The first pass of the game for redshirt sophomore quarterback Sam Huard was just a taste of what the Cal Poly offense put on display as Huard found redshirt sophomore wideout Michael Briscoe on a 43-yard bomb to set up the Mustangs inside the Sacramento State 30-yard line.
On a day where the Mustang (3-7, 1-6 Big Sky) offense was finally able to move the ball down the field consistently, it wasn’t enough as the defense struggled to contain the Hornets’ (7-3, 4-3 Big Sky) ground game allowing 225 rushing yards en route to their 41-30 loss on Saturday, Nov. 11.
The Green and Gold would settle for a 26-yard field goal on the first drive to go up 3-0 early, but that was the only lead the Mustangs had for the rest of the game as Sac State responded with two touchdowns of their own after that.
The highlight of the game for the Mustangs was Huard breaking the Cal Poly single-game completions record with 37 on 58 pass attempts after he previously placed second in single-game completions with 31 against the University of Northern Colorado.
The offense was not the issue for Cal Poly in this game as Huard threw for 483 yards and two touchdowns with two interceptions, and three Mustang receivers gained over 100 receiving yards.
Those three receivers were Briscoe, who tacked on two touchdown catches, redshirt senior Bryson Allen and redshirt junior Giancarlo Woods.
Despite the defensive struggles, Cal Poly was able to hang around with the No. 11 FCS-ranked Hornets for all four quarters and showed off the potential of this offense.
Huard found Briscoe on a 52-yard touchdown late in the second quarter, and the defense forced a stop the next drive to set up a Cal Poly field goal to bring the score to 28-23. The Hornets would get themselves in field goal range with seconds left in the half to go up 31-23 going into the break.
After a Hornets’ score, redshirt freshman running back Paul Holyfield Jr. punched in a three-yard touchdown run to cut the lead to 38-30 with 3:22 left in the third.
That’s all the points the Mustangs could muster up as Huard threw his second interception of the day, trying to cut the deficit down even more midway through the fourth quarter.
Cal Poly will look to finish the season off strong at home against Weber State on Saturday, Nov. 18th, inside Mustang Memorial Field.