Fourth-and-goal, nine seconds remaining and a game-winning touchdown hanging in the air.
That was the situation Cal Poly Football found itself in during its season opener against Idaho.
With the game on the line, it all came down to execution. Either Idaho’s defense would hold firm and secure the week zero victory, or the Mustangs would find a way into the end zone and complete a dramatic comeback.
That’s when quarterback Anthony Grigsby Jr. connected with Tayvion McCoy for a 34-yard touchdown, securing a thrilling win in front of a sold-out Spanos Stadium crowd.
Little did the record-breaking crowd know, the season-opening thriller would foreshadow a recurring theme for Cal Poly: games decided in the final minutes.
What began as a breathtaking win over Idaho under the national spotlight on ESPN would become a familiar test of execution under pressure. For first-year Head Coach Tim Skipper, navigating those decisive moments comes down to a philosophy he has emphasized since day one: straining until the final whistle.
Skipper first adopted the motto during his first game as the UCLA interim head coach against Northwestern. Although the Bruins began turning things around in the fourth quarter, Skipper felt his team failed to put together a complete four quarter performance to secure a win.
While reviewing game footage on the plane, he began thinking of ways to emphasize playing a full game without simply just telling his players to play all four quarters.
“I was sitting on the plane, I watched the tape and then I was like, ‘How in the world do I get four quarters out of these guys without saying four quarters?’” Skipper said.
All it took was that one question to lay the foundation for the motto he now emphasizes in this new era of Cal Poly football.
While the Mustangs have demonstrated their ability to deliver in crucial moments, as shown in the season opener, they have also found themselves on the losing end of similar situations.
On Homecoming night, University of San Diego handed Cal Poly a heartbreaking loss with a game-winning field goal in the final seconds. Cal Poly could have avoided the outcome if its offense had executed down the stretch. Instead, a series of mistakes on a potential game-winning drive forced Cal Poly to punt on fourth down. San Diego pulled away 38-35.
Against FBS opponent San Jose State, Cal Poly was tied at 20 entering the fourth quarter before the Spartans strung together a series of plays to come out on top 30-20.
“The fourth quarter is our strain quarter and that’s where we really want to take over the game,” Skipper said. “Some we have, some we haven’t, so we’re still learning how to finish.”
From game-winning touchdowns like those against Idaho and Eastern Washington, to costly late-game mistakes, Cal Poly’s fourth-quarter performances have tested the very philosophy Skipper has worked to instill since taking over the program.
Many of those game-deciding moments have fallen on the shoulders of Grigsby, the one commanding the offense in the huddle when the game is on the line.
Whether facing a crucial fourth down or orchestrating a potential game-winning drive, Grigsby has been tasked with delivering under pressure all season long. He understands that one play could be the difference between victory and defeat.
“In the fourth quarter as a quarterback, you have to strain both physically and mentally,” Grigsby said. “A lot of the time people think of straining as you’re straining physically for your body, but as a quarterback, it’s a lot more on the mental side.”
Much of Grigsby’s mental preparation dates back to spring and summer practices. He said that the Mustangs intentionally saved situational drills for the end of practice to replicate the physical fatigue and mental pressure of the fourth quarter.
What once played out on the practice field has become a familiar reality on Saturdays. For Grigsby, those situations are less about facing unfamiliar pressure and more about trusting the preparation that began months prior.
“When I have those opportunities to make those big time plays, it always just boosts my confidence because that’s the only thing I’ve ever asked for was an opportunity,” Grigsby said. “I’m the person with the ball in my hands at the end of the day, so it’s my decision what to do with it.”
The combined effort between Cal Poly’s offense and defense determines which way the outcome swings down the stretch. Straining in the fourth quarter isn’t something Grigsby can do alone either, and it certainly doesn’t guarantee a win.
When the pressure mounts and the margin for error shrinks, he relies on the chemistry he’s developed with wide receiver McCoy. McCoy has been on the receiving end of two game-winning touchdown passes against Idaho and Eastern Washington.
Skipper described the duo as having a “super connection,” one he says developed throughout spring and summer camp, when Grigsby and McCoy spent extra hours after practice running routes and working on ball placement.
“If you saw how they interact with each other, you’ll know that it’s something special going on between the two of them,” Skipper said.
Grigsby and McCoy are just two pieces of an offense that make up what strain is all about. As injuries begin to take their toll in the latter half of the season, with starters such as Jaden Green, Fidel Pitts and Mikey D’Amato sidelined, Cal Poly will need to find ways to compensate for the loss of key contributors before entering the fourth quarter when everything is on the line.
“Straining is doing more than what you normally would do,” Skipper said. “It is giving every bit of sweat, every bit of oxygen, every single thing you have in your body towards whatever we’re doing. That’s how you know we’re straining.”
This story originally appeared in the October printed edition of Mustang News. Check out more stories from the issue here.
