Cal Poly football loses a blowout game on the road and suffers another quarterback injury
Cal Poly’s football team opened Big Sky Conference play at Montana on Saturday afternoon with a 39-7 defeat.
The Mustangs (1-3) fell to the Grizzlies (3-0) as the hosts celebrated homecoming in front of a crowd of 25,600 at Washington-Grizzly stadium.
While Cal Poly was able to move the ball on offense, the Mustangs suffered a few interceptions and stuggled all afternoon to turn drives into the red zone into points.
The Mustangs avoided a shutout when running back Shakobe Harper punched in a touchdown in the fourth quarter.
Conor Bruce made his first start for Cal Poly with first-string quarterback Spencer Brasch out with a broken hand suffered against Fresno State.
Bruce completed 16 of 30 passes for 183 yards until sustaining a hard hit in the second quarter that left him on the sideline for the rest of the game with his shoulder in a sling.
Kahliq Paulette took over the play-calling duties and completed 12 of 23 passes for 100 yards.
Cal Poly couldn’t prevent Montana’s big plays
With the Grizzlies up a touchdown in the first quarter, Montana defensive end Justin Belknap intercepted Bruce’s pass and ran the ball back for a touchdown. Following a successful two-point conversion and a later field goal, Montana led 18-0.
The Mustangs were forced to punt on fourth down, but with a fake, tight end Michael Roth passed to tight end Ryan Rivera for a first down inside the 20. The Mustangs were unable to capitalize on the big play, however, when Paulette’s pass was intercepted at the Montana 17-yard line.
Montana went into the locker room up 25-0 at halftime.
Montana wide receiver Malik Flowers extended the home team’s lead in the third quarter, returning the opening kickoff of the second half for a touchdown. Montana scored twice more, making it 39-0.
With about 10 minutes to go, Paulette hit Quentin Harrison with a 13-yard pass. The drive ended with Harper’s 2-yard run up the middle for a touchdown, with Jaden Ohlsen adding the extra point.
Despite the loss, head coach Beau Baldwin said the team took “a huge step” from its previous game against South Dakota.
“This was a really quality team, a team that beat the University of Washington on the road,” Baldwin said.
Baldwin said the Mustangs have a few things to work on before next week’s game, especially on special teams.
“Some of explosives that we gave up on special teams, we just absolutely have to clean that up and that can’t be a thing,” Baldwin said.
The Mustangs play Weber State on Oct. 2 at Alex G. Spanos Stadium.
This story was originally published September 25, 2021 at 7:00 PM with the headline "Cal Poly football loses a blowout game on the road and suffers another quarterback injury."