In the penultimate home game of the regular season, Cal Poly Football’s struggles continued as the team was squandered by Northern Arizona, 31-14, on Saturday.
The Mustangs (2-7, 1-5 Big Sky) only accumulated 345 yards of total offense, while the Lumberjacks (6-4, 4-2 Big Sky) had their way with the Cal Poly defense, racking up 477 yards of total offense, including 293 on the ground.
The loss also marks the Mustangs’ fifth in a row after a 2-2 start to the season.
The quarterback carousel continued for Cal Poly as redshirt sophomore quarterback Bo Kelly and redshirt junior quarterback Jaden Jones were ruled out before the game, meaning sophomore quarterback Jackson Akins would make his first Division I start.
Akins finished the day throwing for 281 yards on the night, the most yards thrown in the air by a Cal Poly quarterback this season.
Akins had also gone 32-for-41 on passes against the Lumberjacks, the most completions and pass attempts made by a Cal Poly quarterback during the regular season.
To accompany his performance, Akins threw a 23-yard touchdown, hauled in by senior wide receiver Giancarlo Woods in the second quarter, with two interceptions.
The Mustangs had scored the only other touchdown in the ensuing quarter following a series of trick plays, including a fake punt and a flea flicker-esque play, that allowed redshirt junior running back Zion Hall his first career touchdown.
The opposite side of the ball had been led by redshirt sophomore safety Mason Rivera, who had accumulated eight tackles and two pass breakups.
Lumberjack running back Seth Cromwell had notched 132 yards and three touchdowns, the most rushing yards and touchdowns allowed by Cal Poly this season.
The offense failed to produce scoring opportunities several times. The Mustangs gave the ball to the Lumberjacks nine out of the 11 total drives, including five punts and two interceptions.
The Cal Poly defense also suffered from inconsistency.
Cal Poly was burdened by an abundance of missed tackles, which helped Northern Arizona’s rushing attack as they ran down the field without consequence.
“We’ve got to be a lot more sound and consistent,” head coach Paul Wulff said. “We lacked consistency and had several turnovers, and that sealed the game for us,”
The Mustangs look to close out the final home game of the season on Saturday, Nov. 16, when Cal Poly takes on Sacramento State at 2 p.m.