Mustang Daily Staff Report
sports@mustangdaily.net
For 19 years in the Division I era, every Cal Poly football team that began its season 7-0 has lost in the eighth week of conference play. Unfortunately for head coach Tim Walsh and his football team, this year was no exception.
The Mustangs dropped their first game of the season Saturday night, falling 35-29 to Sacramento State in a road Big Sky Conference matchup.
In the first five minutes of the matchup, however, linebacker Nick Dzubnar recovered two Sacramento State fumbles. But despite the touchdown and field goal the Mustangs were able to produce, the early lead was not enough. The rest of the first quarter belonged to the Hornets as they collected 326 yards in the first 30 minutes.
Sacramento State (6-3, 4-2 Big Sky) was led by its sophomore quarterback Garrett Safron, who completed 31 out of 38 passes with 303 yards and a career-high four touchdowns.
Three of those touchdowns came before the end of the first half, as Safron connected with his teammates for three scoring passes. Cal Poly responded when quarterback Andre Broadous rushed for a 1-yard touchdown after running back Deonte Williams put the Mustangs in scoring position with a 76-yard run. By the end of the half, however, the Hornets had pushed past the Mustangs’ early lead to make it 28-17.
In the third quarter, Broadous once again scored on another 1-yard run, minimizing the Hornets’ lead to 28-23. Sacramento State, however, responded with another touchdown pass from Safron.
While Broadous proceeded to connect with Willie Tucker for a touchdown with about two minutes left to play, it was still not enough to overcome the deficit. With the score 35-29, Sacramento State linebacker Cody Allen recovered an onside kick, and the Hornets ran out the clock after a first down.
The Mustangs rushed for a season-high 387 yards on the ground as Kristaan Ivory contributed 80 yards on 12 carries. Williams rushed for his seventh 100-yard game this season as he finished the matchup with 168 yards on 22 carries. Broadous finished with 86 passing yards, completing 4 of 10 passes.
Northern Arizona now leads the Big Sky with a 5-0 record following Cal Poly’s loss and Southern Utah’s 30-27 upset of No. 1 Eastern Washington.
Cal Poly now looks to recover from its loss with a non-conference game on the road against Eastern Washington next Saturday.
Jefferson P. Nolan contributed to this report.