2023 Cal Poly Mustangs football team

The 2023 Cal Poly Mustangs football team represented California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo as member of the Big Sky Conference during the 2023 NCAA Division I FCS football season. Led first-year head coach Paul Wulff, the Mustangs compiled an overall record of 3–8 with a mark of 1–7 in conference play, placing 11th in the Big Sky. Cal poly played home games at Mustang Stadium in San Luis Obispo, California.

2023 Cal Poly Mustangs football
Conference	Big Sky Conference
Record	3–8 (1–7 Big Sky)
Head coach	Paul Wulff (1st season)
Offensive coordinator	Sheldon Cross (1st season)
Co-defensive coordinator	Will Plemons (2nd season)
Co-defensive coordinator	Cody Von Appen (2nd season)
Home stadium	Mustang Memorial Field

2023 Big Sky Conference football standings

	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 2 Montana $^		7	–	1					13	–	2
No. 8 Idaho ^		6	–	2					9	–	4
No. 9 Montana State ^		6	–	2					8	–	4
Northern Arizona		5	–	3					5	–	6
No. 24 UC Davis		5	–	3					7	–	4
No. 13 Sacramento State ^		4	–	4					8	–	5
Portland State		4	–	4					5	–	6
Weber State		4	–	4					6	–	5
Eastern Washington		3	–	5					4	–	7
Idaho State		3	–	5					3	–	8
Cal Poly		1	–	7					3	–	8
Northern Colorado		0	–	8					0	–	11
$ – Conference champion ^ – FCS playoff participant Rankings from STATS Poll

Preseason

Polls

On July 23, 2023, during the virtual Big Sky Kickoff, the Mustangs were predicted to finish eleventh in the Big Sky by both the coaches and media.

Coaches poll

Predicted finish	Team	Votes (1st place)
1	Montana State	120 (10)
2	UC Davis	96 (1)
3	Sacramento State	94 (1)
4	Weber State	91
5	Idaho	89
6	Montana	84
7	Eastern Washington	52
8	Portland State	45
9	Northern Arizona	44
10	Northern Colorado	37
11	Cal Poly	25
12	Idaho State	15

Media poll

Predicted finish	Team	Votes (1st place)
1	Montana State	447 (26)
2	Idaho	410 (8)
3	Montana	359 (2)
4	Sacramento State	334 (3)
5	UC Davis	330
6	Weber State	320
7	Eastern Washington	216
8	Northern Arizona	178
9	Portland State	167
10	Northern Colorado	109
11	Cal Poly	103
12	Idaho State	69

Preseason All–Big Sky team

The Mustangs had one player selected to the preseason all-Big Sky team.

Defense

David Meyer – LB

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 2	3:00 p.m.	San Diego*	Mustang Memorial Field San Luis Obispo, CA	ESPN+	W 27–10	6,248
September 9	1:00 p.m.	at San Jose State*	CEFCU Stadium San Jose, CA	NBCSBA	L 3–59	14,224
September 16	5:05 p.m.	Lincoln (CA)*	Mustang Memorial Field San Luis Obispo, CA	ESPN+	W 41–20	9,238
September 23	1:00 p.m.	at Portland State	Hillsboro Stadium Hillsboro, OR	ESPN+	L 21–59	1,672
September 30	5:05 p.m.	No. 21 UC Davis	Mustang Memorial Field San Luis Obispo, CA (Battle for the Golden Horseshoe)	ESPN+	L 13–31	8,744
October 7	5:05 p.m.	at No. 3 Idaho	Mustang Memorial Field San Luis Obispo, CA	ESPN+	L 14–42	6,028
October 14	5:00 p.m.	at No. 2 Montana State	Bobcat Stadium Bozeman, MT	ESPN+	L 19–59	21,997
October 21	5:05 p.m.	Northern Colorado	Mustang Memorial Field San Luis Obispo, CA	ESPN+	W 24–17	9,263
November 4	1:00 p.m.	at Eastern Washington	Roos Field Cheney, WA	ESPN+	L 13–48	4,345
November 11	2:00 p.m.	at No. 9 Sacramento State	Hornet Stadium Sacramento, CA	ESPN+	L 30–41	12,022
November 18	5:05 p.m.	Weber State	Mustang Memorial Field San Luis Obispo, CA	ESPN+	L 21–48	4,829
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from STATS Poll released prior to the game All times are in Pacific time

Game summaries

At San Jose State

See also: 2023 San Jose State Spartans football team

Pregame line	Over/under	Win prob.
SJSU -23.5	60	SJSU 88.4%

Cal Poly Mustangs (1–0) at San Jose State Spartans (0–2)

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Mustangs	0	3	0	0	3
Spartans	17	21	21	0	59

at CEFCU Stadium, San Jose, CA

• Date: September 9, 2023
• Game time: 1:00 p.m. PST
• Game attendance: 14,224
• TV: NBCSBA

Game information
First Quarter Second Quarter Third Quarter Fourth Quarter

Statistics	CP	SJSU
First downs
Total yards
Rushing yards
Passing yards
Turnovers
Time of possession

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Cal Poly	Passing
	Rushing
	Receiving
SJSU	Passing
	Rushing
	Receiving

No. 3 Idaho

See also: 2023 Idaho Vandals football team

No. 3 Idaho Vandals (4–1) at Cal Poly Mustangs (2–3) – Game summary

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 3 Vandals	7	21	7	7	42
Mustangs	0	7	0	7	14

at Mustang Memorial Field • San Luis Obispo, CA

• Date: October 7, 2023
• Game time: 5:00 p.m. PDT
• Game attendance: 6,028
• TV: ESPN+

At No. 9 Sacramento State

See also: 2023 Sacramento State Hornets football team

Cal Poly Mustangs (3–6) at No. 9 Sacramento State Hornets (6–3) – Game summary

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Mustangs	10	13	7	0	30
No. 9 Hornets	14	17	7	3	41

at Hornet Stadium, Sacramento, CA

• Date: November 11, 2023
• Game time: 2:00 p.m. PST
• Game weather: 69 °F (21 °C) • NW 3 mph • Sunny
• Game attendance: 12,022
• Referee: Kelly Holman
• TV announcers (KMAX-TV/ESPN+): Play-by-Play: Jason Ross • Analysis: Darren Arbet

Game information

First Quarter (10:14) CP – Noah Serna 26-yard field goal (Drive: 8 plays, 64 yards, 4:43; Cal Poly 3–0) (7:55) SAC – Elijah Tau-Tolliver 34-yard run (Zach Schreiner kick) (Drive: 6 plays, 63 yards, 2:12; Sacramento State 7–3) (5:41) SAC – Devin Gandy 7-yard pass from Carson Conklin (Zach Schreiner kick) (Drive: 4 plays, 66 yards, 1:10; Sacramento State 14–3) (2:37) CP – Michael Briscoe 29-yard pass from Sam Huard (Noah Serna kick) (Drive: 7 plays, 75 yards, 3:04; Sacramento State 14–10) Second Quarter (8:27) CP – Noah Serna 44-yard field goal (Drive: 11 plays, 58 yards, 4:17; Sacramento State 14–13) (6:27) SAC – Marshel Martin 39-yard pass from Carson Conklin (Zach Schreiner kick) (Drive: 4 plays, 54 yards, 1:38; Sacramento State 21–13) (2:27) SAC – Carlos Hill 15-yard pass from Carson Conklin (Zach Schreiner kick) (Drive: 5 plays, 75 yards, 2:10; Sacramento State 28–13) (1:39) CP – Michael Briscoe 52-yard pass from Sam Huard (Noah Serna kick) (Drive: 4 plays, 80 yards, 0:42; Sacramento State 28–20) (0:18) CP – Noah Serna 23-yard field goal (Drive: 9 plays, 78 yards, 0:52; Sacramento State 28–23) (0:00) SAC – Zach Schreiner 32-yard field goal (Drive: 2 plays, 47 yards, 0:12; Sacramento State 31–23) Third Quarter (11:13) SAC – Elijah Tau-Tolliver 4-yard run (Zach Schreiner kick) (Drive: 1 play, 4 yards, 0:04; Sacramento State 38–23) (3:27) CP – Paul Holyfield Jr. 3-yard run (Noah Serna kick) (Drive: 8 plays, 69 yards, 4:04; Sacramento State 38–30) Fourth Quarter (12:28) SAC – Zach Schreiner 22-yard field goal (Drive: 10 plays, 70 yards, 5:54; Sacramento State 41–30) Line SAC –29.5 Over/Under 60.5

Statistics	CP	SAC
First downs	24	23
Total yards	539	538
Rushing yards	45	225
Passing yards	494	313
Passing: Comp–Att–Int	38–59–2	17–26–1
Time of possession	29:37	30:23

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Cal Poly	Passing	Sam Huard	37/58, 483 yards, 2 TD, 2 INT
	Rushing	Paul Holyfield Jr.	7 carries, 27 yards, TD
	Receiving	Michael Briscoe	3 receptions, 124 yards, 2 TD
Sacramento State	Passing	Carson Conklin	17/26, 313 yards, 3 TD, INT
	Rushing	Marcus Fulcher	20 carries, 121 yards
	Receiving	Jared Gipson	5 receptions, 154 yards

Roster

2023 Cal Poly Mustangs football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class WR 0 Logan Booher So QB 1 Kahliq Paulette  So WR 2 Giancarlo Woods  Jr QB 3 Bo Kelly  Fr RB 4 Mark Biggins  Sr RB 5 Aiden Ramos Fr WR 6 Tyrece Fairly-Diyem  Fr QB 7 Sam Huard  So RB 8 Shakobe Harper  Sr WR 9 Evan Burkhart  Jr WR 10 Michael Briscoe  So QB 11 Jaden Jones  So WR 12 Makhi Johnson  Fr QB 13 Spencer Brasch  Sr QB 14 Dieter Barr Fr WR 15 Jake Woods  So WR 17 Bryson Allen  Sr QB 18 Colby White Fr RB 19 Zion Hall  So WR 20 Dominique Thompson  Sr RB 21 Troy Fletcher Fr RB 22 Paul Holyfield Jr.  Fr WR 23 Budha Boyd Fr WR 24 Reed Shumpert  So WR 27 Ben Martin  So WR 31 Nolan Cummings Fr RB 34 Kendric Sanders Fr WR 37 Colin Guenther Fr TE 40 Aidan Scott Fr WR 42 Zach Diebner Fr OL 52 Payson Campisano  Sr OL 54 Hayden Jones  Fr OL 55 Keith Marco  So OL 56 Jake Trachtman  So OL 57 Ava Leota  So OL 58 Garrett Weichman GS OL 59 Tyler Charbonneau  So OL 61 Ethan Bronson  Jr OL 62 Hunter Jones  Sr OL 65 Kavika Fitisemanu  Fr OL 70 Jack Perra Fr OL 71 Charles Lincoln  Sr OL 72 Austin Anderson  Jr OL 73 Brady Norton Fr OL 74 Jasdev Banwait  Fr OL 75 Tanner Hirschler  Fr OL 76 Vatulele Finau  Sr OL 77 Jayden Smith Fr OL 78 Racin Delgatty Fr OL 79 Miles Medina Fr TE 80 Carlton Brown  So TE 81 Alex Grywalski  Fr WR 82 Jordan Garrison Fr WR 83 Joey Villaroman Fr TE 84 DeMarcus Oandasan  Jr WR 85 Eddy Schultz Fr WR 86 Dalton Bailey So WR 87 Brooks Wheatley Fr TE 88 Jace Yerty Fr TE 89 Tyler Hoffman  Fr WR Thomas Hartanov Fr WR Kian Salehi Fr	Defense Pos. # Name Class S 0 Chris Snyder Fr CB 1 Delano Franklin Fr LB 2 Michael Otterstedt  So LB 3 Ethan Calvert  So DB 4 Kai Rapolla  Fr LB 5 Je'kob Jones  So CB 6 Xavier Oliphant  Jr S 7 Jake East  Fr S 8 DeMel Turner Fr S 9 Brian Dukes Jr. So LB 10 David Meyer  Jr S 11 Dominic McCormack Jr CB 12 Donovan Saunders So CB 13 Kresean Kizzy Fr DL 14 Elijah Ponder  Jr DE 15 Robbie Greer  Jr LB 20 Kenny Olson  Fr CB 22 Christian Middleton  So DB 23 Budha Boyd Fr S 25 Jeremy Justice  Jr CB 26 Tayden Phillips Fr S 27 Troy Bean Fr LB 28 Charlie Sullivan Fr CB 29 Jamauri Jackson  So CB 30 Boston Wilson  Fr S 32 Mason Rivera So LB 33 Grady Liddell  Jr S 36 Thomas McNamara  So LB 43 Judaea Moon  Sr LB 44 Carson Jones  Fr LB 47 Connor Heffler  Jr LB 48 Drew Sulick  So DL 49 Julius Jordan  Fr LB 51 Reed Mercer  Jr DL 53 Nilasoni Finau  Fr DL 55 Zachary Denis  Fr DL 58 Thomas Bouda  So DL 60 Ethan Rodriguez  Jr DL 64 Mason Barbour  So DL 88 Jordan Sanders  Fr DT 90 Marquise Jones Fr DE 91 Pasefika Salatielu Fr DL 92 Ian Don  Jr DL 93 Su'e Luamanu Fr DL 94 Ish Taliauli Fr DL 95 Antonio Vakameilalo Jr DL 97 Elijah Satcher  So DL 98 John Smolenski  Jr DL 99 Josh Ngaluafe Jr	Special teams Pos. # Name Class P 35 Jesse Ehrlich  Fr K 38 Noah Serna  Fr LS 39 Cruz Rubio  Jr K 41 Leo Valencia Fr P 46 Ryan Collins  So LS 51 Reed Mercer  Jr PK 63 Kevin Ryan  So K 67 Jaden Ohlsen Jr LS 89 Tyler Hoffman  Fr	Head coach Paul Wulff Coordinators/assistant coaches Sheldon Cross (Offensive Coordinator / Running backs) Erik Meyer (Passing Game coordinator / Quarterbacks) Casey Petree (Co-Special Teams coordinator / Tight ends) Ryan Payne (Run Game coordinator / Offensive line) Will Plemons (Co-Defensive coordinator / Defensive line) Josh Letuligasenoa (Defense) Cody vonAppen (Co-Defensive coordinator / Safeties) Asa Jackson (Wide receivers) Jake Casteel (Linebackers) Brandyn Thompson (Cornerbacks) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt Roster Last update: August 29, 2023