Sophomore quarterback Sam Huard was sensational in Cal Poly's 24-10 victory over the University of San Diego at Mustang Memorial Stadium Saturday night.
The Pac-12 transfer threw for 364 yards, completing 24 of his 42 pass attempts.
Huard threw for one touchdown pass, while Troy Fletcher and Mark Biggins eached rushed in for a touchdown in the win.
"They just give me so much time back there to just really spread the ball around and get different guys the ball and go through my progressions," Huard said. "It definitely makes my job a lot easier when I don't have to worry too much about things going on up front. Credit to (the offensive line) and all their hard work all off season and just the trust they have in each other and also just going out there every single day and really bringing it."
While the offense shined bright in their first outing of the season, despite the Toreros leading in possession time by nearly 10 minutes.
While the offense let loose for 27 points in their home outing, the defense played better. Junior defensive end, Elijah Ponder, who had three sacks for a loss of 17-yards, lead the charge.
"It felt great coming out here and finally playing someone else other than ourselves," Ponder said. "We just knew that if we came out and played our game, we were going to get the job done."
The defense failed to give up a touchdown all night, which hadn't happened up until seven years ago, when the Mustangs were playing against their same foes, the Toreros.
Each team exchanged field goals in the first quarter, until Fletcher rushed in for a 30-yard touchdown with a minute remaining to give the Mustangs the lead.
Huard completed a 1-yard touchdown pass in the red zone to Tyrece Fairly-Diyem with a minute left in the second quarter for the two-score lead.
The Toreros capitalized on Huard's misthrow, when Ruben Lopez completed the 46-yard pick-six to give San Diego their first and only touchdown of the night.
A successful field goal attempt from Noah Serna, paired with a Biggins rushing touchdown in the second half, closed the door on the Toreros and sealed the Mustang 27-10 victory.
Sam Huard and Paul Wulff, both new to the Cal Poly program in their respected positions, came out and executed.
"I just think our guys came out and and played hard and we did a lot of things," Wulff said. "We've got growing to do, but this team's got a lot of potential to continue to grow. I'm excited to watch our guys play this next Saturday, but we got a lot of work in front of us and we've got to maximize these days that we have to improve and see how it looks come Saturday."
