In case you haven’t noticed, the students are back. Grocery stores are packed, Target is insane, and don’t even try to go to Costco at 2pm on a Saturday afternoon right now. Last night, the WOWies invaded Farmer’s Market, and this weekend Cal Poly Athletics has a huge chance to make another first impression.

Their first impressions have been a mixed bag in the past. Two years ago, most of Alex G. Spanos Stadium filled-up for a WOW week men’s soccer matchup against San Francisco — one that the Mustangs won. Last season, Cal Poly’s football team had a great opportunity. After starting the season with a thrilling win at Montana and playing Arizona State close, they laid a WOW Week-sized first-quarter egg, trailing 21-0 before the Spanos student section could get warmed-up.

This weekend, there are more opportunities to WOW the WOWies. Starting today at 5:00pm, there are four events at Alex G. Spanos Stadium and a volleyball match at Mott Athletics Center too.

Three of the games are against top-15 teams in the country in three different sports.

For attendance, the two games to keep an eye on are Friday night’s men’s soccer matchup with UCLA and the noon football game on Saturday, and the way I see it, this is a huge oppoortunity for both teams.

With the two marquee games happening 16 hours apart against top-10 opponents, one has to wonder — can the freshmen bring THAT much noise at the end of WOW Week? After a late soccer game on their first Friday night in college, will they even be awake by noon?

Which makes the potential for some noon-game weirdness so, so real.

The last early start at Spanos I remember was the Yale game in 2013. If you don’t remember that, I’ll jog your memory — it was the most or second-most disappointing game I’ve witnessed at Spanos in my five or six years covering the team. There was weird mid-day sun. The student section was lethargic. The team was slow-footed. Yale didn’t have any business being in the game, but they punched the Mustangs in the mouth, got a few key turnovers, and beat Cal Poly. The game day crowd, the team, and the student section can all be ready to help keep Cal Poly on-track against Montana. If they do show, it will be an impressive start to the week for everyone involved, including the WOW leaders and RA’s in the dorms.

Adlee Van Winden and the Cal Poly Volleyball team’s match against #14 Hawai’i might be the most underrated game of the weekend. By Owen Main

The most underrated game of the weekend might be volleyball’s matchup with #14 Hawai’i. Hawai’i is a perennial Big West and national power, but this is a big year for Cal Poly volleyball. Sam Crosson’s first major recruiting class are all now juniors. The Mustangs’ best players are not freshmen and sophomores for the first time in three years, and this could be an early-season upset if Taylor Nelson and co. can get hot against Hawai’i. If you’re up for hanging around Cal Poly after the football game, volleyball should be a good time against another great opponent.

Which brings us to the bookend games for the weekend: women’s soccer. This year’s team is 4-4-1, having lost some close games and games to Pac-12 opponents already this year. After nine matches, they should be starting to find their identity and groove in preparation for their Big West schedule. Sometimes when a team’s identity is so linked to a single player — all time goal scorer Elise Krieghoff in this case — it can take a team a while to figure out who they are the following year. I’m anxious to see how some of the team leaders like Megan Abutin and underclassmen like Caitlyn Kreutz are playing in the final weekend before Big West play.

Back to the title of this meandering post — opportunities. All four teams who play this weekend have opportunities right in front of them. In a way, it mirrors the opportunities and fresh start new college students have, starting right now. Conference play is right in front of all of these teams and along with it, a ripe opportunity to achieve goals set long ago.

They’re all there. Right in front of them. Which will take them?

If you’re a sports junkie, these are the kinds of weekends you love. There’s a smorgasbord of action to choose from. See ya out there.

Mustang captain, Matt LaGrassa’s headed goal and subsequent celebration drove the crowd of nearly 7,000 fans at Alex G. Spanos Stadium into a frenzy. By Owen Main

Yes, Cal Poly men’s soccer is a somewhat improbable 5-1-1 this season.  Yes, they’ve scored more than one goal in five of their seven matches. Yes, they are unbeaten in six straight after beating San Francisco 2-1 on Friday night at Alex G. Spanos Stadium.

The key stat of the night — 6,856. That’s how many fans — mostly WOWies — showed up to take-in the game. The WOWies came ready — faces painted, and impressed with chants and songs that they clearly had studied-up on.

On the pitch, San Francisco played as well as the Mustangs for much of the match. Cal Poly got on the board in the 12th minute when freshman, Joseph Bolous tapped a rebound into the corner, sending the WOWies — many of whom were still finding their seats — into a frenzy.

USF outplayed Cal Poly for most of the second half, but the Mustangs scored again. Captain Matt LaGrassa sailed high in the air to head Cal Poly’s second goal home in the 70th minute to put the Mustangs up by two.

The way the second half went, it would have been a miracle if San Francisco didn’t find the net at some point. The Dons finally emerged when Joshua Smith put one home in the 87th minute, but it was too little, too late for the Mustangs’ West Coast Conference opponents.

If Cal Poly freshmen wanted to know whether the soccer environment was all it was cracked-up to be, they found out on Friday. Interim Cal Poly coach Phil Ruskin has talked about wanting to get big crowds for games that aren’t UCSB games. He got one on Friday.

One British USF fan summed up the atmosphere quite nicely.

“Brilliant,” he said. “This is better than some of the professional games back home.”

The Mustangs next face former Big West rival Pacific on Sunday at 1pm at Alex G. Spanos Stadium.

Photos by Owen Main

To view photos on iPhone or iPad, click here

On Saturday afternoon Cal Poly Football hosted its first home game of the season at Alex G. Spanos Stadium. And, with a gaggle of freshmen rounding out the stadium’s fifth-ever sellout, the Mustangs put on a show. On what was a stereotypically beautiful San Luis Obispo afternoon, Cal Poly used big plays to run away from the South Dakota State Jackrabbits for a 48-14 victory.

The Cal Poly Student Section was in full effect on Saturday afternoon

After losses to San Diego State and Montana, the football team needed a win. But the first home game of the season, on the heels of Week of Welcome, and in front of a growing community fan base, the importance is greater than you might think.

For a team with a non conference schedule that includes FBS teams Northern Illinois  and San Diego State, games like Saturday’s are ones that the Mustangs have to win to continue to build the program.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_uIVtQbPTc

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Big plays get a home crowd fired up in college football. On Saturday, Cal Poly, whose offense typically features a bruising ground game, provided big play after big play. The Mustangs’ first touchdown came on a 29-yard pass from Andre Broadous to Jarred Houston that Houston caught in the back of the end zone. The second was on a Broadous scramble that was one of the more odd and exciting plays of the day. Broadous dropped back to pass, found nobody open, and scrambled to his left where there was no defensive containment. A quarterback scramble for a 23-yard touchdown always gets a student section going. So does a quarterback who throws for a career-high in yardage (213), which is what Broadous also did on Saturday.

Later in the game, the Mustangs defense backfield provided the big plays. Bijon Samoodi ran back an interception 46 yards for a touchdown in the 2nd quarter to extend the Cal Poly lead to 27-7. Not to be out-done, cornerback Asa Jackson one-upped him in the 3rd quarter picking off a pass in the end zone and racing down the sideline (in front of the student section) for what was officially a 100 yard interception return. To have the most touted player on the team come up with the biggest play at the most crucial time makes for a positively entertaining football experience for anyone in the home crowd.

And the fans responded by showing some energetic fansmanship throughout the game. All shades of green were represented, there were dudes in speedos, painted chests and faces, and tons of crowd noise and energy. Everything you would want in a fun and rowdy college football atmosphere.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fowd29dOyh0

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pTJMtZWx29s&feature=related

You gotta support your team, ya know?

Additionally, the new quirk of a no-huddle offense added to the fun. Using Oregon-like “play cards” from the sidelines, Cal Poly instituted a no-huddle offense that moved the ball down the field throughout the game with efficiency and poise. Running a no-huddle offense effectively can eliminate lag-time between plays and makes for a more enjoyable fan experience. With 522 yards of total offense, the Mustangs showed on Saturday that it can put the opposition’s defense on their heels and dominate for portions of a game. Watching a home football team dominate is a great time for home fans.

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Put yourself in the shoes of an 18-year old Cal Poly Freshman. You’ve just finished your Week of Welcome. You are getting your bearings in San Luis Obispo, trying to figure out what will be fun and what won’t be.

Enter the first home football game of the season. You walk down to the stadium with a group of kids from your dorms, walk through the gate, and one of two things happens:

You enjoy yourself or you don’t. You have something to root for and get behind or you don’t. In the end, you are entertained, or you aren’t, and probably sometime during that first game, you make a decision about how excited you should be about Cal Poly Athletics.

Which is why Saturday night’s big win was a big deal. The Mustangs and coach Tim Walsh should be pleased with their victory on the field. And everyone involved with Mustangs athletics should be pleased about a solid first impression.