The first half was a start that Cal Poly would have taken in a heart beat.
Ty Dieffenbach threw a red zone interception early in the first quarter, and the offense had a grand total of nine points through 30 minutes against No. 4 Montana.
But the Mustangs (3-4, 1-2 Big Sky) managed to hold the flamethrowing Grizzly (6-0, 3-0 Big Sky) offense to zero points in the first half, before a disastrous second half saw the Mustangs fall with a final score of 28-9.
It’s the first time Montana failed to score in the first half since 2019, that was against a Rose Bowl winning Oregon Ducks squad.
Everything except the scoreboard was in sync for Cal Poly early on. Dieffenbach had 220 yards through the air and a touchdown, while the defense gave up just 146 yards with an interception.
Second half troubles
It started to turn sour in the second half, when Dieffenbach threw his second interception of the day. The Grizzlies returned the turnover for a touchdown and their first points of the game.
Cal Poly still led 9-7 heading into the fourth quarter, but Montana was in the process of a 96-yard odyssey to take the lead for good.
Still, Cal Poly had the chance to stay in the game, but Dieffenbach overthrew redshirt junior receiver Michael Briscoe over the middle which resulted in his third interception of the game.
The defense got a three and out after the pick, and Cal Poly brought in sophomore quarterback Bo Kelly under center looking to start a spark.
Kelly led the upset of then No. 21 Sacramento State, and turned in an admirable effort in the loss to No. 7 UC Davis.
But the wheels had fallen off for the Mustangs. Kelly completed just one of his six passes across two drives, both three and outs that led to Montana touchdowns to make it 28-9.
Dieffenbach came back into the game with under two minutes remaining, and threw his fourth interception of the day to seal the game away.
It was the culmination of a poor second half for the Cal Poly offense, with just 60 total yards and three turnovers.
Most of those yards came on a 39 yard Kendric Sanders run on their final drive. Before that, they had 22 total yards in the half, and had five passing yards.
Overall the offense couldn’t stay on the field, converting just two of their 14 third downs.
Cal Poly Football gets their only bye week of the season this upcoming week, before taking on what should be their third straight ranked opponent in Montana State. That game will take place at Mustang Memorial Field on Saturday, Oct. 25 at 5 p.m.
