Cal Poly’s defense holds Montana early, before a punt return TD gets the Griz rolling
At times, Cal Poly has showed glimpses of being a competitive football team in the Big Sky Conference.
From leading Stanford and Idaho at halftime to holding the high-powered No. 8 Montana offense to two first half scores, the Mustangs have had promising moments against strong football programs.
But there’s a point in the game where things spiral out of control.
That moment in the team’s 42-7 loss on Saturday came with one minute left in the third quarter when Grizzlies punt returner Junior Bergen went 84 yards for a touchdown to put Montana up 21-0.
The Mustangs held the Griz, who came into the game second in touchdowns (40) and third in total yards (3,775) in the Big Sky, to just 14 points and 32 rushing yards on 16 attempts in the first half.
After Bergen’s touchdown, the Griz scored touchdowns on three of their next four drives.
On the other side, the offense never got settled for Cal Poly.
Quarterback Jaden Jones returned as the starter after missing the UC Davis and Idaho games with a concussion.
Jones completed just 13 of his 28 passes for 147 yards to go with two interceptions. He had a near touchdown pass to receiver Michael Briscoe in the first half, but the ball grazed the fingertips of Briscoe before falling to the turf.
In the second half, the Mustangs turned to running quarterback Richie Watts.
Watts ended with three completions on four attempts and the team’s lone touchdown on a 14-yard pass to tight end Jake Woods. He led the team in rushing with 23 yards on nine attempts.
On defense, safety Mason Rivera made 10 tackles, including three tackles for loss to go with an interception and a forced fumble.
“We’re playing pretty good football at times,” said Head Coach Paul Wulff after practice on Tuesday. “We just got to put a full football game together. There’s times we show dominance, which we haven’t had here in awhile. We haven’t done it for four quarters yet.”
The Mustangs haven’t managed more than one conference win since 2019.
But the daunting stretch of the schedule, which saw the Mustangs facing three top-15 ranked FCS teams, is now behind them..
Their last three games come against Big Sky teams that are currently unranked.
Northern Arizona stunned Montana early in conference play and sits at 3-2. Sacramento State has had a disappointing season thus far and has a 1-3 record. Weber State has lost its last three Big Sky games, including a 21-17 defeat to Northern Colorado, who the Mustangs beat in the first week of conference play.
Five teams in the Big Sky have one win so far. If the Mustangs are able to win two out of their final three games, they could find themselves out of the bottom two teams in the conference.
“Guys are learning how to win,” Wulff said. “We’ve gone from hoping to compete to showing signs of dominance, and we have to keep climbing that ladder and expecting ourselves to be winning. We’re growing in that direction, but we haven’t got there yet.”
Next week, the Mustangs continue their homestand against Northern Arizona for the Cal Poly Hall of Fame game.