Mustangs Come Up Just Short Against No. 24 NAU

Saturday, November 15

Flagstaff, AZ

1 P.M.

3-8 , 1-6

Northern Arizona University

7-4 , 4-3

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Cal Poly

Northern Ariz.

Mustangs Come Up Just Short Against No. 24 NAU

11/15/2025 4:35:00 PM | Football

Box Score

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. – Cal Poly football nearly pulled off an upset of No. 24 NAU, but the Mustangs came up just short Saturday in Flagstaff, 35-27.

The Mustangs (3-8, 1-6 Big Sky) had 356 yards of total offense, including 270 yards passing. Cal Poly used two quarterbacks on the day as Ty Dieffenbach was 10-23 for 119 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions. Anthony Grigsby Jr. was 5-12 for 151 yards, one touchdown and one interception. He also had a rushing touchdown. Wide receiver Fidel Pitts had a career-high 138 receiving yards and two touchdowns.

The No. 24 Lumberjacks had 495 yards of total offense, 356 passing. NAU quarterback Ty Pennington was 22-29 for 356 yards, four touchdowns and an interception.

On defense, three Mustangs finished with double digit tackles. Safety Mason Rivera led with 14, linebacker Mikey D’Amato had his seventh double figure tackling game after finishing with 11, and safety Jeremiah Bernard had 10 to also go along with an interception. As a team, Cal Poly’s defense came up with two stops of the Lumberjacks on fourth down.

Northern Arizona scored on their first possession of the game, an eight-play 72-yard drive. Lumberjack quarterback Ty Pennington hit wide receiver Kolbe Katsis for a six-yard touchdown pass to make it 7-0 early in the first.

Cal Poly answered back with a touchdown drive of its own on the next possession. An 11-play, 75-yard drive was capped off by an insane 20-yard touchdown catch by wide receiver Fidel Pitts from Dieffenbach to tie it up 7-7.

In the second quarter, Cal Poly’s defense came up with a huge fourth down stop at their own four yard line to keep NAU from scoring and keep it 7-7. With just under two minutes left in the first half, NAU finished a six-play, 42-yard drive with a two-yard touchdown pass to make it 14-7. Cal Poly then got a career-long 51-yard field goal from Gianluca Dimauro to make it 14-10 with 40 seconds left in the half.

The Lumberjacks quickly scored a touchdown before the half as Pennington found Katsis for a 75-yard touchdown pass. NAU then converted a two-point attempt to make it 22-10. Starting its drive with 15 seconds left before halftime, Cal Poly quarterback Anthony Grigsby Jr. threw up a 57-yard hail mary pass as time expired that was caught by Pitts in the end zone to make it 22-17 at the half.

NAU opened the second half with a 38-yard touchdown pass to finish off a four-play, 75-yard drive to make it 29-17. Cal Poly responded with a solid drive of its down, resulting in a 39-yard field goal by Dimauro to make it 29-20 midway through the third. The Lumberjacks then made a 42-yard field goal to make it 32-20.

With just under eight minutes left in the fourth, Mustang quarterback Anthony Grigsby Jr. ran in a two-yard touchdown to cap a seven-play, 60-yard drive and cut the deficit to 32-27. NAU made a 37-yard field goal to make it 35-27 with five minutes to play.

With a minute left and NAU with the ball, the Lumberjacks had 4th and 1 from their own 27-yard line. The Mustang defense came up with a huge stop to give the offense the ball back and a chance to tie the game. However, the Mustangs were unable to score and turned it over on downs.

Cal Poly will host Eastern Washington next Saturday, Nov. 22 at 2 p.m. for the final game of the regular season at Mustang Memorial Field. The game will air on ESPN+. It will also be senior day with 30 Cal Poly seniors honored before the game.