Cal Poly football briefly held the lead against Weber State in the third quarter but ultimately lost 28-17 in the 2024 season finale on Saturday at Stewart Stadium.
The Mustangs (3-8, 2-6 Big Sky) faced off against the Wildcats (4-8, 3-5 Big Sky), with redshirt sophomore quarterback Richie Watts starting at the helm for the first time in his Division I career.
Quarterback carousel
Watts is the fourth different quarterback to start for the Mustangs. At the start of the season, Cal Poly rolled with redshirt sophomore Bo Kelly but switched to redshirt junior Jaden Jones at the beginning of the Big Sky Conference season.
Jones guided Cal Poly to a win against Northern Colorado but suffered a concussion in their loss to Idaho State.
The Mustangs returned to Kelly for two games and gave Jones his starting job against Montana State. Jones and Kelly suffered injuries in that game, sidelining them for the rest of the season.
Sophomore Jackson Akins started two games in their absences, beating Sacramento State in that stretch.
Finally getting a starting nod after playing a run-first this season, Watts and the offense put up an underwhelming first half.
Watts only completed five of his 12 pass attempts for 25 yards and gained 53 yards of total offense.
Head coach Paul Wulff pulled Watts to give freshman quarterback Lucas Razore some looks for the first time.
Third quarter resurgence
Razore completed 5-of-16 passes for 121 yards. His first collegiate career touchdown came in the opening drive of the third quarter on an 80-yard huck to redshirt junior receiver Michael Briscoe.
After trailing 9-0 in the first half, the Mustangs burst for 17 points in the third quarter.
The other touchdown for the Mustangs came from a 42-yard run from redshirt freshman running back Aiden Ramos.
The comeback was short-lived, however. Although Weber State was held to four field goals for 12 points, the Wildcats found the end zone twice in the fourth quarter. The Mustangs in the fourth punted the ball twice and turned the ball over on downs.
Run defense continues to struggle
The defense had a rough time stopping Weber State, with the Wildcats dominating the Mustangs in every offensive statistical category.
The Wildcats more than doubled the Mustangs’ time of possession and total offensive yards, holding the ball for 42 minutes and earning 456 yards compared to Cal Poly’s 220.
This was highlighted by Weber State’s run game, which gained 265 yards compared to Cal Poly’s 74 rushing yards.
Redshirt senior Elijah Ponder and Jordan Sanders each tallied a sack for the Mustangs. That marked Ponder’s seventh sack this season.
The final field goal from Kyle Thompson sealed the game, putting the Wildcats up by two possessions with 2:38 left in the game.
The Mustangs conclude their season 2-6 in the Big Sky. Although this record is undesirable in the grand scheme of things, it is their best conference record since 2019.
After Wulff’s second season as head coach, Cal Poly will look to continue their rebuild. Cal Poly earned a top-five ranking in FCS high school recruiting classes in the past two years.
As Cal Poly enters another year closer to the opening of the John Madden Center, they hope to continue obtaining high-value recruits to become relevant in the Big Sky and make FCS playoffs for the first time since 2016.
