One week after Cal Poly beat the best team in the nation, the Montana Grizzlies, Cal Poly tasted defeat for the first time this season.
Freshman running back Dexter Imade rushed for 95 yards and two scores as Texas State (2-1) upset No. 17 Cal Poly (2-1), 21-12, Saturday night in Bobcat Stadium.
Imade scored on runs of 2 and 33 yards while freshman quarterback Tyler Arndt passed for 123 yards as Texas State beat Cal Poly for the third straight time in Bobcat Stadium.
Karrington Bush put Texas State on the board first, after running 37 yards for a Texas State touchdown. To answer, Cal Poly posted a Jake West 32-yard field goal in the opening minutes of the game.
West added a 33-yard field goal in the third period to cut the deficit to 7-6, but Imade’s first touchdown, a 2-yard run, gave the Bobcats a 14-6 advantage late in the third period.
Cal Poly’s lone touchdown of the game came on a one-yard run by quarterback Doug Shumway with 34 seconds left in the third quarter. The Mustangs, trailing by two points, went for two but Shumway’s pass fell incomplete.
Texas State went up by two scores, 21-12, on Imade’s 33-yard run with 13:01 to play in the game and held on for the win as the Mustangs couldn’t drive past the 50-yard line on their final three possessions.
Cal Poly had other opportunities to score, but couldn’t take advantage.
In the first quarter, the Mustangs drove to the Bobcat 28-yard line, but James Langford missed a 46-yard field goal attempt. Early in the second period, Cal Poly marched to the Texas State 17-yard line, but Shumway fumbled the ball on third down.
A chop block penalty, followed by a delay of game penalty, halted a Mustang drive near midfield in the second quarter. On the next possession, the Mustangs were stopped on a fourth-and-one play, again near midfield.
Mustang senior fullback Jordan Yocum rushed for a career-high 145 yards on 17 carries, recording his fifth career 100-yard game. Shumway finished with 79 yards on 23 carries while Andre Broadous, who called signals in the final eight minutes of the first half, rushed for 31 yards on nine carries.
Shumway completed 10 of 21 passes for 64 yards while Broadous was one of two for two yards. Cal Poly’s top receiver was senior Dominique Johnson with five catches for 30 yards. Yocum and Mark Rodgers each caught two passes.
Linebacker Kenny Jackson recorded 11 tackles to lead Cal Poly defensively. Marty Mohamed intercepted a Texas State pass, his second turnover in two games.
For Texas State, Imade netted 95 yards on 16 carries while Bush added 86 yards on 14 trips.
Arndt completed nine of 14 passes for 123 yards and Da’Marcus Griggs was his favorite target with three catches for 52 yards.
The loss was the Mustangs’ eighth straight on the road since a 42-28 triumph over South Dakota State midway through the 2008 season.
Cal Poly continues its five-game road trip with a visit to McNeese State on Sept. 25 at 5 p.m. The Mustangs also visit Fresno State, Old Dominion and Southern Utah before returning to Alex G. Spanos Stadium on Oct. 23 against North Dakota.