Cal Poly loses first football game in 15 months. But ‘it felt great to get back’
Cal Poly’s football team hadn’t taken the field for 15 months until Saturday’s home opener, and they admittedly showed some rust with a 34-24 loss to Southern Utah.
The Mustangs got off to a slow start with a 31-7 first half deficit, giving up a 73-yard touchdown connection between Southern Utah quarterback Jake Miller and receiver Brandon Schenks that put Cal Poly on their heels 7-0 off the bat.
Southern Utah rushed for 160 yards and threw for 238 in the contest.
But the Mustangs fought back in the second half, allowing just three points highlighted by key stops on third downs to force punts, while putting 17 points on the board on offense.
Linebackers Matt Shotwell and Fenton Will recorded 10 and nine tackles, respectively, to lead the team, and Myles Cecil had Cal Poly’s only sack.
First year Cal Poly Head Coach Beau Baldwin said his squad showed “a lot of resiliency” after letting the first half get away.
“I’m not going to be making excuses,” Baldwin said. “We could have been a lot better. We just have to own it and build off things.”
Mustangs quarterback Jalen Hamler, who last played in a triple option offense in 2019 under previous head Coach Tim Walsh, threw for 272 yards and three touchdowns.
Hamler completed 22 of 34 passes, with scoring strikes of two and 42 yards to Quentin Harrison (who hauled in a spectacular one-handed grab on the longer scoring play) and 17 yards to Michael Roth.
Baldwin, who most recently was Cal Berkeley’s offensive coordinator, and was a successful longtime head coach at Eastern Washington in the Big Sky before that, used a more pass-heavy multiple option offense.
“We didn’t try to get it back all on one play,” Baldwin said. “We were able to take steps where we were finding ways to get ourselves back into the ballgame, where maybe we were maybe one fourth and one conversion, and boom, were back in the ballgame.”
Baldwin said that his team will need to continue to improve on short fourth downs, which they didn’t convert in some key situations to close the gap.
“We’re going to continue to be aggressive,” Baldwin said.
Baldwin said that even though they got down by 24 early, there were some key plays in the first half that could have changed the dynamic. They faced some good defense on third downs by the Thunderbirds and a short punt that gave Southern Utah good field position early in the game, he said.
Baldwin employed his multiple option offense with spread sequences, saying it worked fairly well. But he said he won’t get caught up on yards passing.
“On each specific play, we need to say ‘What could I have done better?’” Baldwin said.
With the win, Southern Utah (1-2) snapped a 15-game losing streak against Cal Poly (0-1) in San Luis Obispo.
Cal Poly quarterback discusses new offense
Hamler said it “felt great to get back on the field” after a long layoff, despite feeling like he could have done better. Hamler wanted back an interception he sailed in the second half as the Mustangs were trying to build momentum.
“We just have to execute better,” Hamler said. “We needed to take advantage of more opportunities. Me throwing that pick, that was momentum that we had (and lost with the turnover). We could have moved the ball a lot better.”
The Mustangs also nearly completed a fourth and goal screen pass in the third quarter, which could have led to a possible touchdown and narrowed the gap to two scores. The throw ended up slightly low, but it also was a catchable ball, Baldwin said.
Hamler said it was great to learn the new philosophy and system.
“I love the offense,” Hamler said. “It’s a high powered offense....we’ll have to get better collectively.”
Quentin Harrison was Hamler’s top target, hauling in five passes for 66 yards and Mitch Anderson caught five passes for 50.
While the Mustangs passed for 272 yards Saturday, the running game was held to just 47 yards on 34 carries; Lepi Lataimua ran for 30 yards, with a long of 10.
Hamler was sacked six times.
Next on the Cal Poly football schedule
The Mustangs will play a modified six-game schedule this season, next facing rival UC Davis on the road at 1:05 p.m. Saturday for their second contest of the spring season.
Fans aren’t expected to be allowed at Cal Poly football games until after April 1, with 2,200 expected, according to a source.
Cal Poly hasn’t had any official announcement about its plans to allow spectators at university sporting events.
Cal Poly fan Michael Rodriguez said he drove up from Southern California to watch from behind a chain link stadium fence, shouting out “Let’s go defense” and “Quick....quick” in a booming voice that projected across the stadium. A few other friends joined him for a makeshift cheering section.
Rodriguez’s nephew, Ethan Rodriguez, of Whittier, plays on the team and they came for support.
“I like the acoustics in this stadium,” Rodriguez said. “This program, the people here are wonderful, we enjoy it..We want them to know that we’re cheering them on. These are the best seats. We’ve been in the stadium, but it’s good for now.”
This story was originally published March 13, 2021 at 5:43 PM with the headline "Cal Poly loses first football game in 15 months. But ‘it felt great to get back’."
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