE: Cal Poly has won three of its last four against the Vikings, including a 49-42 home triumph to close last fall. Cal Poly has also prevailed in two of its three visits to Portland State as a Big Sky opponent. The Vikings, however, captured the last matchup at Hillsboro Stadium on Oct. 30, 2021 (42-41). The Mustangs lead the all-time series, 13-11, dating to the first meeting – a 29-22 Cal Poly road win – on September 10, 1977.

HUARD ON TARGET: A January transfer from Washington, sophomore quarterback Sam 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) and the first to do so in 14 years. Huard's evening also comprised a 28-for-39 performance for 325 yards. Huard, who also completed 23 passes and threw for 324 yards during his Cal Poly debut against San Diego (Sept. 2), enters Saturday's matchup at Portland State ranked second among Big Sky players for total yards (759), passing yards per game (253) and completions (62). Selected as one of Cal Poly's four captains alongside junior linebacker David Meyer, defensive lineman Elijah Ponder and offensive lineman Garrett Weichman, Huard also ranks eighth among FCS quarterbacks with seven passing touchdowns.

DEFENSE MAKES ITS MARK: After linebacker Ethan Calvert led Cal Poly with 11 tackles against San Diego (Sept. 2) and 12 at San Jose State (Sept. 9), David Meyer took over the top spot with nine against Lincoln (Sept. 16). Calvert enters Big Sky play as the conference's second leading tackler with 26 total while junior Elijah Ponder – the Sept. 3 Big Sky Defensive Player of the Week honoree – tops the conference and ranks 13th nationally with three sacks. Having twice kept the opposition under 300 yards of total offense, 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.

INTO THE WOODS: In just 28 minutes against Lincoln (Sept. 16), junior wide receiver Giancarlo Woods equaled his career touchdown reception total, hauling in the first half of quarterback Sam Huard's record six to become the first Mustang in four years and 13th in program history with three touchdown receptions in a single game. Cal Poly's active leader with six career touchdown receptions, Woods also finished with 77 receiving yards in the Lincoln victory.

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 983rd in university history and the 323rd game Cal Poly will have played since moving to the Football Championship Subdivision level in 1994. The Mustangs are currently 157-165 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, five of Cal Poly's 11 games this fall – 46 percent – come against ranked Big Sky opponents (ranking current at time of matchup):

Date             Opponent (Coaches Poll/Stats Perform)      Result
Sept. 30        UC Davis (15/15)                                              --
Oct. 7           Idaho (10/7)                                                       --
Oct. 14         at Montana State (3/3)                                       --
Nov. 11        at Sacramento State (4/4)                                   --
Nov. 18        Weber State (8/10)                                             --

CAL POLY AGAINST THE BIG SKY: Since moving to the Football Championship Subdivision in 1994, Cal Poly is 63-87 against Big Sky opposition. Since joining the conference as an associate member for the 2012 season, Cal Poly is 34-48 in Big Sky play.

LOOKING AHEAD (SATURDAY, SEPT. 30): The 49th Battle for the Golden Horseshoe kicks will be played at Mustang Memorial Field as Cal Poly hosts No. 15 UC Davis at 5:02 p.m. The Aggies (2-1) – who open Big Sky action Saturday at home against Eastern Washington – own a 26-20-2 all-time series advantage. With six straight victories, UC Davis has retained the Golden Horseshoe since taking possession with a 31-28 home victory in 2017. The first game of the series was played in 1939 and the two teams have met every year since 1978 (and twice in 2021).

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).