Cal Poly football is starting to build a reputation. One that is far different from the last several seasons. With two consecutive wins to open up their season, the Mustangs are proving to be a far more competitive team than in recent years — at least, that’s what the film shows.
Much of that turnaround can be credited to a change in leadership under first-year Head Coach Tim Skipper. Opening the season 2-0 was a feat the Mustangs hadn’t accomplished in 14 years. Skipper changed that in his first year at the helm.
But on Saturday, Cal Poly (2-1, 1-0 Big Sky) faced their first road test of the season and battled with an opponent far different from who they faced in the first two weeks: FBS opponent San Jose State
Despite the level of play the team encountered, Skipper viewed the matchup as just another game with no regard to the subdivision gap. The game handed Cal Poly its first loss of the season but, more importantly, the game exposed areas Cal Poly will need to address as its conference schedule gets tougher in the later stretch.
One of the biggest concerns came from the disparity between Cal Poly’s rushing and passing production.
Through the first two weeks, Cal Poly’s rushing attack had provided a stronger complement to its passing game. Against San Jose State, however, that balance disappeared. The Mustangs finished with just 91 rushing yards compared with 249 yards through the air.
Cal Poly struggled to consistently establish the run and relied heavily on quarterback Anthony Grigsby Jr.’s arm to target receivers and bring the ball down the field. Not being able to establish a run game early on hindered the Mustangs.
“We’re going to predominantly focus on establishing that run game,” Grigsby Jr. said. “If we can start drives off on a positive run, our offense will continue to rise throughout the game.”
A lot of Cal Poly’s limited rushing production against San Jose State was scheme-related. The Spartans frequently brought pressure off the edge while the Mustangs were moving in that same direction. San Jose State sniffing out the right plays put Cal Poly‘s offensive line in difficult situations and disrupted plays before they could develop.
“It is a little harder when you’re playing against an FBS opponent because they’re known for just being bigger in the trenches,” Grigsby Jr. said.
Though the stats on paper show limited offensive production from the running backs, the numbers look even more lopsided when factoring in the four sacks San Jose recorded on Saturday.
But even though the offensive line struggled to seal off pressure and let defenders through, Grigsby Jr. said he has few concerns up front and is backed up by his own mobility.
“I have the ability to get out of any sacks, so whatever the defense throws at me, if I can’t get away from it, then I feel that’s on me,” Grigsby Jr. said. “It’s not on those guys (offensive line).”
With nationally ranked FCS opponents still ahead later in the schedule, the matchup against the Spartans allowed Cal Poly to see how it stacked up against a higher-level opponent.
The problem, as Skipper anticipated, didn’t come from the subdivision gap. Clearly, Cal Poly showed it could hang with an FBS opponent after being tied in the fourth quarter.
The issue was that when the game reached its deciding possessions, San Jose State made the plays and Cal Poly did not, which reinforced Skipper’s biggest emphasis: finishing games.
“It’s all about finishing,” Skipper said. “Fourth quarter we talked about straining, and we want to have more points than them. We just need to finish.”
The San Jose State matchup showed the Mustangs they can be competitive beyond the FCS level, but the loss also gave them a clearer picture of what has to improve before facing the more difficult stretch of their conference schedule, which features No. 1-ranked Montana State and other ranked FCS opponents.
As Cal Poly prepares for San Diego, Skipper said all facets across the field are being fine-tuned before kickoff on homecoming night. He said the team plans to review the situational lapses from Saturday’s game to avoid repeating the same mistakes this week.
“We won’t stop working on every aspect of everything,” Skipper said. “As soon as you think something is exactly where you want it, you’re going to lose it, so we’re just going to keep on working.”
Cal Poly hosts San Diego at Mustang Memorial Field for homecoming night on Saturday at 5 p.m. How quickly the Mustangs adjust their run game and execute late in games will show just how much they took from last week’s loss.
