Cal Poly football gives up 72 points in blowout loss to Montana State
Cal Poly couldn’t stop Montana State’s dominating run game as the Mustangs suffered their second straight blowout loss to a team from Montana and fell to 0-7 in conference play.
In its second to last game of the season, Cal Poly lost to the Bobcats 72-28 at Mustang Memorial Field. The loss came one week after the Mustangs were shut out 57-0 in the snow in Missoula, Montana.
The defeat against the No. 3 team in the FCS puts the Mustangs’ losing streak at eight and their overall record at 1-9 with no wins at home or in Big Sky play.
“The big thing is we’re playing right now with a lot of guys ... (who) shouldn’t be playing the number of snaps they are,” said Head Coach Beau Baldwin.
“When you play with ... a limited number of guys playing the number of snaps they are as young bucks, you’re gonna wear down.”
That fatigue throughout the game led to the Bobcats having a record day on the ground.
According to Victor Flores from 406MTsports, the 554 rushing yards gained by the Bobcats is the first time the team has eclipsed 500 yards on the ground. Additionally, four different running backs for the Bobcats had runs greater than 40 yards.
Despite the lopsided score, there were moments where the defense made stops.
Linebacker David Meyer had a goal line stand at the end of the first half, tackling the Bobcats’ running back for loss and then sacking the quarterback on the following play. Corner back Dylan Wyatt also had three pass breakups.
But the veteran Montana State team was able to break through the front seven whenever the Mustangs’ found a rhythm on defense.
After a slow start on the offensive end, the team continued its strong season in the air with 317 total passing yards and three touchdowns. Tight end Josh Cuevas had a standout game with 119 yards. Cuevas hauled in nine of his 10 targets to go along with two touchdowns.
“Ultimately, in the first half as a team, that kind of killed us for our first few drives, but that second half we kind of locked it in,” said Cuevas.
“I was glad I was able to contribute as much as I did with my catches. Personally, I was trying to break 100 yards this game so I’ve got every cycle.”
The Mustangs were scoreless in the first quarter but put up 28 points over the second and third quarters.
“I thought we responded well after ... the slow start. We had some hiccups and a slow start, and really it was just some mental and some detail stuff that we were screwing up, but we responded well to score right before half and then score on the first few drives the second half,” Baldwin said.
On the first scoring drive of the game, the team ran a trick play in with quarterback Spencer Brasch and receiver Chris Coleman. Brasch took the snap and threw the ball back to receiver Chris Coleman. As the defense zeroed in on Coleman, Brasch sneaked to the sideline, where Coleman hit him on a pass for 34 yards. Quarterback Kahliq Paulette finished the drive with a run-pass option play where he hit Cuevas in the back of the end zone.
In the run game, Troy Fletcher found momentum on the ground with 62 yards on 18 rushes and a touchdown. Brasch finished with 275 yards on 24 of 34 passes, two touchdowns and an interception.
“We know this process may take a little while. We know it’s not gonna happen overnight, but out of this game, the big takeaway was we kept fighting to the end. We kept scoring. We kept going even though they were scoring. Just the resiliency that we showed tonight was really big for us,” Cuevas said.
The Mustangs’ last game of the season is at home against Portland State on Saturday at 5 p.m.
This story was originally published November 12, 2022 at 11:11 PM.