2019 Cal Poly Mustangs football team

The 2019 Cal Poly Mustangs football team represented California Polytechnic State University in the 2019 NCAA Division I FCS football season. The Mustangs were led by 11th-year head coach Tim Walsh[1] and played their home games at Alex G. Spanos Stadium. They were members of the Big Sky Conference. They finished the season 3–8, 2–6 in Big Sky play to finish in a five-way tie for ninth place. On November 25, 2019, Tim Walsh announced his retirement. He finished with a 176–148 record in 29 seasons.[2]

2019 Cal Poly Mustangs football
Conference	Big Sky Conference
2019 record	3–8 (2–6 Big Sky)
Head coach	Tim Walsh (11th season)
Offensive coordinator	Jim Craft (2nd season)
Offensive scheme	Triple Option
Defensive coordinator	Josh Brown (9th season)
Base defense	3-4
Home stadium	Alex G. Spanos Stadium (Capacity: 11,075)

2019 Big Sky Conference football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 3 Weber State +^		7	–	1					11	–	4
No. 9 Sacramento State +^		7	–	1					9	–	4
No. 6 Montana ^		6	–	2					10	–	4
No. 4 Montana State ^		6	–	2					11	–	4
Eastern Washington		6	–	2					7	–	5
UC Davis		3	–	5					5	–	7
Idaho		3	–	5					5	–	7
Portland State		3	–	5					5	–	7
Cal Poly		2	–	6					3	–	8
Southern Utah		2	–	6					3	–	9
Northern Arizona		2	–	6					4	–	8
Northern Colorado		2	–	6					2	–	10
Idaho State		2	–	6					3	–	9
+ – Conference co-champions ^ – FCS playoff participant Although North Dakota was classified as an independent, games against them still counted as Big Sky Conference games. Rankings from STATS Poll

Previous season

The Mustangs finished the 2018 season 5–6, 4–4 in Big Sky play to finish in a tie for sixth place.

Preseason

Big Sky preseason poll

The Big Sky released their preseason media and coaches' polls on July 15, 2019. The Mustangs were picked to finish in ninth place in both polls.[3]

Media poll

Predicted finish	Team	Votes (1st place)
1	Eastern Washington	536 (25)
2	UC Davis	510 (13)
3	Weber State	472 (4)
4	Montana State	417
5	Montana	396 (1)
6	Northern Arizona	302
7	Idaho State	285
8	Idaho	248
9	Cal Poly	196
10	Portland State	178
11	Southern Utah	160
12	Sacramento State	125
13	Northern Colorado	90

Coaches poll

Predicted finish	Team	Votes (1st place)
1	Eastern Washington	140 (10)
2	UC Davis	127 (2)
3	Weber State	124
4	Montana	104 (1)
5	Montana State	100
6	Northern Arizona	88
7	Idaho State	72
8	Idaho	65
9	Cal Poly	56
10	Portland State	42
11	Sacramento State	40
12	Southern Utah	38
13	Northern Colorado	19

Preseason All–Big Sky team

The Mustangs did not have any players selected to the preseason all-Big Sky team.[4]

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
August 31	2:05 p.m.	San Diego*	Alex G. Spanos Stadium San Luis Obispo, CA	Pluto TV	W 52–34	5,779	[5]
September 7	5:00 p.m.	at No. 7 Weber State*	Stewart Stadium Ogden, UT	Pluto TV	L 24–41	8,792	[6]
September 14	1:15 p.m.	at Oregon State*	Reser Stadium Corvallis, OR	P12N	L 7–45	33,585	[7]
September 28	5:05 p.m.	at Southern Utah	Eccles Coliseum Cedar City, UT	Pluto TV	W 24–21	7,741	[8]
October 5	5:05 p.m.	No. 6 Montana State	Alex G. Spanos Stadium San Luis Obispo, CA	Pluto TV	L 28–34 ^OT	8,236	[9]
October 12	4:05 p.m.	at No. 24 UC Davis	UC Davis Health Stadium Davis, CA (Battle for the Golden Horseshoe)	Eleven	L 24–48	11,194	[10]
October 19	5:05 p.m.	North Dakota	Alex G. Spanos Stadium San Luis Obispo, CA	Pluto TV	L 26–30	5,186	[11]
October 26	5:05 p.m.	No. 7 Sacramento State	Alex G. Spanos Stadium San Luis Obispo, CA	Pluto TV	L 14–38	7,032	[12]
November 2	2:05 p.m.	at Idaho	Kibbie Dome Moscow, ID	Pluto TV	L 9–21	6,424	[13]
November 16	5:05 p.m.	Eastern Washington	Alex G. Spanos Stadium San Luis Obispo, CA	Pluto TV	L 41–42	6,582	[14]
November 23	11:05 a.m.	at Northern Colorado	Nottingham Field Greeley, CO	Pluto TV	W 28–21	2,854
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from STATS Poll released prior to the game All times are in Pacific time

• Source:[15][16]

Despite also being a member of the Big Sky, the game at Weber State was a non-conference game and had no effect on the Big Sky standings.

Game summaries

San Diego

	1	2	3	4	Total
Toreros	14	0	7	13	34
Mustangs	14	24	14	0	52

at Weber State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Mustangs	3	7	7	7	24
No. 7 Wildcats	3	14	14	10	41

at Oregon State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Mustangs	7	0	0	0	7
Beavers	21	17	7	0	45

at Southern Utah

	1	2	3	4	Total
Mustangs	3	14	0	7	24
Thunderbirds	0	7	6	8	21

Montana State

	1	2	3	4	OT	Total
No. 6 Bobcats	0	14	14	0	6	34
Mustangs	7	0	0	21	0	28

at UC Davis

	1	2	3	4	Total
Mustangs	0	10	7	7	24
No. 24 Aggies	24	10	0	14	48

North Dakota

	1	2	3	4	Total
Fighting Hawks	0	7	14	9	30
Mustangs	3	14	6	3	26

Sacramento State

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 7 Hornets	0	17	7	14	38
Mustangs	0	0	7	7	14

at Idaho

	1	2	3	4	Total
Mustangs	3	0	0	6	9
Vandals	0	7	7	7	21

Eastern Washington

	1	2	3	4	Total
Eagles	14	14	7	7	42
Mustangs	0	14	14	13	41

at Northern Colorado

	1	2	3	4	Total
Mustangs	0	7	7	14	28
Bears	7	7	7	0	21

References

1. "Head Coach Tim Walsh". Cal Poly. Retrieved July 19, 2019.
2. "Cal Poly Head Football Coach Tim Walsh Announces Retirement". Cal Poly. November 25, 2019. Retrieved December 31, 2019.
3. "Scoreboard: Big Sky Conference preseason football polls". 406 MT SPORTS. Retrieved August 7, 2019.
4. "Big Sky Conference announces preseason all-conference teams". MTSPX. 15 July 2019. Retrieved August 7, 2019.
5. "San Diego vs. Cal Poly - Game Summary - August 31, 2019 - ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved July 19, 2019.
6. "Cal Poly vs. Weber State - Game Summary - September 7, 2019 - ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved July 19, 2019.
7. "Cal Poly vs. Oregon State - Game Summary - September 14, 2019 - ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved July 19, 2019.
8. "Cal Poly vs. Southern Utah - Game Summary - September 28, 2019 - ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved July 19, 2019.
9. "Montana State vs. Cal Poly - Game Summary - October 5, 2019 - ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved July 19, 2019.
10. "Cal Poly vs. UC Davis - Game Summary - October 12, 2019 - ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved July 19, 2019.
11. "North Dakota vs. Cal Poly - Game Summary - October 19, 2019 - ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved July 19, 2019.
12. "Sacramento State vs. Cal Poly - Game Summary - October 26, 2019 - ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved July 19, 2019.
13. "Cal Poly vs. Idaho - Game Summary - November 2, 2019 - ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved July 19, 2019.
14. "Eastern Washington vs. Cal Poly - Game Summary - November 16, 2019 - ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved July 19, 2019.
15. "2019 Cal Poly Football Schedule". Cal Poly. Retrieved July 19, 2019.
16. "2019 Cal Poly Football Schedule". FBSchedules.com. Retrieved July 19, 2019.