It was another close loss for the Cal Poly football team on Saturday night as the Mustangs fell to North Dakota, 30-26. Overshadowed in the Mustangs' third straight defeat was the huge performance by sophomore fullback Duy Tran-Sampson.
It was a career day on the ground for Tran-Sampson, rushing for a career-high 173 yards on a career-high 40 carriers. He also scored a touchdown in the third quarter to give the Mustangs a 23-14 lead.
His 40 carries were just three shy of Cal Poly's Division 1 record set by Joe Protheroe's 43 carries last season against Brown.
Tran-Sampson's workload Saturday was Joe Pro-esque, however, he's not worried about filling the shoes of the program's all-time leading rusher but raising the bar for the Mustangs' backfield.
"Honestly, I'm just trying to do me," Tran-Sampson said after his breakout game on Saturday. "It's not like I'm trying to fill into his shoes, it's more like I'm trying to do what the standard is for all halfbacks, just go up the middle and run as hard as you can."
"He did his job, ran hard and ran physical," head coach Tim Walsh added. "There were some things that I talked to him about and challenged him that he needed to do better. He took care of the football and ran extremely hard so nothing but praise for him."
Tran-Sampson will look to keep his success going Saturday afternoon at home against Sacramento State, kickoff is set for 5:05 P.M.
