Starting your football season by winning three of your first five games might not seem like much of an accomplishment to most fans, but when you haven’t finished over .500 since 2016 and have only won more than three games once during that span, it’s progress.
And it probably shouldn’t surprise you that Paul Wulff has an improved squad in his first season at the helm. Wulff was a two-time Big Sky Conference Coach of the Year at Eastern Washington.
The Cal Poly Mustangs were a regular contender in the Big Sky Conference since joining the league in 2012 and the 2016 team was good enough to get an at-large bid to the FCS playoffs (a 35-21 loss to San Diego), something they had done in 2012 (losing to Sam Houston State 18-16). The 2017 season produced a 1-10 record and it’s been tough sledding ever since.
Cal Poly went 5-6 in 2018, but no other season has produced more than three wins, and the Mustangs only won a total of 19 games from 2017 to 2024.
The Mustangs were sitting 3-2 after a 32-24 conference road win over Sacramento State but they’re now in the midst of a three-game gauntlet that already includes consecutive losses to No. 6 UC Davis (34-27) and No. 4 Montana (28-9) as they are now 3-4 overall and 1-2 in the Big Sky. Up next for the Mustangs is perhaps their most formidable opponent in No. 5 Montana State.
One of Cal Poly’s previous wins was over a common opponent with MSU in San Diego. The Mustangs took an impressive season-opening 41-17 win over the Toreros in San Diego and rolled up 469 total yards in the process. The score matches up well with MSU’s 41-7 victory in Bozeman where the Bobcats had 549 yards of total offense. The other win was over NCAA Division II Western Oregon 56-7.
Cal Poly gave the Aggies and Grizzlies a scare as they were in both games in the second half. The Mustangs were tied 20-20 with UC Davis and they kept the powerful Grizzly’ offense from scoring for three quarters as they led 9-0 at halftime and then 9-7 entering the final frame after throwing a pick-6 early in the third quarter.
The Bobcats enter the game with as good a defense as there is in the country. MSU has allowed just 34 points over its last five games and considering Cal Poly only scored nine points against UM, the task appears steep for getting that fourth win. Among schools from major conferences, only North Dakota State is ahead of MSU in scoring defense, total defense and rush defense in games against FCS schools.
The Mustangs exhibited some punch offensively against the Grizzlies as they netted over 250 yards in the first half of that game. Three second half interceptions, however, spoiled their upset bid and quarterback Ty Dieffenbach also threw a costly first half interception that cost Cal Poly at least a good shot at a field goal. Against UC Davis, Cal Poly went with veteran quarterback Bo Kelly and he threw for 251 yards and two touchdowns. Aggie’ quarterback Caden Pinnick was too much as he threw for 313 yards and three touchdowns and also ran for 60 yards and a score.
“They’ve played a couple quarterbacks and that’s something that has probably been challenging for them,” MSU head coach Brent Vigen said. “I think their intention is to play Dieffenbach the redshirt transfer freshman from Pittsburgh, but they’ve also been able to go back to Bo Kelly, who seems like he’s been around for a while. Both played in the Montana game so I’d anticipate that they’ll go with the order of business, but I know we gotta be ready for both of them.”
Moreso than their offense, the Mustang’ defense was on display against Montana as they allowed just 141 total yards in the first half and 180 through three quarters. The first half shutout marked the first time the Griz had been held scoreless in a half since 2019 at Oregon. The wheels fell off in the fourth, however, as the Grizzlies piled up 21 points and 228 yards of total offense.
“It starts with their front,” Vigen said. “They’re able to roll some guys through there that are good individuals in that group. Their ability to mix up fronts is part of it; they’re willingness to be pretty aggressive with their numbers. Play some man-to-man coverage, play some zero coverage at times. They move well and are coordinated and sound within that movement up front. (Former Bobcat) Mikey D’Amato is leading them in tackles.”
D’Amato was at MSU two years ago but only participated in team activities for a couple weeks before transferring to a junior college.
“We saw (D’Amato) as a strong safety,” Vigen said. “We saw him as a guy who could run well and who was very physical. For him to make the transition to linebacker doesn’t surprise me. He’s a really smart, intelligent player. He was only here for a couple weeks in the summer, so it’s not like we saw it all but in that short time he made an impression.”
Vigen is wary of the pre-snap movement of the Cal Poly’ defense.
“We’ve gotten better at handling movement through the course of the season,” Vigen said. “They’re definitely going to challenge that on Saturday.”
Offensively, the player that may make the whole machine roll might be wide receiver Michael Briscoe, who has 30 catches and seven touchdowns this season. He is widely considered the top offensive NFL prospect in the Big Sky Conference.
“He’s a guy they’re targeting,” Vigen said. “He can run. He’s got good size, he’s 6-2, 200-plus. Good body control. All the different types of things they do in their passing offense, if it’s play-action, shot down the field, he can be on that end. Try to match him on the inside or a fade. Their screen game is very effective. They don’t all just go to him but when they do go to him, he can catch it and go.
“He’s not as big as the last two guys we saw with Idaho State (6-foot-4, 231-pound Tsion Nunnally and 6-6, 226 Michael Shulikov), but he’s of that size that you better be ready to go physically when you match up with him.”
MSU’s last visit might be fuel for Cal Poly’s fire. In 2022, the Bobcats went to San Luis Obispo and set school records for total yards (744) and rushing yards (554) in a 72-28 win. Wide receiver Marqui Johnson moved to running back that night and went for 224 yards and four touchdowns on just 13 carries. He scored on runs of 12, 71, 36 and 78 yards all in the first half.
The Bobcats and Mustangs are set to kickoff at 6:00 Saturday evening locally.
