2023 Cal Poly Mustangs football team
2023 Cal Poly Mustangs football | |
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Conference | Big Sky Conference |
Record | 3–8 (1–7 Big Sky) |
Head coach |
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Offensive coordinator | Sheldon Cross (1st season) |
Co-defensive coordinator | Will Plemons (2nd season) |
Co-defensive coordinator | Cody Von Appen (2nd season) |
Home stadium | Alex G. Spanos Stadium |
Seasons |
| Conf | Overall | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Team | W | L | W | L | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
No. 2 Montana $^ | 7 | – | 1 | 13 | – | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
No. 8 Idaho ^ | 6 | – | 2 | 9 | – | 4 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
No. 9 Montana State ^ | 6 | – | 2 | 8 | – | 4 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Northern Arizona | 5 | – | 3 | 5 | – | 6 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
No. 24 UC Davis | 5 | – | 3 | 7 | – | 4 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
No. 13 Sacramento State ^ | 4 | – | 4 | 8 | – | 5 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Portland State | 4 | – | 4 | 5 | – | 6 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Weber State | 4 | – | 4 | 6 | – | 5 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Eastern Washington | 3 | – | 5 | 4 | – | 7 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Idaho State | 3 | – | 5 | 3 | – | 8 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Cal Poly | 1 | – | 7 | 3 | – | 8 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Northern Colorado | 0 | – | 8 | 0 | – | 11 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The 2023 Cal Poly Mustangs football team represented California Polytechnic State University as a member of the Big Sky Conference the 2023 NCAA Division I FCS football season. The Mustangs were led by first-year head coach Paul Wulff and now played their home games at Mustang Memorial Field in San Luis Obispo, California.
Preseason
Polls
On July 23, 2023, during the virtual Big Sky Kickoff, the Mustangs were predicted to finish eleventh in the Big Sky by both the coaches and media.[1]
Predicted finish | Team | Votes (1st place) |
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1 | Montana State | 120 (10) |
2 | UC Davis | 96 (1) |
3 | Sacramento State | 94 (1) |
4 | Weber State | 91 |
5 | Idaho | 89 |
6 | Montana | 84 |
7 | Eastern Washington | 52 |
8 | Portland State | 45 |
9 | Northern Arizona | 44 |
10 | Northern Colorado | 37 |
11 | Cal Poly | 25 |
12 | Idaho State | 15 |
Predicted finish | Team | Votes (1st place) |
---|---|---|
1 | Montana State | 447 (26) |
2 | Idaho | 410 (8) |
3 | Montana | 359 (2) |
4 | Sacramento State | 334 (3) |
5 | UC Davis | 330 |
6 | Weber State | 320 |
7 | Eastern Washington | 216 |
8 | Northern Arizona | 178 |
9 | Portland State | 167 |
10 | Northern Colorado | 109 |
11 | Cal Poly | 103 |
12 | Idaho State | 69 |
Preseason All–Big Sky team
The Mustangs had one player selected to the preseason all-Big Sky team.[2]
Defense David Meyer – LB |
Roster
2023 Cal Poly Mustangs football team roster | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Players | Coaches | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Offense
| Defense
| Special teams
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Roster |
Schedule
Date | Time | Opponent | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
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September 2 | 3:00 p.m. | San Diego* | ESPN+ | W 27–10 | 6,248 | |
September 9 | 1:00 p.m. | at San Jose State* | NBCSBA | L 3–59 | 14,224 | |
September 16 | 5:05 p.m. | Lincoln (CA)* |
| ESPN+ | W 41–20 | 9,238 |
September 23 | 1:00 p.m. | at Portland State | ESPN+ | L 21–59 | 1,672 | |
September 30 | 5:05 p.m. | No. 21 UC Davis![]() |
| ESPN+ | L 13–31 | 8,744 |
October 7 | 5:05 p.m. | at No. 3 Idaho |
| ESPN+ | L 14–42 | 6,028 |
October 14 | 5:00 p.m. | at No. 2 Montana State |
| ESPN+ | L 19–59 | 21,997 |
October 21 | 5:05 p.m. | Northern Colorado |
| ESPN+ | W 24–17 | 9,263 |
November 4 | 1:00 p.m. | at Eastern Washington | ESPN+ | L 13–48 | 4,345 | |
November 11 | 2:00 p.m. | at No. 9 Sacramento State |
| ESPN+ | L 30–41 | 12,022 |
November 18 | 5:05 p.m. | Weber State |
| ESPN+ | L 21–48 | 4,829 |
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[3]
Conference opponents not scheduled this season: Idaho State, Montana, Northern Arizona
Game summaries
At San Jose State
Pregame line | Over/under | Win prob. |
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SJSU -23.5 | 60 | SJSU 88.4% |
Period | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
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Mustangs | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
Spartans | 17 | 21 | 21 | 0 | 59 |
Game information |
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Statistics | CP | SJSU |
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First downs | ||
Total yards | ||
Rushing yards | ||
Passing yards | ||
Turnovers | ||
Time of possession |
Team | Category | Player | Statistics |
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Cal Poly | Passing | ||
Rushing | |||
Receiving | |||
SJSU | Passing | ||
Rushing | |||
Receiving |
No. 3 Idaho
Period | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
No. 3 Vandals | 7 | 21 | 7 | 7 | 42 |
Mustangs | 0 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 14 |
at Mustang Memorial Field • San Luis Obispo, CA
- Date: October 7, 2023
- Game time: 5:00 p.m. PDT
- Game attendance: 6,028
- TV: ESPN+
At No. 9 Sacramento State
Period | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
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Mustangs | 10 | 13 | 7 | 0 | 30 |
No. 9 Hornets | 14 | 17 | 7 | 3 | 41 |
at Hornet Stadium, Sacramento, CA
- Date: November 11, 2023
- Game time: 2:00 p.m. PST
- Game weather: 69 °F (21 °C) • NW 3 mph • Sunny
- Game attendance: 12,022
- Referee: Kelly Holman
- TV announcers (KMAX-TV/ESPN+): Play-by-Play: Jason Ross • Analysis: Darren Arbet
Game information | ||
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Statistics | CP | SAC |
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First downs | 24 | 23 |
Total yards | 539 | 538 |
Rushing yards | 45 | 225 |
Passing yards | 494 | 313 |
Passing: Comp–Att–Int | 38–59–2 | 17–26–1 |
Time of possession | 29:37 | 30:23 |
Team | Category | Player | Statistics |
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Cal Poly | Passing | Sam Huard | 37/58, 483 yards, 2 TD, 2 INT |
Rushing | Paul Holyfield Jr. | 7 carries, 27 yards, TD | |
Receiving | Michael Briscoe | 3 receptions, 124 yards, 2 TD | |
Sacramento State | Passing | Carson Conklin | 17/26, 313 yards, 3 TD, INT |
Rushing | Marcus Fulcher | 20 carries, 121 yards | |
Receiving | Jared Gipson | 5 receptions, 154 yards |