Recap of season-opening win for Cal Poly football
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. - The Paul Wulff era of Cal Poly football almost couldn't have started any better as Cal Poly showed dominant performances on both sides of the ball en route to a 27-10 season-opening win Saturday over the University of San Diego at Mustang Memorial Field Presented by Dignity Health French Hospital.
First-year Mustang head coach Paul Wulff earned his first win as Cal Poly head coach as the Mustangs opened their 105th all-time season and 29th year of FCS competition.Troy Fletcher Touchdown Celebration
Both sides of the ball were impressive for the Mustangs as the defense didn't allow a touchdown, the first time a Cal Poly team has done that since Nov. 22, 2014 when the Mustangs won 34-3 at San Diego. Offensively, Cal Poly put up 460 yards of total offense for the night, including 364 through the air.
Redshirt sophomore transfer quarterback Sam Huard dazzled fans in his Cal Poly debut, accounting for all 364 of those passing yards, going 24-42 with a touchdown to redshirt freshman tight end Tyrece Fairly-Diyem. Fairly-Diyem led Cal Poly in receiving with seven catches for 129 yards. Redshirt sophomore Tight End Carlton Brown, a transfer from Nevada, caught two passes for 98 yards, including the longest of the night of 87.
On the ground, the Mustangs (1-0) ran for 96 runs with touchdown runs coming from redshirt freshman Troy Fletcher (pictured right) and redshirt senior Mark Biggins (pictured at top).
Defensively, redshirt junior defensive end Elijah Ponder led Cal Poly with 2.5 of the team's seven sacks in addition to eight tackles, three for loss, and a fumble recovery. Redshirt sophomore linebacker Ethan Calvert, a transfer from Utah, led the Mustangs in tackles with 11.
The Mustangs got out to a 10-3 after the first quarter after a field goal from kicker Noah Serna followed by a 31-yard run by Fletcher in the last minute of the quarter.
Cal Poly extended the lead to 17-3 with 2:24 left in the first half after Huard completed a one-yard touchdown pass to Fairly-Diyem which came after a big pass play of 87 yards from Huard to Brown.
After the Toreros (0-1) made it 17-10 in the third following a pick-six, the Mustangs extended the lead back up to 10 on the next possession with a 35-yard field goal.
Biggins put the finishing touches on the game with 2:26 left in the fourth quarter after he ran for an 18-yard touchdown to seal the 27-10 victory.
With the win, Cal Poly improves to 8-1 all-time against the Toreros. The Mustangs will look to ride the momentum from this game into next week when they hit the road to travel up to face FBS opponent San Jose State on Saturday, September 9 for a 1 p.m. kickoff from CEFCU Stadium.
(Article courtesy of Cal Poly football)
