Cal Poly football falls to Weber State in last game of the season

Despite ultimately losing to Weber State, the first few drives of Cal Poly’s final football game of the season Saturday night may have been a glimpse into the future of the program under Head Coach Paul Wulff.

In the past few weeks, the Mustangs have taken steps in the right direction — baby steps with some being larger than others — but compared to where the team was last season at the same time, the Mustangs are laying the groundwork for a successful program moving forward.

Last week, the Mustangs put up 30 points against a Sacramento State team that defeated Stanford earlier in the season.

“I felt our players focused from start to finish,” Wulff said about the game against the Hornets. “Everything through the game was what a mature football team would do.”

Wulff admits the young team isn’t consistent enough yet to beat ranked opponents: Flashes aren’t enough to take down opponents competing for Football Championship Subdivision playoff spots.

A similar story occurred against Weber State on Saturday. The Mustangs punched first, but the Wildcats ultimately came out on top, 48-21.

Teams often pull out unique looks in the final game of the season to throw off opponents.

The Mustangs nearly always position quarterback Sam Huard in the shotgun formation a couple yards behind the offensive line to buy him time to pass, but there were times Huard was undercenter and would go into play action passes or hand the ball off on sweeps across the field.

On the first drive of the game, the Mustangs covered 65 yards in eight plays with a mix of medium and long passes. The team substituted backup quarterback Jaden Jones into the game for a design quarterback run play where Jones gained 10 yards.

To cap off the fast-paced drive, Huard connected with defensive player turned tight end Michael Otterstedt for a 22-yard bootleg rollout.

Weber State responded with a touchdown of their own in under three minutes, but the Mustangs’ offense didn’t back down. Huard by the second drive had completed a pass to six different recipients. The redshirt sophomore capped off the drive with a 45-yard bomb to receiver Dominique Thompson down the right sideline.

But the Mustangs wouldn’t find another score after the first quarter until third-string quarterback Spencer Brasch completed an 18-yard strike to Thompson with three minutes remaining in the game.

Huard finished with 16 completions on 32 attempts for 199 yards and two touchdowns to go along with two interceptions.

Thompson caught five passes for 116 yards and added two touchdown catches.

Defensive linemen Elijiah Ponder and Elijiah Satcher both made sacks.

Looking back at the 2023 season

When Wulff was asked earlier in the week if he felt like the season was a success based on the goals the team had set, he said the team had found success in some ways, but didn’t make progress in others areas because of key injuries.

“We’re not a really deep football team right now, so we’re not in position to absorb a lot of injuries yet,” Wulff said.

Lack of experienced depth has been a problem for the Mustangs as the team has a total of 57 freshman and redshirt freshman on the roster.

The hope is that as the group gets older and more experienced, the Mustangs will become a more competitive team in the Big Sky.

The Mustangs finish the 2023 season 3-8, with a 1-7 record in Big Sky play. The team defeated University of San Diego followed by Lincoln to start the season. The next win the team got was against Northern Colorado, who came into the game on Oct. 21 without a win.

At the same time, the Mustangs kept showing glimpses throughout the season that they have the talent to keep up against top FCS programs.

As the team heads into the offseason, creating consistency and building on the continuity the team has established will be key.

“We’ve got a lot of young kids that are very serious about the game and the craft of football,” Wulff said. “That’s what it takes.”

What is quarterback Huard’s impact on Cal Poly team?

Not even five years ago, the Mustangs ran the triple option offense. Now under Wulff and offensive coordinator Sheldon Cross, the team is passing at a way higher rate with Huard under center.

Huard ends his first season as a Mustang with 2,247 passing yards, which ranks as the sixth highest amount in program history and the largest in 23 years.

In the week prior, Huard shattered the single-game completion record with 37 completions. During the team’s sole conference win against Northern Colorado, Huard tied the second-highest amount of completions.

A point former head coach Beau Baldwin would make about the offense in prior seasons was an inability to make explosive plays. Now the Mustangs have a player that can make explosive plays in the air in Huard. If given the proper amount of time, the former No. 1 quarterback prospect in the country can air the ball out with pinpoint accuracy.

With two more seasons of eligibility remaining, the Mustangs have time to fill in the gaps around Huard to build a competitive program.

As the 2023 season comes to a close, the Mustangs have a direction. The team has an offense that can compete with any opponent they face. It’s a matter of shoring up a young, but talented defense to play a complimentary brand of football.