A week after winning their first game of the season, Cal Poly had what was probably their worst effort of 2017, losing a senior night game to in-state rival Sacramento State 49-14. 

Sacramento State went up 28-0 at halftime with long touchdown passes from Kevin Thompson to Jaelin Ratliff and Andre Lindsey bookended by a blocked field goal returned for a touchdown and a fumble return for a touchdown. 

Meanwhile, Cal Poly couldn’t keep its offensive momentum from a week ago as the Mustangs failed to score through the first three quarters as the Hornets built a 49-0 lead before putting their reserves in. 

After the game, Tim Walsh took a lot of the blame upon himself. Despite Cal Poly’s 1-9 record, they have been competitive in most of their games this season. Saturday night, they weren’t. 

“Our motto all year long has been to fight the fight,” said Walsh. “And I don’t think we fought the fight tonight.”

Cal Poly managed two fourth-quarter touchdowns to avoid their first shutout since 1999.

JMO goes for 1,000

When Joe Protheroe went down at the beginning of the season, senior Jared Mohamed took the mantle as the Mustangs’ featured fullback. The Brawley, CA product led Cal Poly with 125 yards on 30 carries and went over the 1,000 yard mark on the season. It was his 6th 100-yard game en route to becoming the 21st player in Cal Poly history to notch 1,000 yards in a season. 

Cal Poly quarterback Jake Jeffrey was 13-20 passing for 148 yards and JJ Koski and Kyle Lewis tallied 67 and 60 yards respectively receiving.

Time of possession

Generally, Cal Poly has had a time of possession advantage in recent years, and it’s served them well. On Saturday night, they had the ball for over 38 minutes while Sacramento State had it for under 22. Unfortunately for the Mustangs, having the ball didn’t turn into points in their final home game of 2017. 

Is this really happening? Hornets record their third TD of 70+ yards tonight. This time from Perkinson who goes 77 yards for the score. pic.twitter.com/rqhjd8PqyO

— Hornet Athletics (@hornetsports) November 12, 2017

Greeley-bound 

The Mustangs, sitting at 1-9 on the season, have one game left. On Saturday, they’ll travel to Greeley, Colorado to face Northern Colorado. The Bears are 2-7 on the season and have lost six straight games. Kickoff in Greeley is set for 10:30AM Pacific Time. 

Photos from Saturday night below by Owen Main. 

For more photos, or to purchase photos, click here.  If you just want to contribute to the cause, Venmo @Owen-Main or paypal owen@fansmanship.com. 

Finally. 

On Saturday afternoon, Cal Poly football finally got its first win of 2017. In the end, Cal Poly did it their way. Five touchdowns — all on the ground. Defensive stability. Finally, an all-around game.

J-MO’s big game

Jared Mohamed celebrates a touchdown on Saturday night. By Owen Main

Cal Poly fans, be thankful for senior fullback Jared Mohamed. In a season when he’s been a constant both in play and attitude, Mohamed had 194 yards and two touchdowns in the first win of the season. 

Mohamed was a workhorse for the Mustangs, toting it 35 times in the game, but the key was probably when those carries came. Mohamed was fresh at halftime, only having 11 carries in the first half. Once Cal Poly got a lead late in the game, the fresh-legged senior had plenty in the tank to plow forward for six fourth-quarter first downs as Cal Poly milked the clock with the lead.  

Balance and shift

Freshman slot back Chuby Danu had a nice game against Portland State. By Owen Main

Cal Poly decided to shift their offensive personnel some last week in Davis. This week, it paid off. Freshmen Chuby Danu and Broc Mortensen got all the wingback carries on Saturday as Kyle Lewis manned his new position as a wide receiver on the edge. Lewis didn’t catch any passes, but Walsh complimented the blocking of the receivers, saying it was the best job they’ve done of blocking all season. 

Mortensen, a true freshman from Ventura, took the ball on the team’s first offensive play and made the most out of it. Breaking at least three tackles, Mortensen changed fields and scampered for 44 yards. After Mortensen caught an 11 yard pass from quarterback Jake Jeffrey a few plays later, fellow freshman Danu scored from seven yards out on the right edge. 

Freshman Broc Mortensen took control of the game early, rushing for 44 yards on Cal Poly’s first play. By Owen Main

The use of Danu and Mortensen and their early success kept Mohamed or Jeffrey from shouldering too much of the load early and set the tone for Cal Poly to be truly unpredictable on offense for the rest of the game. 

Danu would score two touchdowns on the night to go with 74 yards rushing. Mortensen only managed seven carries for 83 yards himself, but when you reel off 44 on your first carry, other teams are looking at you as a weapon. It’s weird to think that “stars” are bad on offense — they aren’t — but having and really using a variety of ball carriers is an important adjustment Cal Poly has made over the past few weeks. 

Defense finishes

With the ball, down by seven points, it seemed Portland State had scored a touchdown to tie the game when Davis Alexander found Charlie Taumoepeau in the back of the end zone with less than one minute to play. 

But Taumoepeau landed out of bounds beyond the end zone and the Mustangs were spared. On the next play, safety Mark Reza intercepted an Alexander pass to seal the game for Cal Poly. The difference between winning and losing isn’t that great very often. That razor’s edge was in full display in the final minute at Spanos. 

Cellar dwellers

With their first win of the season, Cal Poly vaulted out of the Big Sky cellar. With two conference games to play, Cal Poly joins Northern Colorado as a one-win team in conference play and Portland State remained winless on the season. 

Two left

Cal Poly will play Sacramento State (5-4, 4-2 in Big Sky Conference) at Spanos Stadium on Saturday night before finishing their season in Greeley, CO against the previously mentioned Northern Colorado team. Cal Poly hasn’t lost to Sacramento State in at least four seasons, the last loss coming in 2012 at home.

In the four Mustang wins since, they haven’t scored less than 36 points and have averaged over 48 points per game. 

Kickoff for Saturday’s home finale is set for 6:05 pm.

Photos by Owen Main.To view more photos, click here. If you just want to contribute to the cause, Venmo @Owen-Main or paypal owen@fansmanship.com. 

On Wednesday morning, much of San Luis Obispo was socked-in with a low layer of fog. On-campus at Cal Poly though, the sun was shining as the 0-6 football team finished their early morning practice. Winless is winless, but the Mustangs haven’t been THAT bad. Four of their six losses have been by a touchdown or less. They haven’t played a single complete game and they haven’t been able to finish games collectively.

Head coach Tim Walsh said he’s never been 0-6 at any level and described what everyone — coaches, players, etc… is doing to try to pick up their first W of the season. 

Senior fullback Jared Mohamed has shouldered much of the rushing load since Joe Protheroe went down in week two. As always, the positivity and resilience of a Cal Poly athlete in their early 20’s is something that never ceases to astonish me. 

Jake Jeffrey is a redshirt freshman — barely 20 years old — and has been thrust into quarterback duties since Khaleel Jenkins was injured last week. With Jenkins out for the season, Jeffrey will get the keys to the Cal Poly offense. A Folsom High School product (like his quarterback coach Dano Graves), Jeffrey threw for over 4,100 yards as a high school senior. In their game on Saturday in Utah, Jeffrey and the Mustangs set season-high marks in pass attempts and completions, but fell short 20-14 against the Thunderbirds. 

Cal Poly has their second bye this weekend, followed by a home game against Weber State during Parents and Family Weekend on October 21st. 

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