2018 Cal Poly Mustangs football team
The 2018 Cal Poly Mustangs football team represented California Polytechnic State University in the 2018 NCAA Division I FCS football season. The Mustangs were led by tenth-year head coach Tim Walsh and played their home games at Alex G. Spanos Stadium. They were members of the Big Sky Conference. They finished the season 5–6, 4–4 in Big Sky play to finish in a tie for sixth place.
2018 Cal Poly Mustangs football | |
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Conference | Big Sky Conference |
2018 record | 5–6 (4–4 Big Sky) |
Head coach |
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Offensive coordinator | Jim Craft (1st season) |
Offensive scheme | Triple Option |
Defensive coordinator | Josh Brown (8th season) |
Base defense | 3-4 |
Home stadium | Alex G. Spanos Stadium (Capacity: 11,075) |
2018 Big Sky Conference football standings | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Conf | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Team | W | L | W | L | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
No. 6 Weber State +^ | 7 | – | 1 | 10 | – | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
No. 2 Eastern Washington +^ | 7 | – | 1 | 12 | – | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
No. 7 UC Davis +^ | 7 | – | 1 | 10 | – | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
No. 17 Montana State ^ | 5 | – | 3 | 8 | – | 5 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Idaho State | 5 | – | 3 | 6 | – | 5 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Montana | 4 | – | 4 | 6 | – | 5 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Cal Poly | 4 | – | 4 | 5 | – | 6 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Northern Arizona | 3 | – | 4 | 4 | – | 6 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Portland State | 3 | – | 5 | 4 | – | 7 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Idaho | 3 | – | 5 | 4 | – | 7 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Northern Colorado | 2 | – | 6 | 2 | – | 9 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Southern Utah | 1 | – | 7 | 1 | – | 10 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sacramento State | 0 | – | 7 | 2 | – | 8 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Previous season
The Mustangs finished the 2017 season 1–10, 1–7 in Big Sky play to finish in 12th place.
Preseason
Polls
On July 16, 2018 during the Big Sky Kickoff in Spokane, Washington, the Mustangs were predicted to finish in tenth place in the coaches poll and eleventh place in the media poll.[1]
Predicted finish | Team | Votes (1st place) |
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1 | Eastern Washington | 134 (6) |
2 | Weber State | 124 (3) |
3 | Northern Arizona | 121 (3) |
4 | Idaho | 101 (1) |
5 | Sacramento State | 94 |
6 | Southern Utah | 91 |
7 | Montana | 82 |
8 | Montana State | 76 |
9 | UC Davis | 64 |
10 | Cal Poly | 40 |
11 | Northern Colorado | 30 |
12 | Idaho State | 29 |
13 | Portland State | 21 |
Predicted finish | Team | Votes (1st place) |
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1 | Eastern Washington | 651 (27) |
2 | Weber State | 636 (19) |
3 | Northern Arizona | 535 (1) |
4 | Montana | 496 (2) |
5 | Idaho | 483 (3) |
6 | Southern Utah | 449 (1) |
7 | Sacramento State | 415 |
8 | Montana State | 391 (1) |
9 | UC Davis | 331 (1) |
10 | Idaho State | 170 |
11 | Cal Poly | 169 |
12 | Northern Colorado | 166 |
13 | Portland State | 103 |
Preseason All-Conference Team
The Mustangs had one player selected to the Preseason All-Conference Team.[2]
Joe Protheroe – Sr. FB
Schedule
Date | Time | Opponent | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
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September 1 | 12:30 p.m. | at No. 1 North Dakota State* | ESPN+ | L 3–49 | 18,483 | |
September 8 | 6:05 p.m. | No. 10 Weber State* | Pluto TV 244 | L 17–24 | 6,020 | |
September 14 | 7:05 p.m. | Brown* |
| Pluto TV 244 | W 44–15 | 7,725 |
September 22 | 1:05 p.m. | at No. 6 Eastern Washington | Pluto TV 234 | L 17–70 | 9,156 | |
September 29 | 4:05 p.m. | No. 17 Montana |
| ELVN | L 28–48 | 7,157 |
October 6 | 6:00 p.m. | at Sacramento State | Pluto TV 233 | W 41–27 | 8,930 | |
October 20 | 4:05 p.m. | No. 10 UC Davis |
| Pluto TV 244 | L 10–52 | 8,503 |
October 27 | 4:00 p.m. | at Northern Arizona | Pluto TV 239 | W 38–28 | 6,102 | |
November 3 | 1:00 p.m. | at Montana State | SWX | L 42–49 | 16,747 | |
November 10 | 4:05 p.m. | No. 24 Idaho State |
| Pluto TV 244 | W 37–14 | 5,250 |
November 17 | 4:05 p.m. | Southern Utah |
| Pluto TV 244 | W 38–24 | 4,520 |
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- Source: Official Schedule
Despite also being a member of the Big Sky, the game vs. Weber State will be a non-conference game and will have no effect on the Big Sky standings.
Game summaries
at North Dakota State
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
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Mustangs | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
No. 1 Bison | 7 | 21 | 14 | 7 | 49 |
Weber State
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
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No. 10 Wildcats | 7 | 3 | 7 | 7 | 24 |
Mustangs | 0 | 3 | 7 | 7 | 17 |
Brown
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
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Bears | 0 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 15 |
Mustangs | 3 | 21 | 13 | 7 | 44 |
at Eastern Washington
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
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Mustangs | 3 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 17 |
No. 6 Eagles | 14 | 21 | 14 | 21 | 70 |
Montana
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
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No. 17 Grizzlies | 17 | 14 | 10 | 7 | 48 |
Mustangs | 0 | 7 | 14 | 7 | 28 |
at Sacramento State
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
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Mustangs | 14 | 7 | 6 | 14 | 41 |
Hornets | 14 | 0 | 3 | 10 | 27 |
UC Davis
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
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No. 10 Aggies | 0 | 31 | 7 | 14 | 52 |
Mustangs | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
at Northern Arizona
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
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Mustangs | 0 | 28 | 10 | 0 | 38 |
Lumberjacks | 7 | 0 | 7 | 14 | 28 |
at Montana State
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
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Mustangs | 7 | 7 | 7 | 21 | 42 |
Bobcats | 14 | 14 | 14 | 7 | 49 |
at Idaho State
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
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No. 24 Bengals | 0 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 14 |
Mustangs | 3 | 10 | 7 | 17 | 37 |
Southern Utah
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
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Thunderbirds | 14 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 24 |
Mustangs | 0 | 21 | 7 | 10 | 38 |