Cal Poly football will play Eastern Washington University on Saturday. A win would close out the season with a perfect home game record.
Though the Mustangs lost to UC Davis at their last game on Nov. 5, head coach Tim Walsh said the team has “dealt with it really well” and is focusing on the coming game.
Eastern Washington won the Football Bowl Subdivision last year, but Walsh said “they’re as injured as we are (this year).”
“There’s probably going to be seven or eight guys that are going to be on that field Saturday night that might get an opportunity to play in the NFL,” Walsh said. “So from a football standpoint, that’s a tremendous challenge for both teams.”
The injuries the team saw this season have had a significant impact on how the team played, Walsh said — especially the way they played in a loss to rival UC Davis. The team wasn’t where they needed to be emotionally for that game, he said. Besides that game, the team has “had a very, very good year.”
The Eagles have also had a good year, and will come to Alex G. Spanos Stadium with a skilled quarterback and receivers, so the Cal Poly pass defense will have to “be on point,” Walsh said.
He added they’re not sure how Eastern Washington will play offensively, so the Mustangs will have to prepare “for a lot of different things.”
A number of the players are seniors for whom Saturday’s game will be their last home game at Cal Poly before they graduate. “You’re looking probably at guys that have started, combined, over 200 football games at Cal Poly,” Walsh said
“Emotionally, it’s going to mean a lot to them, and it means a lot to us that we, as a football team, rally around these guys and make sure they get a win in their last opportunity,” Walsh said.
Those players’ parents will attend Saturday’s game as tradition, and will want to see the players do well, he said.
If the Mustangs win Saturday, the team will have the opportunity to rank among the top 25 teams in the country, and Walsh said that’s “still a huge compliment.” He also said they want to “represent their conference in the proper way.”
“I think it speaks a lot about the character of who we are by how we perform Saturday,” Walsh said. “And that doesn’t mean we have to win — I mean I want to win, obviously — but it’s really about how we play and how we prepare.”
Senior cornerback Asa Jackson said the fact that this is his last home game hasn’t hit him yet — he’s still focusing on getting ready.
“Playing at Spanos has always been a great experience for me,” Jackson said. “And, you know, Saturday’s going to be even better than normal, so I’m excited.”
Jackson said he agrees with Walsh about the impact of injuries on the team’s performance this season, and added the team hasn’t been able to accomplish its goal of “playing a full 60 minutes every week.” But the Mustangs will have a chance at the playoffs if they win the next two games, he said.
And he said he wants to send fans away “with something special” — he wants to get a touchdown on one of the three chances he estimate he’ll have during the game.
Playing a team like Eastern Washington doesn’t intimidate Jackson — in fact, he said it excites him. He’s always played better in bigger games, and said that he thinks the team “is going to be able to step up to the plate on that front this weekend too.”
He has tried to make the most of his experience playing football at Cal Poly, and he said the university has “been nothing but good to me.” The game on Saturday will be a “bittersweet ending,” though.
Unlike Jackson, senior fullback Jake Romanelli said it has already begun to hit him that Saturday’s game will be his last at Cal Poly, and he’s both excited and sad about it.
The team took a lot from the loss to the Aggies “as far as preparation,” Romanelli said, and they don’t want to fall behind like they have in past games. But Saturday will be “a new game,” so the team will go out and play its best, he said
Romanelli said he too will be doing what he normally does, and anything he can to help the rest of the team.
He said he likes playing the best competition because it brings out the best in the team. And the team has “the highest respect” for the Eagles, he said.
His family has watched him play football for “so many years (they’ve) lost count,” Romanelli said, and having them there on Saturday will be “touching.”
“It’ll mean a lot to me, and all the support they’ve shown over the years just coming to games and stuff, especially at Cal Poly,” Romanelli said.