2018 Cal Poly Mustangs football team

The 2018 Cal Poly Mustangs football team represented California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo as member of the Big Sky Conference during the 2018 NCAA Division I FCS football season. Led by tenth-year head coach Tim Walsh, Cal Poly compiled an overall record of 5–6 with a mark of 4–4 in conference play, tying for sixth place in the Big Sky. The Mustangs played home games at Mustang Stadium in San Luis Obispo, California.

2018 Cal Poly Mustangs football
Conference	Big Sky Conference
Record	5–6 (4–4 Big Sky)
Head coach	Tim Walsh (10th season)
Offensive coordinator	Jim Craft (2nd season)
Offensive scheme	Spread triple-option
Defensive coordinator	Josh Brown (7th season)
Base defense	3–4
Home stadium	Alex G. Spanos Stadium
Seasons ← 2017 2019 →

2018 Big Sky Conference football standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 6 Weber State +^		7	–	1					10	–	3
No. 2 Eastern Washington +^		7	–	1					12	–	3
No. 7 UC Davis +^		7	–	1					10	–	3
No. 17 Montana State ^		5	–	3					8	–	5
Idaho State		5	–	3					6	–	5
Montana		4	–	4					6	–	5
Cal Poly		4	–	4					5	–	6
Northern Arizona		3	–	4					4	–	6
Portland State		3	–	5					4	–	7
Idaho		3	–	5					4	–	7
Northern Colorado		2	–	6					2	–	9
Southern Utah		1	–	7					1	–	10
Sacramento State		0	–	7					2	–	8
$ – Conference champion ^ – FCS playoff participant Although North Dakota was classified as an independent, games against them still counted as Big Sky Conference games. Rankings from STATS Poll

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 1	12:30 p.m.	at No. 1 North Dakota State*	Fargodome Fargo, ND	ESPN+	L 3–49	18,483
September 8	6:05 p.m.	No. 10 Weber State*	Alex G. Spanos Stadium San Luis Obispo, CA	Pluto TV 244	L 17–24	6,020
September 14	7:05 p.m.	Brown*	Alex G. Spanos Stadium San Luis Obispo, CA	Pluto TV 244	W 44–15	7,725
September 22	1:05 p.m.	at No. 6 Eastern Washington	Roos Field Cheney, WA	Pluto TV 234	L 17–70	9,156
September 29	4:05 p.m.	No. 17 Montana	Alex G. Spanos Stadium San Luis Obispo, CA	ELVN	L 28–48	7,157
October 6	6:00 p.m.	at Sacramento State	Hornet Stadium Sacramento, CA	Pluto TV 233	W 41–27	8,930
October 20	4:05 p.m.	No. 10 UC Davis	Alex G. Spanos Stadium San Luis Obispo, CA (Battle for the Golden Horseshoe)	Pluto TV 244	L 10–52	8,503
October 27	4:00 p.m.	at Northern Arizona	Walkup Skydome Flagstaff, AZ	Pluto TV 239	W 38–28	6,102
November 3	1:00 p.m.	at Montana State	Bobcat Stadium Bozeman, MT	SWX	L 42–49	16,747
November 10	4:05 p.m.	No. 24 Idaho State	Alex G. Spanos Stadium San Luis Obispo, CA	Pluto TV 244	W 37–14	5,250
November 17	4:05 p.m.	Southern Utah	Alex G. Spanos Stadium San Luis Obispo, CA	Pluto TV 244	W 38–24	4,520
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from STATS Poll released prior to the game All times are in Pacific time

The game with Weber State, fellow Big Sky Conference member, on September 8 was considered a non-conference game and had no effect on the Big Sky standings.^[1][2][3]

Preseason

Polls

On July 16, 2018 during the Big Sky Kickoff in Spokane, Washington, the Mustangs were predicted to finish in tenth place in the coaches poll and eleventh place in the media poll.^[4]

Preseason All-Conference Team

The Mustangs had one player selected to the Preseason All-Conference Team.^[5]

Joe Protheroe – Sr. FB

Game summaries

At North Dakota State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Mustangs	3	0	0	0	3
No. 1 Bison	7	21	14	7	49

See also: 2018 North Dakota State Bison football team

Weber State

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 10 Wildcats	7	3	7	7	24
Mustangs	0	3	7	7	17

See also: 2018 Weber State Wildcats football team

Brown

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bears	0	15	0	0	15
Mustangs	3	21	13	7	44

See also: 2018 Brown Bears football team

At Eastern Washington

	1	2	3	4	Total
Mustangs	3	7	7	0	17
No. 6 Eagles	14	21	14	21	70

See also: 2018 Eastern Washington Eagles football team

Montana

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 17 Grizzlies	17	14	10	7	48
Mustangs	0	7	14	7	28

See also: 2018 Montana Grizzlies football team

At Sacramento State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Mustangs	14	7	6	14	41
Hornets	14	0	3	10	27

See also: 2018 Sacramento State Hornets football team

UC Davis

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 10 Aggies	0	31	7	14	52
Mustangs	10	0	0	0	10

See also: 2018 UC Davis Aggies football team and Battle for the Golden Horseshoe

At Northern Arizona

	1	2	3	4	Total
Mustangs	0	28	10	0	38
Lumberjacks	7	0	7	14	28

See also: 2018 Northern Arizona Lumberjacks football team

At Montana State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Mustangs	7	7	7	21	42
Bobcats	14	14	14	7	49

See also: 2018 Montana State Bobcats football team

At Idaho State

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 24 Bengals	0	7	7	0	14
Mustangs	3	10	7	17	37

See also: 2018 Idaho State Bengals football team

Southern Utah

	1	2	3	4	Total
Thunderbirds	14	7	0	3	24
Mustangs	0	21	7	10	38

See also: 2018 Southern Utah Thunderbirds football team