Saturday was a game of opposites for Cal Poly Football.
In last week’s loss to Montana State, the Mustangs (3-6, 1-4 Big Sky) started quarterback Ty Dieffenbach, but pulled him after just five passing attempts for fellow signal caller Bo Kelly.
On Saturday, the Mustangs flipped the script, starting Kelly and swapping him for Dieffenbach after just one pass attempt midway through the first quarter.
The one thing that didn’t change was the number in the win-loss column, as the team struggled to get back on track against Portland State (1-8, 1-4 Big Sky), falling 40-35 for the Mustangs’ fourth loss in a row.
It was a tough outing for Cal Poly, who were coming off of four straight games against nationally ranked teams, going 1-3 over that stretch. The Vikings, who came into Mustang Memorial Field with an 0-8 record, were supposed to be a chance for the Mustangs to regain their confidence heading into the final three games of the season.
“It’s not who you play, If you don’t play good football, you’re not going to win,” head coach Paul Wulff said. “We didn’t play good football today, today was our worst effort of the year.”
Offensive reshuffling
According to Dieffenbach, the plan going into the game was for Kelly to play two drives before handing the offense over to him, and then adjusting off of who was seeing the most success.
“All the quarterbacks, we all work together really well, and are all great leaders,” Dieffenbach said. “Everyone kind of rallies around us no matter what, whoever’s in.”
Dieffenbach responded to the move away from the starting role in stride, putting together one of his strongest performances under center this season. The 6’6 redshirt freshman threw for 207 yards with one touchdown and one interception, adding 64 yards and two more scores on the ground as well.
It was the third-most yards Dieffenbach has thrown for in a game this year, and tied for the most total touchdowns in a game with three.
That said, there’s still no guarantee he will remain quarterback No. 1 in the depth chart going into next week’s game against Idaho State.
“We want to do everything we can to move the ball and score points,” Wulff said. “Whoever we feel at the time is giving us the best shot, we’ve got to be able to do that right now.”
On Saturday, Dieffenbach’s one passing touchdown came on a short redzone pass to an unlikely target: redshirt freshman linebacker Misa Paiau.
The defender and special teamer, who had zero total offensive yards this season, saw two chances and capitalized on them. Paiau scored the receiving touchdown and rushed one in earlier in the game for his first ever collegiate points.
It gave the team a chance at a late-game comeback, as they were able to rally back from a 24-14 halftime deficit to bring the game within three points going into the final quarter.
Surprising defensive struggles
The defense, which has been one of the strongest parts of the Cal Poly football team this year, faltered in their worst defensive effort since the team’s week two loss against No. 25 Utah. They gave up 40 points to a struggling Vikings offense whose previous highest-scoring game this season was 27.
The last time Portland State scored 40 or more was last November, nearly a year before the breakout showing at Mustang Memorial Field.
“We weren’t getting pressure,” linebacker Mikey D’Amato said. “That puts a lot of pressure on the [defensive backs] to go make plays. When it’s a five second play, those guys have to cover for a long time, and that’s really hard to do.”
The Mustangs looked lost against the Vikings passing offense, giving up 252 yards and a touchdown on 65% completion percentage to Portland State quarterback John-Keawe Sagapolutele. This has been an ongoing issue for the Mustangs’ defense, who typically defend well against the rush but have given up at least 250 passing yards in three of their last four games.
Possibly more concerning were the team’s struggles against the ground game, where they have been dominant even against some of the toughest teams in the Big Sky. On Saturday they let up 230 total yards and four total rushing touchdowns, with Vikings leading rusher Delon Thompson racking up 7.1 yards per carry.
“It was definitely not our best effort on defense,” Wulff said. “We struggled stopping the run, and in the passing game, there were some issues there. It was not a great effort on the whole football team, to be honest with you.”
The final push
Following Saturday’s loss, the Mustangs will need to win out in their remaining three games to finish at a .500 winning percentage. They are out of the woods in terms of facing nationally ranked opponents, but will have a tough task ahead as all three of their next opponents hold better conference records.
“It sucks we lost this game because we were coming off of four ranked teams and this was the game to get going for the last four games,” D’Amato said. “We’ve just got to come together as a team, take the loss, take it on the chin. We’ve just got to move on.”
Their next shot at a reset will be on the road against Idaho State on Saturday, Nov. 8. The Bengals are 2-3 against Big Sky opponents, and are coming off of a big win against UC Davis, who beat the Mustangs back in an October matchup.