Cal Poly Saturday Wrap: Football wins a thriller at Eastern Washington

CHENEY,Wash (KEYT) -

NCAA Football: Cal Poly 31, Eastern Washington 27: Wide receiver Tayvion McCoy caught a touchdown pass in the back of the end zone with just over a minute remaining and the Mustang defense secured an interception as time expired to seal a thrilling 31-27 victory for the Cal Poly football team at Eastern Washington on Saturday night.

Running back Jaden Green racked up 269 yards on the ground — the second most rushing yards in a game in program history — as Cal Poly improved to 2-0 in Big Sky Conference play for the first time since 2013.

The Mustangs accumulated 428 total yards of offense on Roos Field and in the process captured their first victory in program history at Eastern Washington, going winless in their previous seven attempts.

All three phases stepped up to help the Mustangs walk away from Cheney with a win in a back-and-forth battle that featured six lead changes.

“It was just a gutty effort,” Cal Poly football head coach Tim Skipper said after the game, “… there was just a lot of plays being made, so many I can’t even remember them all, but I know it was a group effort and that’s all we cared about today, play as one heartbeat, play in one direction and that’s what we did in all three phases. I just like the resolve of our guys, the no quit mentality and just getting it done and finding a way.”

Trailing 27-24 over midway through the fourth quarter, the Cal Poly defense rose to the occasion and gave the offense a chance to win it. After barely failing to stop the Eagles on a fourth-and-one from the Cal Poly 27-yard-line, the Mustangs forced a turnover two plays later when cornerback Jadyn Marshall broke up a pass and linebacker Troy Bean caught the tipped ball for his second interception of the season. The turnover halted a 13-play, 56-yard drive by EWU that lasted over six minutes.

“It was a huge play,” Skipper said about Bean’s interception, “… and it turned the tide, our whole energy and momentum on the sidelines completely changed and we found a way to get it done.”

On the ensuing possession, Cal Poly was forced to punt with 4:59 remaining in the game, but the defense forced a three-and-out on the Eagles’ next drive to give the Mustangs’ offense the ball back with 2:44 left. Needing just a field goal to tie it, Cal Poly took the field looking for more and a 31-yard rush from Green on the second play of the drive set them up perfectly to do just that.

In just six plays, the Mustangs drove 70 yards in 1:41 for the go-ahead touchdown as quarterback Anthony Grigsby Jr. connected with McCoy from 23 yards out with 1:03 remaining to put Cal Poly ahead 31-27.

The Eagles (1-4, 0-2 Big Sky) were able to drive down to the Cal Poly 29-yard-line on the next possession, but safety RL Miller stepped in front of a pass into the end zone as time ran out on the clock to secure the game-sealing interception.

Cal Poly (3-2, 2-0 Big Sky) returns home to Mustang Memorial Field to host Weber State (2-3, 1-1 Big Sky) at 5 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 3, as part of Mustang Family Weekend.

Big West Women's Volleyball: Cal Poly 3, CSUN 1: Cal Poly volleyball completed a sweep of its first Big West weekend, closing out a 3-1 (25-21, 23-25, 26-24, 25-19) win over CSUN on Saturday afternoon inside Mott Athletics Center.

The Mustangs, who opened conference play with a straight-sets sweep of Cal State Bakersfield on Friday, improved to 2-0 in the Big West and 6-6 overall. CSUN fell to 4-8 and 0-2. The win extended Cal Poly's conference home streak to 16 matches.

Caroline Walters earned her 84th career Big West win as Mustang head coach, tying Steve Schlick and setting up a chance at a record-breaking 85th. She is also six overall victories away from passing Mike Wilton as Cal Poly volleyball’s all-time winningest head coach.

The match featured 13 ties. Cal Poly took the opening set 25-21, but CSUN answered with a 25-23 win in the second to even things up. The third set proved to be the turning point, with the Mustangs outlasting the Matadors 26-24 in a frame that saw eight ties and two lead changes. Cal Poly carried that momentum into the fourth, building an early lead and holding off CSUN for a 25-19 clincher.

Kendall Beshear led the Cal Poly attack with a match-high 20 kills on 46 attempts, hitting .326. Emma Fredrick added 16 kills and 10 digs, while Kayla Murdoch had 10 kills and three block assists.

Alexis Haury recorded a double-double with 43 assists, 11 digs, four block assists, and a service ace. Elif Hurriyet tallied 12 digs, and Breklyn Pulling recorded three block assists and 7.5 points to round out the Mustangs' defensive effort.

Big West Women's Soccer: A 54th-minute penalty conversion from junior midfielder Miah Thomas cancelled out Long Beach forward Cherrie Cox’s first-half goal Saturday evening as the Cal Poly women’s soccer program finished in a 1-1 draw with The Beach.

Long Beach State (6-1-4, 0-0-2) produced the opening goal with Friday’s first attempt on target as a cross from midfielder Jordan Candelaria deflected off a Mustang defender and into the path of Cox, who flicked her Big West-leading 12th goal of 2026 past Mustang junior goalkeeper Shannon Porubski.

Cal Poly (4-3-3, 1-0-1) outshot Long Beach State during the opening half, 8-2, but didn’t get an attempt on frame until midfielder Sophia Minnite was turned away in the 47th minute.

The Mustangs eventually found the equalizer in the 54th after junior forward Isis Salazar-Ortega – attempting a shot – was undercut in the penalty box by Long Beach State defender Kylie Perez. Cal Poly was awarded the penalty and Thomas (right) converted for her team leading fifth goal of the year.

Porubski finished with one save in goal for Cal Poly, stopping a 78th-minute Long Beach State attempt.

With Saturday’s draw, Cal Poly – following the opening week of Big West action – is in a six-way tie for first place atop the standings on four points.

The Mustangs resume action when visiting Cal State Fullerton on Wednesday, Sept. 30 and UC San Diego on Saturday, Oct. 3. Both matches kick off at 6 p.m.

(Articles courtesy of Cal Poly Athletics).