2023 Cal Poly Mustangs football team

2023 Cal Poly Mustangs football
ConferenceBig Sky Conference
Record3–8 (1–7 Big Sky)
Head coach
Offensive coordinatorSheldon Cross (1st season)
Co-defensive coordinators
  • Will Plemons (2nd season)
  • Cody Von Appen (2nd season)
Home stadiumMustang 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  
  1 – 7     3 – 8  
Northern Colorado   0 – 8     0 – 11  
  • $ – Conference champion
  • ^ – FCS playoff participant
Rankings from STATS Poll

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.

Schedule

DateTimeOpponentSiteTVResultAttendance
September 23:00 p.m.San Diego*
ESPN+W 27–106,248
September 91:00 p.m.at San Jose State*
NBCSBAL 3–5914,224
September 165:05 p.m.Lincoln (CA)*
  • Mustang Memorial Field
  • San Luis Obispo, CA
ESPN+W 41–209,238
September 231:00 p.m.at Portland State
ESPN+L 21–591,672
September 305:05 p.m.No. 21 UC Davis
ESPN+L 13–318,744
October 75:05 p.m.at No. 3 Idaho
  • Mustang Memorial Field
  • San Luis Obispo, CA
ESPN+L 14–426,028
October 145:00 p.m.at No. 2 Montana State
ESPN+L 19–5921,997
October 215:05 p.m.Northern Colorado
  • Mustang Memorial Field
  • San Luis Obispo, CA
ESPN+W 24–179,263
November 41:00 p.m.at Eastern Washington
ESPN+L 13–484,345
November 112:00 p.m.at No. 9 Sacramento State
ESPN+L 30–4112,022
November 185:05 p.m.Weber State
  • Mustang Memorial Field
  • San Luis Obispo, CA
ESPN+L 21–484,829
  • *Non-conference game
  • Homecoming
  • Rankings from STATS Poll released prior to the game
  • All times are in Pacific time

[1][2][3]

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.[4]

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.[5]

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 34Total
Mustangs 0 3 003
Spartans 17 21 21059

at CEFCU Stadium, San Jose, CA

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 34Total
No. 3 Vandals 7 21 7742
Mustangs 0 7 0714

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

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 34Total
Mustangs 10 13 7030
No. 9 Hornets 14 17 7341

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
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 16 Kian Salehi Fr
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, DB 23 Budha Boyd Fr
WR 24 Reed Shumpert  So
WR 25 Thomas Hartanov Fr
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 Parra 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
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
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

References

  1. ^ "Cal Poly Mustangs Schedule 2023". ESPN. Retrieved September 28, 2024.
  2. ^ "2023 Cal Poly Football Schedule". Cal Poly Athletics. Retrieved September 28, 2024.
  3. ^ "History (1915–2023)" (PDF). Cal Poly Athletics. p. 27. Retrieved May 26, 2025.
  4. ^ "Montana State Tabbed Preseason Football Favorites". July 25, 2021. Retrieved July 26, 2023.
  5. ^ "Meyer Selected to Big Sky Preseason All-Conference Team". July 24, 2023. Retrieved July 26, 2023.
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