Moving on from a disappointing Cal Poly football weekend

Like many fans in San Luis Obispo, I’ve been efforting for a few days to move on from Saturday. I think everyone who was there would agree — that game sucked. It wasn’t the MOST disappointing game in recent memory, but based on the opportunity that was there, it was pretty bad. Before we move on, here are my Twitter comments at halftime that I think pretty clearly sum up my thoughts at the time.

As you’ll see if you read below, the biggest bummer about the whole situation was the fans being treated to that stinker of a first half. It was the WOWies’ first exposure to football at Cal Poly, and it stunk. And they all left.

1) Down 21 points in your home opener

— fansmanship (@fansmanship) September 20, 2015

3) Non-student fans were leaving in droves at halftime as well.

— fansmanship (@fansmanship) September 20, 2015

5) Fresh Prince of Bel Aire sing along was the worst. At a moment the crowd needed to urgently get behind their team, they were distracted.

— fansmanship (@fansmanship) September 20, 2015

They haven't had a dominant game yet. That was supposed to be this team's strength. (2/2)

— fansmanship (@fansmanship) September 20, 2015

Shouldn't have that problem in the 2nd half #AllGone #Infrastructure

— fansmanship (@fansmanship) September 20, 2015

Freshmen cleared outta here quick. Was totally full on far side in first half. My phone works now too. pic.twitter.com/I7VhZPlNTT

— fansmanship (@fansmanship) September 20, 2015

OK, now that that is out of the way, let’s talk about this week.

Opportunities still abound

If you thought Cal Poly’s schedule was tough for the first three weeks, the next weeks are really hard too. Tim Walsh’s team faces Montana State in Bozeman, comes home for Idaho State — who beat Cal Poly in Pocatello last year — and then travels to play Eastern Washington on the red turf.

To put it another way, Cal Poly plays five of their first 6 games against FCS ranked schools or Arizona State. The one unranked team, Idaho State, is a program on the rise in the conference.

Nothing is guaranteed for Cal Poly this year, as evidenced by the lackluster performance on Saturday. That said, Cal Poly played two VERY GOOD games to start the year. If the Mustangs can find some road magic and win one of their next two road games and take care of business at home against Idaho State, they would be 2-1 in Big Sky play with five games to play. Even if they’re 1-2 at that point (which would make them 2-4 overall), the playoffs are still a real possibility if the table can be run in the final five games.

Surprisingly, pollsters this week gave the Mustangs kind of a break by keeping them in the top-25. Could they stay there with a close loss at Montana State and a 1-3 overall record? That would be interesting.

DJ Peluso caught three passes on Saturday. By Owen Main

Passing progress?

After throwing for less than 100 yards in the first two games combined, Cal Poly’s passing game cost them on Saturday night. Chris Brown thew for 77 yards, but also was picked-off twice. In 2014, Cal Poly only committed seven turnovers, including three interceptions. They almost matched that interceptions total on Saturday.

So far this season, Brown is 20-42 passing for 179 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions. It’s not as efficient as Brown or his coaches would like him to be.

It will be hard for Cal Poly to respond by throwing more, but maybe that’s what they need to do. Teams are doing an excellent job scheming against the run and daring the Mustangs to go deep. DJ Peluso caught three balls and looks to be fitting into better to a receiving role out of the backfield. Cal Poly coaches would probably say that wideouts could have affected the Northern Iowa game more by blocking better, but more effective use of wideouts Jordan Hines, Willie Tucker, and Roland Jackson Jr. in the passing game could be keys to unlocking a more explosive Cal Poly offense.

Looking ahead

Players can’t look ahead, but as a fan I can at least glance that way. After the Eastern Washington game, Cal Poly will have a bye and then will play three of their final five games at home. None of those final five teams are a conference powerhouse. Southern Utah and Portland State won’t be easy. UC Davis is UC Davis. Sac Sate is never an easy game (except last year?) and North Dakota has looked decent at times this year.

More than ever though, Mustang fans could be in total despair after the first six weeks and the team could still make the playoffs and do damage. When they play well, Cal Poly has shown they can compete anywhere with anyone this season. I’m not going to tell fans not to feel emotion if Cal Poly loses, but I will say this: Until they lose one of those final five games, they can’t be counted out — no matter what happens over the next three weeks.