A record-high attendance, tons of action, and a Mustang win is how Cal Poly football kicked off its season, along with the team’s first nationally televised home football game.
Weve been working since January and to finally get to game day and play against somebody else was awesome,” said Head Coach Tim Skipper.
The Mustangs faced the Idaho Vandals in a back-and-forth game, coming down to the final seconds with a big time pass from quarterback Anthony Grigsby Jr. to Tayvion McCoy.
A defender can only block how big his body is when his back is turned, so I just kind of threw a back shoulder ball to Tay and he really just made the play, so kudos to him, Grigsby Jr. said.
Skipper told KSBY News under pressure plays are not new to them.
We practice last plays all the time, like stuff we got to do to win it,” Skipper said. “You could be at the 10, 20-yard line, 30, whatever. In that case we were at 4th and 8, passed outside the 30-yard line and we had a play that we ran in practice before and we executed it to perfection.
That play sealed the deal for Cal Poly and brought the crowd out of the stands.
Everything leading up to this with it being on ESPN, with it being a Big Sky game, with it being a home opener and the first time weve had this many fans in the stadium, it was just icing on the cake. It felt like a movie and it was amazing,” Grigsby Jr. said.
Grigsby Jr. earned Big Sky “Player of the Week” honors for his performance last week, passing for 319 yards and four touchdowns and 67 rushing yards with one run to the end zone for himself.
Yes, its me getting the player honor, but without my o-line, without my receivers, without my running backs around me and everybody in the coaching staff, I wouldnt have got there, so Im grateful for that, Grigsby Jr. said.
You have to defend him at all not only through the air but also with his run game stuff,” Skipper said. “So, hes a deadly weapon for us, somebody were going to use all season long.”
And the Mustangs have the opportunity to earn back-to-back wins to begin their season, something that hasnt been done since 2012, but theyre attacking it with a specific mentality.
Im a 1-0 mentality type guy, so this is the biggest game right now because this is the game of the week,” Skipper said. “So, were attacking it, going at it full steam ahead, and as long as were 1-0 after the game, Im good to go.
The Mustangs will play at home against Central Washington Saturday with kickoff at 5 p.m.