Cal Poly made almost evrey miske you can make in their 24-10 loss to Yale on Saturday. By Owen Main

This was supposed to be the week for Cal Poly to “get right.” After winning their Big Sky Conference opener two Thursdays ago in Portland, Cal Poly was supposed to find their legs and rhythm against a visiting Yale team.

Instead the Mustangs turned the ball over four times, had at least two big special teams plays against them, and committed nine penalties for 91 yards including at least two after defensive stops in the second half on drives where Yale ended up scoring.

“Give Yale credit and give us criticism. I can take it,” said Cal Poly head coach Tim Walsh after the game.

So, credit to Yale. They executed a drive that took 5:37 off the clock in the fourth quarter to go up by two touchdowns and put the game away. They executed. Like Walsh said, they deserve a lot of credit.

That being said, here is a quick list of the ten or so REALLY bad, back-breaking plays for Cal Poly:

First Quarter

• Chris Brown pitch to Kristaan Ivory fumbled on the 8th play from scrimmage for Cal Poly.
• Cal Poly punter Paul Hundley has his punt blocked.
• On the ensuing drive, Yale’s Derek Russell (the holder) runs a fake field goal into the end zone for a three-yard touchdown to put Yale up 7-0.

Second Quarter

• On 2nd and 6 from the Yale 27, Chis Brown throws an interception.
• Willie Tucker’s knee is injured and he is lost for the game.
• Wesley Flowers picks up a 15-yard personal foul penalty after Yale is stopped on first down inside their own ten yard-line
• A Yale punt hits a Cal Poly special-teamer, putting the Cal Poly defense back on the field and giving Yale good field position late in the first quarter.

Third Quarter

• After stalling Yale’s drive on third down Andrew Alcaraz picks up a personal foul, extending Yale’s opening drive. The Bulldogs would capitalize and kick a field goal on the drive.
• Cal Poly once again stalls a Yale drive on third and five, but Vante Smith-Johnson is flagged for a personal foul, giving the Bulldogs another automatic first-down. Yale would finish the drive with a touchdown to go up 17-10.
• A ray of hope is extinguished. Chris Brown seems to find Cam Akins for a 67-yard touchdown, but it comes back because of an illegal formation penalty. It goes down as a five-yard penalty, but really costs the Mustangs 72 yards and seven points.

Fourth Quarter

• Cal Poly played the fourth quarter relatively cleanly. They couldn’t stop Yale on their final scoring drive that ate up most of the fourth quarter and Chris Brown did throw a desperation interception, but generally-speaking, Cal Poly played a clean (if ineffective) final quarter. ** Interesting stat — the Mustangs were out-possessed 11:03 – 3:57 in the fourth quarter.

There are so many reasons why this was a really bad loss for Cal Poly. Maybe I’ll find some silver lining at the end of this, but for now, here is a list of reasons why this game was really a stinker for the Mustangs — the criticism if you will.

1) They had eight days to prepare

After playing an inspired second-half last week, Cal Poly seemed they may have hit their stride as Big Sky play began. From a fan’s perspective, an eight-day-day break followed by a game against an Ivy League school was everything someone could ask for in terms of notoriety matched with a team that would be a decent tune-up for the remainder of the Big Sky Conference schedule.

Instead, Cal Poly played really bad, sloppy football. Contrasted with Yale’s virtually mistake-free game, the Mustangs were outclassed and outplayed by a team with no athletic scholarships.

2) The 2:05PM start

I’m not just trying to find things to complain about here. I think the time of day that college athletes play probably makes a difference, especially if it’s earlier in the day. Late September and October are traditionally warm times in San Luis Obispo county and Saturday didn’t disappoint. Temperature at game time was over 85 degrees. The fans who were there seemed more concerned with staying in the shade than getting themselves into a fevered pitch. It’s true, the team didn’t really give the fans any reason to get excited, but I was still less than impressed with the energy.

Getting people to go outdoors to sit in the hot sun in the middle of the afternoon usually doesn’t bode well in San Luis Obispo. The reported attendance for the game was 8,376 fans, which means that the stadium was about three-quarters full.

I don’t know if the 2:05 game time had anything to do with it. The team definitely didn’t give them a lot to cheer for, but the energy from the crowd left a lot to be desired. It’s the greatest thing ever for a visiting team and makes it like a slow-moving nightmare for home fans.

3) The crowd was… there.

I’m going to take a shot here that may not make everyone happy.

The student crowd at the soccer game on Friday night was much larger, more energetic, and vocal for 90 straight minutes than the football student section was at any time during Friday’s game.

At least two students I talked to during the game talked about knowing people who didn’t come because of the late night they’d had on Friday night. Whatever you want to say about whether the narrative of students not getting there in HUGE numbers, the results showed. There were a number of students in the sunny student section, but the game was far from a sellout and lots of students left after halftime, making the scene during the second half more quiet, weird, and morose, especially late in the third and early in the fourth quarter.

4) They got off to a slow start. Again.

Cal Poly simply has got to get first quarters and first halves figured out. Cal Poly took the opening kickoff and promptly fumbled a pitch. They stopped Yale at the goal line only to give up a fake-They got down in the game 7-0 and only managed a 10-7 lead at halftime. The team was never able to flip the switch and show the sharp, inspired play that allowed them to beat Portland State. That Portland State game seems like so long ago right now…

“I had slow eyes today,” said Brown, describing his reads on the triple option. “I take full responsbility.”

Cal Poly managed only one first-down in the second half. Ten of their 13 drives totaled five plays or less.

5) Turnovers

Four turnovers for a triple-option team is not good. Tim Walsh won’t have that kind of performance long-term. Cal Poly fumbled, was intercepted, turned the ball over on special teams, and made two or three defensive penalties (see above) on third down that were basically turnovers, giving the opposing team a second chance. Like a good team, Yale captialized.

6) Special teams play

I have gone easy on Cal Poly’s return game, but their special teams in general, aside from the play of their two kickers, has been somewhere between nervous-making and a roll of the dice. Chris Nicholls, a preseason pick for All-Big Sky Conference on special teams hasn’t been used much to return punts, players blocking on punt returns don’t seem to have a clue about their surroundings, and returners are allowing good punts to put Cal Poly’s offense in a tough spot, deep in their own territory.

In this game, Special Teams gave up a touchdown on a fake punt and touched a Yale punt to turn the ball over.

I will give credit to Sullivan Grosz for a blocked field goal in the first half — it was a big positive special teams play — but teams will continue to have confidence that their “special” special teams plays can work against Cal Poly.

This year, the punt return team has been scored on twice in one game and the field goal unit has had a kick blocked. I might be forgetting a play, but there hasn’t been one return from Cal Poly where I’ve said to myself, “that could have gone the distance.” On punt returns, they averaged 8.5 yards last year. This season they are averaging 3.4 yards per punt return while their opponents average 13.5 yards.

Needless to say, special teams still has a lot of work to do.

7) National implications of a “top” Big Sky team losing to an Ivy League school

This is one of those things that isn’t tangible. Cal Poly playing Yale is a game that should have brought with it a rooting interest from the rest of the Big Sky and the entire West Coast of FCS football. I’m a big believer in East Coast bias with most things, including polls in college football. Cal Poly losing to an Ivy League school will have implications both for them and possibly for other schools in the Big Sky come playoff time.

A baseball equivalent would be if Cal Poly went and played a random (and not very good) East coast team and then got swept. It doesn’t help Cal Poly and it doesn’t help anyone they play.

Willie Tucker routinely goes head over heels to make plays for Cal Poly. It is unknown how long he’ll be out for. By Owen Main

8) Injury to Willie Tucker

Willie Tucker has been Cal Poly’s best receiver the past two years. He is explosive and has great hands. Him getting hurt was a part of a very moody and quiet crowd atmosphere. The longer the game went on, the weirder it got.

The extent of Tucker’s injuries aren’t known yet, but Cal Poly better find some more playmakers if he is out for an extended period of time. Look for Cam Akins to get more time on the field next week.

9) It’s all Big Sky the rest of the way

Cal Poly’s remaining seven games are all against Big Sky opponents. In order, they are Weber State, Montana, Northern Arizona, UC Davis, Sacramento State, Eastern Washington, and Northern Colorado. To make the playoffs, they probably have to win six of the seven games because an at-large bid with a (6-2) conference record, (8-4) overall record, and a loss to Yale probably won’t be looked at favorably by the playoff committee, even though two of those losses would have come against FBS schools.

Silver Lining?

The silver lining may be that Cal Poly has almost their entire Big Sky schedule ahead of them. They are still undefeated in conference, so technically all of their season goals are still attainable. Walsh said that they could go 1-7 in conference if they play like they did on Saturday, but for now Cal Poly is focused on Weber State.

The other nice thing is that there was some accountability taken, especially by Walsh and Brown.

“I take responsibility for it. They’re my players,” said Walsh. “I believe in the guys that are playing, but we didn’t play Cal Poly football the way we’re capable of playing.”

Were there any backbreaking plays that stood out to Walsh right after the game?

“Two personal fouls in the third quarter, the ball hitting a guy on a punt, a scramble for 52 yards, a wide receiver not lining up on the line of scrimmage that scores a 70 yard touchdown — I think that’s enough mistakes to cost you a game,” said Walsh.

Are the mistakes correctable?

“I think everything’s correctable. I’m kind of the ultimate optimist on that,” said Walsh “It sure wasn’t today during the course of the game. When we’ve had bad performances in the past, we’ve always had the opportunity to battle back — our character started to show. I don’t think we showed great character today as a team and that’s probably one of my biggest disappointments.”

What does Brown need to work on?

“You don’t want turnovers,” Brown said. “You don’t want turnovers, you don’t want turnovers. I would say it’s not because of lack of experience it’s just fundamentals, staying true to my fundamentals and what our coaches are teaching me and what our coaches are teaching other players.”

How do you limit turnovers?

“Going back to basics,” said Brown. “Going back to base one. That’s the only way we can move forward.”

On slow starts –

“It’s on us to come out and play harder. I take full responsibility as far as keeping our offense going and keeping the tempo up, keeping the linemen’s head up, keeping our receivers’ head up…”

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Mackenzie Pridham blasts the game-winning goal on Sunday afternoon vs. Yale. By Owen Main

The first Cal Poly soccer match I went to this year was a dud. The Mustangs looked listless, didn’t create many good chances, and lost to Gonzaga in overtime. It looked like it was happening all over again.

On Sunday, it looked nearly like a carbon copy of the Gonzaga match, except Yale took advantage of Cal Poly’s mistakes and went ahead 2-0 at halftime. While they had the run of play, they used a lot of less-effective long passes and were to crack the middle part of the final third of the field. A defensive mistake by Cal Poly and a timely counter fr

Connor Drechsler put Cal Poly within 2-1 early in the second half on a cross from Chris Bernardi. Bernardi, who comes off the bench for Holocher, has looked like the fastest, most effective Mustang with the best first touch in the two games I’ve been to this season. In short, he puts a lot of pressure on defenders. Dreschler has three career goals on only three career shots on goal.

During the final 20 minutes of the second half, Yale did everything they could to legally bleed the clock. As Cal Poly’s offense started to turn up the pressure, two Bulldogs went down with what seemed like leg cramps. They subbed players every few minutes. They took their time on free kicks.

But in the end, it wasn’t enough.

With less than 90 seconds left in the match, sophomore Matt LaGrassa fired a left-footed blast into the right side of the net to tie the match. Yale’s collective hands went to their heads. Mustangs players climbed briefly onto the barrier with the stands in front of the Mustang Manglers section.

In overtime, Cal Poly persevered. Mackenzie Pridham, who had played a very physical second half, finally found himself free and quickly buried the game-winner past Yale keeper Blake Brown in the 100th minute to cap the comeback.

Chase Minter celebrates with Matt LaGrassa (20) after LaGrassa’s game-tying goal. By Owen Main

The final 55 minutes of the match– the second half and overtime — were a dominant display by Cal Poly. As discussed in my soccer preview, if the Mustangs are going to have any chance at the Big West title, careless mistakes at the back line cannot happen. A team like UCSB, Davis, or Cal State Northridge will be nearly impossible to come back on from 2-0 down in a game like Sunday’s.

I always find Paul Holocher’s comments about style of play interesting. While Yale consistently played in the second half with 8 players behind the ball defensively, Cal Poly did their best to keep the field open, maintain possession, and use the whole pitch.

I would rather lose trying to play this way than win in another way. I think our fans appreciate how we get things done as much as the outcome,” said Holocher.

In other words, the team needs to get better at the style of play, particularly with turnovers deep in the defensive zone. Holocher’s team will play two games in Colorado next week before starting conference play.

Photos by Owen Main

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Pridham’s Goal – Video