Underneath a wet and dreary Northern California sky, the Cal Poly football team saw its hopes of reaching the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) playoffs slip away. The Mustangs were defeated by UC Davis 24-17 and, as a result, can no longer reach the recommended seven Division I wins in order to qualify for the FCS playoffs. This was also the third straight year UC Davis claimed the Golden Horseshoe trophy. UC Davis, which only had two wins entering the game, has won the trophy in five of the past eight seasons.
The Mustangs took a 3-0 lead on the opening drive of the game, and the Cal Poly offense was aggressive from the onset as the key play on the drive was a 45-yard half-back pass from senior slotback David Mahr to backup fullback Akaninyene Umoh. James Langford capped the drive with a 26-yard field goal. However, Cal Poly would not hold the lead for long, as UC Davis answered with a touchdown on its opening possession. UC Davis quarterback Randy Wright was a perfect 5-for-5 on the drive, including his 8-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Tom Hemmingsen.
After Cal Poly quarterback Andre Broadous fumbled on the fourth down deep inside Aggie territory, UC Davis extended its lead to 14-3. The five-play drive ended with a Colton touchdown from Silveria. Cal Poly’s offense threw caution into the Northern California wind by deciding to go for it on fourth down nine times during the game, twice passing up short field goal opportunities. They converted six of the nine attempts.
“This year I think that we made a living off finishing fourth down drives,” head coach Tim Walsh said. “Today, we weren’t very good on fourth down. It’s decisions I went with and I told them before the game, I live and die with that, and I believe in you guys, and I believe that we can get it.”
Silveria would be a thorn in the Mustang’s side all day as he rushed for 65 yards and two touchdowns.
On the Aggies next drive, they moved the ball into the Mustang red zone, and on third-and-eight, Wright’s pass to Hemmingsen fell incomplete in the end zone. However, Hemmingsen lobbied for a pass interference call and the referee called a penalty on Cal Poly linebacker Johnny Millard. The penalty moved the ball inside the 5-yard line, and Silveria punched it in the end zone for his second touchdown of the day.
At halftime, Cal Poly’s chances of winning looked bleak, but as has been typical of their season, the team showed resiliency in the second half.
“I didn’t like how we played in the first half, it wasn’t characteristic of who we are,” Walsh said. “In the second half the courage part, and the fact we came from behind almost every week this year, you have to give those guys credit. The guys are playing hurt, and people don’t know how hurt some of these guys are.”
UC Davis received the second half kickoff and marched down the field behind the running of Silveria and passing of Wright. Silveria took a screen pass 40 yards, and the Aggies made it as far as the Mustang 4-yard line, but penalties caused the drive to be thrown in reverse. The drive ate up more than seven minutes, but ended when UC Davis kicker Sean Kelley missed a 37-yard field goal. Kelley was only 1-of-3 kicking on the day, but did convert a 36-yard field goal on the following possession to stretch the lead to 24-3.
With their playoff hopes fading, the Cal Poly offense showed life for the first time in the second half. The Mustangs went 58 yards in nine plays to score their first touchdown of the game. The key play of the drive was an 8-yard pass to freshman wide receiver Lance Castaneda on fourth-and-six. Two plays later, Broadous scored from one yard out and the lead was narrowed to 24-10. Castaneda had his best game of the season with seven catches for 72 yards.
After forcing a UC Davis punt, Cal Poly got the ball back on their 9-yard line in a substantial rain, and drove 91 yards in 17 plays to narrow the lead 24-17.
Slotback Deonte Williams finished the six minute drive with a 1-yard touchdown run. Williams also had his best game as a Mustang as he rushed for 100 yards on 21 carries and had one touchdown. The drive was helped along a fourth down conversion to wide receiver Brandon Mickalkiewicz and Castaneda drew a pass interference on fourth down four plays later.
“We all wanted to give our fans a win,” Williams said. “We have a lot of guys from Sacramento on the team. So it’s tough. It’s really tough.”
With a little more than two minutes remaining and three timeouts, Walsh decided to attempt an onside kick but UC Davis recovered the ball. After a quick three-and-out the Aggie punter pinned Cal Poly at its own 5-yard line.
After converting a first down, Broadous fumbled at the 15-yard line, and UC Davis recovered to seal the victory. Overall, the day was a struggle for Broadous and the Cal Poly offense.
The Aggie defense sacked the junior quarterback five times, caused him to fumble twice and harassed him the entire game. In the fourth quarter, Broadous threw the first interception of his career and was banged up on the play.
“I think Davis caused us a lot of problems,” Broadous said. “Teams are starting to try to catch up on our triple-option, and when that’s not working, we got to be able to different things. Today, we were not able to do that the majority of the game.”
Next week, the Cal Poly seniors play their final home game at Alex G. Spanos Stadium against defending FCS national champion Eastern Washington. The senior class has won two Great West conference championships and has a chance to finish their final season with a perfect home record.
“We have to play for our seniors,” Williams said. “We got Eastern Washington next week and have to play hard for our seniors.”