What to Know About Stanford Football's Week Two Opponent, Cal Poly

Dylan Grausz | Sep 5, 2024

University of South Dakota plays Cal Poly in a football game on Saturday, September 17, 2022, at the Dakota Dome in Vermillion. Usd Cal Poly 019 / Erin Woodiel / Argus Leader / USA TODAY NETWORK

Week two is officially here and for the first time ever, Stanford football will face off against Cal Poly, an FCS program that will come into Palo Alto eager to pull off a miraculous upset. For the Cardinal, a win would mean everything as after a one score loss to TCU, getting in the win column before beginning conference play would bring about a wave of momentum. Here is what to know about the Mustangs ahead of this week’s clash.

Mustang history

Feb 3, 2011; Dallas, TX, USA; NFL former head coach John Madden during the Madden most valuable protectors award press conference at the Sheraton in downtown Dallas. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee/Image of Sport-Imagn Images / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Historically, the Mustangs have a record of 515-440 and are 0-1 in bowl games, last playing in the Camellia Bowl in 1972, falling 38-21 to North Dakota. Winning 20 conference championships in their history, with the first two being in 1952 and 1953 under LeRoy Hughes, the Mustangs experienced their most success in the 1970s under head coach Joe Harper, when the team won the California Collegiate Athletic Association in 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972 (co-champions), 1973, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979 and 1980.

They also won the championships in 1982, 1990, 1994, 2004, 2005, 2008, 2011 and 2012. In 1980, the Mustangs won their first ever National Championship, beating Eastern Illinois to take home the Division II championship. Aside from having rivalries with Sacramento State and Fresno State, Cal Poly’s most fierce rival is UC Davis, with the matchup between the two teams being “Battle for the Golden Horseshoe.” In terms of alumni, Cal Poly has produced numerous NFL players and two Hall of Famers, with its two most notable being John Madden and Bobby Beathard. 

How they fared in 2023

After getting hired to replace the fired Beau Baldwin following the 2022 season, the Paul Wulff era in San Luis Obispo began on a high note, with the team sitting at 2-1 after the first three weeks of the 2023 season, managing to pick up a week one win over USD and a week three win over Lincoln with a loss to San Jose State in week two. However, the Mustangs soon began to struggle, losing four in a row against Portland State (59-21), UC Davis (31-13), Idaho (42-14) and Montana State (59-19) to drop to 2-5.

Aside from picking up a third win over Northern Colorado, the Mustangs lost their final three games to Eastern Washington, Sacramento State and Weber State, respectively to finish 3-8 in Wulff’s first year at the helm. Despite the record, the season brought on the emergence of quarterback Sam Huard, son of former NFL quarterback Brock Huard, who started nine out of the team’s 11 games and threw for 2,205 yards, 18 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. 

What they did week one

Experiencing a lot of roster turnover after the end of last year, there was a lot of uncertainty heading into this season for the Mustangs and in week one against San Diego, and growing pains were definitely visible in what was an otherwise hard fought battle. Losing 27-21, the Mustangs found themselves down 10-0 after the first quarter following a field goal and a pick six from the Toreros defense but Cal Poly rebounded, scoring a touchdown right before halftime. The touchdown came in the air with quarterback Bo Kelly finding Giancarlo Woods.

Early in the third quarter, with San Diego on offense, defensive back Budha Baker Jr. recovered a fumble and returned it for a touchdown to give Cal Poly a 14-10 lead. But soon after that, the Toreros turned things up a notch, scoring two unanswered touchdowns and a field goal to take a 27-14 lead before Cal Poly scored another touchdown. By then, it was too late as San Diego was able to walk away with the win.