# 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.

## 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.

## Schedule

| Date | Time | Opponent | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
| September 2 | 3:00 p.m. | San Diego* | Mustang Memorial FieldSan Luis Obispo, CA | ESPN+ Chris Sylvester, John Kane | W 27–10 | 6,248 |
| September 9 | 1:00 p.m. | at San Jose State* | CEFCU StadiumSan Jose, CA | NBCSBA Neal Ruhl, David Fales, Kate Rooney | L 3–59 | 14,224 |
| September 16 | 5:05 p.m. | Lincoln (CA)* | Mustang Memorial FieldSan Luis Obispo, CA | ESPN+ Chris Sylvester, John Kane | W 41–20 | 9,238 |
| September 23 | 1:00 p.m. | at Portland State | Hillsboro StadiumHillsboro, OR | ESPN+ Matt Richert, Scott Hermo | L 21–59 | 1,672 |
| September 30 | 5:05 p.m. | No. 21 UC Davis | Mustang Memorial FieldSan Luis Obispo, CA (Battle for the Golden Horseshoe) | ESPN+ Jay Holloway, John Kane | L 13–31 | 8,744 |
| October 7 | 5:05 p.m. | at No. 3 Idaho | Mustang Memorial FieldSan Luis Obispo, CA | ESPN+ Chris Sylvester, John Kane | L 14–42 | 6,028 |
| October 14 | 5:00 p.m. | at No. 2 Montana State | Bobcat StadiumBozeman, MT | ESPN+ Ben Creighton, Ty Gregorak, Scott Breen | L 19–59 | 21,997 |
| October 21 | 5:05 p.m. | Northern Colorado | Mustang Memorial FieldSan Luis Obispo, CA | ESPN+ Chris Sylvester, John Kane | W 24–17 | 9,263 |
| November 4 | 1:00 p.m. | at Eastern Washington | Roos FieldCheney, WA | ESPN+ Dennis Patchin, Greg Peach | L 13–48 | 4,345 |
| November 11 | 2:00 p.m. | at No. 9 Sacramento State | Hornet StadiumSacramento, CA | ESPN+ Jason Ross, Jr., Darren Arbet | L 30–41 | 12,022 |
| November 18 | 5:05 p.m. | Weber State | Mustang Memorial FieldSan Luis Obispo, CA | ESPN+ Jay Holloway, John Kane | L 21–48 | 4,829 |
| *Non-conference gameHomecomingRankings from STATS Poll released prior to the gameAll times are in Pacific time |||||||

## Game summaries
### At San Jose State

| Pregame line | Over/under | Win prob. |
| SJSU -23.5 | 60 | SJSU 88.4% |
| 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 announcers (NBCSBA): Neal Ruhl, David Fales, Kate Rooney
* Statistics
* First downs
* Total yards
* Rushing yards
* Passing yards
* Turnovers
* Time of possession
| Team | Category |
| Cal Poly | Passing |
| Cal Poly | Rushing |
| Cal Poly | Receiving |
| SJSU | Passing |
| SJSU | Rushing |
| SJSU | Receiving |

### No. 3 Idaho

| 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 announcers (ESPN+): Chris Sylvester, John Kane

### At No. 9 Sacramento State

| 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 |
| Cal Poly | Rushing | Paul Holyfield Jr. | 7 carries, 27 yards, TD |
| Cal Poly | Receiving | Michael Briscoe | 3 receptions, 124 yards, 2 TD |
| Sacramento State | Passing | Carson Conklin | 17/26, 313 yards, 3 TD, INT |
| Sacramento State | Rushing | Marcus Fulcher | 20 carries, 121 yards |
| Sacramento State | Receiving | Jared Gipson | 5 receptions, 154 yards |