Cal Poly wins thrilling home opener with a 28-27 comeback victory over San Diego

Cal Poly overcame a lackluster start and deficits of 17 and 13 points in its home opener Saturday, en route to a 28-27 comeback win over University of San Diego.

To the delight of the home crowd, the Mustangs (1-1) ended up scoring 14 of their 28 points in the last 7:30 of the game while coming up with three big interceptions on defense that shifted momentum and eventually sealed the game.

In just his second start, redshirt freshman quarterback Jaden Jones led the way for the Mustangs, throwing for 385 yards on 26 of 41 attempts and four touchdowns with no interceptions, good for a passer rating of 174.1.

The nimble QB also continued to prove himself a threat on the ground, running for 24 yards on 10 carries.

Jones put up the gaudy stat line despite facing constant pressure from the San Diego front line. He was sacked twice and hit multiple times in the pocket only to repeatedly make big plays when it mattered most. Three of his touchdowns went for 35 yards or more.

“He did a really good job,” said head coach Beau Baldwin about Jones’ response to the Toreros’ aggressive defense.

“We had a number of times where, you know, they started bringing more and more pressure and, and maybe a little more pressure than they had shown on film,” Baldwin said, “but I thought he stood in there and when they did bring pressure, we were able to find some one on ones and hit them.”

“San Diego came here and, and obviously had the mindset to put together a plan and believe, they were going to win, and they put themselves in a position to we’re fortunate to make some plays at the end and win,” Baldwin added.

Mustangs fall behind early

The Mustangs came out flat to start the game as the Toreros jumped out to a 17-0 lead in the first half, scoring two touchdowns and then a field goal under the leadership of quarterbacks Judd Erickson and Re-al Mitchell, who got San Diego on the board first with a 22-yard strike to Dylan Lawson.

On defense, the Toreros sent constant pressure at Jones, rushing five and even six guys at times to get to hurry the Cal Poly quarterback.

The Mustangs had their best chance at an early score with 4:32 left in the first quarter when Jones connected with tight end Tyree Fairly-Diyem for a 66-yard reception, but Fairly-Diyem fumbled the ball, sending it bounding toward the goal line, where San Diego recovered.

That play epitomized much of the first half for the Mustangs, who couldn’t get out of their own way. When the team did start to get into a rhythm, players committed penalties or made mistakes that would erase progress. In total, the Mustangs racked up 10 penalties for 98 yards.

“It’s one of those things where it was just, you know, we just shot ourselves in the foot a couple of times early and they did a good job of taking what I call taking the air out of the ball,” Baldwin said. “They they bled the shot clock down every time they got some first downs.”

Down 17-0 near the end of the first half, Cal Poly finally got in sync on offense, marching down the field before Jones connected with Josh Cuevas on a 42-yard touchdown along the far sideline.

The team then came out to start the second half in similar fashion, quickly adding another touchdown that narrowed the score to 17-14 when Fairly-Diyem made up for his earlier fumble by scoring on a 41-yard reception from Jones at the 12:49 mark.

The defense followed that up by forcing two punts in a row, but Erickson hit T.J. Roelen off a scramble situation for a 40-yard score that pushed the game back to a 10-point margin at 24-14 after three quarters.

The Toreros then added a field goal to start the fourth quarter, putting Cal Poly back in a 13-point hole.

Cal Poly engineers a big fourth-quarter comeback

Cal Poly took over possession with 12:02 left in the game down 27-14 starting near midfield after Zion Hall returned the kickoff 44 yards.

A meticulous 14-play drive reached a key moment on fourth-and-9 from the 19, when Jones converted the first down on a 9-yard pass to Giancarlo Woods. Two plays later, Jones hit Ryan Rivera for a touchdown to narrow the score to 27-21 with 7:30 to play.

On the ensuing kickoff with the Mustangs down by 6 and lots of time on the clock, Baldwin elected to loft an onside kick, but Cal Poly was unable to recover. That gave San Diego a short field with a chance to put the game out of reach.

After driving to Cal Poly’s 11 yard line in a situation where a field goal would make it a 9-point game, Erickson threw the first of what would be three late interceptions.

Jay’vion Cole’s pick gave the Mustangs the ball back at the 5:25 mark, and Jones took over from there driving down the field before hitting Chris Coleman on a 35-touchdown pass with 2:20 left and giving the Mustangs their first lead of the game at 28-27.

San Diego made another attempt to answer, but Brian Dukes thwarted the drive with an interception. After Cal Poly went three-and-out, the Toreros last-ditch attempt ended when Cole sealed the game with his second interception.

Coleman ended the game with nine catches and 94 yards to go with the game-wining touchdown. Receiver Zedakiah Centers also had some key receptions to extend drives and finished with four passes for 54 yards.

On the defensive side of the ball, linebacker Laipeli Palu tallied eight total tackles, four of them solos. Dukes had five tackles along with his key interception.

The Mustangs are now 1-1 on the season and will travel to the University of South Dakota to take on the Coyotes next Saturday at 11 a.m. The game will be televised on ESPN+.

This story was originally published September 10, 2022 at 7:33 PM.