The Cal Poly Mustangs lost to a 20th-ranked UC Davis at home, 31-13, last Saturday. Now they face an even bigger challenge in Idaho, who's ranked third in FCS rankings.
This Saturday’s match up is just the fourth between Cal Poly and Idaho all-time and the Vandals have all three victories dating back to 1996. If they want to redeem themselves, cleaning up offensive turnovers is going to be a start.
Following Idaho, Cal Poly plays all six of the seven ranked Big Sky programs during its final seven games. Idaho ranks second among Big Sky programs with 448 yards of offense per game and third in points per game (34.4) and rushing yards per game (214.2). The Vandals will be the ultimate test for the Mustang's defense.
“We did a poor job putting our defense in bad spots in terms of field position," head coach Paul Wulff said. "We had some turnovers. We got backed up. And so the defense a lot of times went out there and really tough field position. So there were some points given up that, you know, wasn't necessarily on them. “
Idaho stands firm with Montana State at the top of the Big Sky conference standings, sitting at 2-0 in conference play and 4-1 overall.
“They got some big play makers, they've got some speed and they can be electric," Wulff complimented. "So we've got to be able to try to, you know, contain those guys because they do have big play capability.”
The mustangs fell into the negatives in rushing yards last game and need the run game to see a major shift against Idaho.
“We need to continue to block well for them. But really on both sides of the ball we've got to be better stopping the run and we got to be better run," Wulff added.
Starting quarterback Sam Huard is still in concussion protocol and head coach Wulff is uncertain if he’ll get the go before Saturday's game. Backup redshirt freshman Bo Kelly is ready to suit up after dusting off some nerves in the first half last game.
“13 points obviously isn’t going to cut it," Kelly said. "We gotta go out there and put more points up and our defense played a hell of a game. But it felt good to finally be out there and be able to play with my brothers.”
Whether it is Kelly or Huard under center, freshman receiver Tyrece Fairly-Diyem will need to be targeted. Cal Polys leading receiver ranks 11th among Big Sky players.
“We’ve been rolling," Kelly said. "Even though it hasn’t shown up yet, I feel like we haven't even played a complete game as a team yet. We have a lot of things adding up for us and I feel really good about this week.”
“We've got a really good young football team that's grown growing up in front of our eyes," Wulff complimented. "And we're going to get there, you know, and it's going to be a fun team to watch.”
