Fresh off a 41-17 victory in San Diego, Cal Poly football will be travelling to Salt Lake City to face No. 25 Utah on Saturday, Aug. 6 at 3 p.m.
The Mustangs (1-0) have never faced off against the ranked Utes (1-0), themselves coming off a 43-10 drubbing of UCLA. Cal Poly last beat an FBS opponent in 2012 when they defeated Wyoming, since then they have lost nine straight games to six different FBS teams.
A lot can be taken from Cal Poly’s season opener. For one, quarterback Ty Dieffenbach looked stellar as the lead signal caller, going 18-27 for 267 yards and 3 total touchdowns, two through the air and another on the ground.
Quarterback Anthony Grigsby Jr. was also very effective in his pair of drives after subbing in for Dieffenbach, throwing a touchdown pass in six attempts.
The rushing attack left something to be desired, although it certainly isn’t anything to panic about. Zion Hall and Tyrei Washington split carries, combining for 64 yards and a touchdown.
“We do need someone to really give us some pop back there and consistency,” head coach Paul Wulff said at practice this week. “It’s going to hopefully come in time as more opportunities present themselves to the players in the backfield.”
The defense looked strong against San Diego holding them largely in check throughout the game. Mikey D’Amato led the team in tackles, while the team collected five sacks. San Diego’s first five drives resulted in just 99 yards of offense, and aside from a hail mary at the end of the half just three points.
Scouting the Utes
Utah’s Devon Dampier is a true dual threat quarterback. At New Mexico last season Dampier threw for 2,700 yards and rushed for another 1,100 near the top of the Mountain West in both categories.
The main target for Dampier was two-way player Smith Snowden, who started at both wide receiver and cornerback. Another two-way player was Lander Barton, who led the team in tackles at linebacker and caught a 14-yard touchdown pass.
It’s hard to focus on any offensive skill player because of Utah’s depth, eight different players recorded a reception and eight different players recorded a carry in their season opener.
On defense, the Utes held UCLA to just 220 yards of total offense with an interception and four sacks.
Cal Poly will be looking to break their nine game FBS losing streak starting at 3 p.m in Rice-Eccles Stadium.
