2019 Cal Poly Mustangs football team

The 2019 Cal Poly Mustangs football team represented California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo as member of the Big Sky Conference during the 2019 NCAA Division I FCS football season. Led by Tim Walsh in his 11th and final season as head coach, Cal Poly compiled an overall record of 3–8 with a mark of 2–6 in conference play, placing in a five-way tie for ninth in the Big Sky. The Mustangs played home games at Mustang Stadium in San Luis Obispo, California.

2019 Cal Poly Mustangs football
Conference	Big Sky Conference
Record	3–8 (2–6 Big Sky)
Head coach	Tim Walsh (11th season)
Offensive coordinator	Jim Craft (3rd season)
Offensive scheme	Spread triple-option
Defensive coordinator	Josh Brown (8th season)
Base defense	3–4
Home stadium	Alex G. Spanos Stadium
Seasons ← 2018 2020 →

2019 Big Sky Conference football standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 3 Weber State +^		7	–	1					11	–	4
No. 9 Sacramento State +^		7	–	1					9	–	4
No. 4 Montana State ^		6	–	2					11	–	4
No. 6 Montana ^		6	–	2					10	–	4
Eastern Washington		6	–	2					7	–	5
Idaho		3	–	5					5	–	7
Portland State		3	–	5					5	–	7
UC Davis		3	–	5					5	–	7
Northern Arizona		2	–	6					4	–	8
Cal Poly		2	–	6					3	–	8
Idaho State		2	–	6					3	–	9
Southern Utah		2	–	6					3	–	9
Northern Colorado		2	–	6					2	–	10
+ – Conference co-champions ^ – 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

On November 25, Walsh announced his retirement. He finished his 11-year tenure at Cal Poly with a record of 59–66.^[1]

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
August 31	2:05 p.m.	San Diego*	Alex G. Spanos Stadium San Luis Obispo, CA	Pluto TV	W 52–34	5,779	[2]
September 7	5:00 p.m.	at No. 7 Weber State*	Stewart Stadium Ogden, UT	Pluto TV	L 24–41	8,792	[3]
September 14	1:15 p.m.	at Oregon State*	Reser Stadium Corvallis, OR	P12N	L 7–45	33,585	[4]
September 28	5:05 p.m.	at Southern Utah	Eccles Coliseum Cedar City, UT	Pluto TV	W 24–21	7,741	[5]
October 5	5:05 p.m.	No. 6 Montana State	Alex G. Spanos Stadium San Luis Obispo, CA	Pluto TV	L 28–34 OT	8,236	[6]
October 12	4:05 p.m.	at No. 24 UC Davis	UC Davis Health Stadium Davis, CA (Battle for the Golden Horseshoe)	Eleven	L 24–48	11,194	[7]
October 19	5:05 p.m.	North Dakota	Alex G. Spanos Stadium San Luis Obispo, CA	Pluto TV	L 26–30	5,186	[8]
October 26	5:05 p.m.	No. 7 Sacramento State	Alex G. Spanos Stadium San Luis Obispo, CA	Pluto TV	L 14–38	7,032	[9]
November 2	2:05 p.m.	at Idaho	Kibbie Dome Moscow, ID	Pluto TV	L 9–21	6,424	[10]
November 16	5:05 p.m.	Eastern Washington	Alex G. Spanos Stadium San Luis Obispo, CA	Pluto TV	L 41–42	6,582	[11]
November 23	11:05 a.m.	at Northern Colorado	Nottingham Field Greeley, CO	Pluto TV	W 28–21	2,854
*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 7 was considered a non-conference game and had no effect on the Big Sky standings.^[12][13][14]

Preseason

Big Sky preseason poll

The Big Sky released their preseason media and coaches' polls on July 15, 2019. The Mustangs were picked to finish in ninth place in both polls.^[15]

Media poll

Predicted finish	Team	Votes (1st place)
1	Eastern Washington	536 (25)
2	UC Davis	510 (13)
3	Weber State	472 (4)
4	Montana State	417
5	Montana	396 (1)
6	Northern Arizona	302
7	Idaho State	285
8	Idaho	248
9	Cal Poly	196
10	Portland State	178
11	Southern Utah	160
12	Sacramento State	125
13	Northern Colorado	90

Coaches poll

Predicted finish	Team	Votes (1st place)
1	Eastern Washington	140 (10)
2	UC Davis	127 (2)
3	Weber State	124
4	Montana	104 (1)
5	Montana State	100
6	Northern Arizona	88
7	Idaho State	72
8	Idaho	65
9	Cal Poly	56
10	Portland State	42
11	Sacramento State	40
12	Southern Utah	38
13	Northern Colorado	19

Preseason All–Big Sky team

The Mustangs did not have any players selected to the preseason all-Big Sky team.^[16]

Game summaries

San Diego

	1	2	3	4	Total
Toreros	14	0	7	13	34
Mustangs	14	24	14	0	52

See also: 2019 San Diego Toreros football team

At Weber State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Mustangs	3	7	7	7	24
No. 7 Wildcats	3	14	14	10	41

See also: 2019 Weber State Wildcats football team

At Oregon State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Mustangs	7	0	0	0	7
Beavers	21	17	7	0	45

See also: 2019 Oregon State Beavers football team

At Southern Utah

	1	2	3	4	Total
Mustangs	3	14	0	7	24
Thunderbirds	0	7	6	8	21

See also: 2019 Southern Utah Thunderbirds football team

Montana State

	1	2	3	4	OT	Total
No. 6 Bobcats	0	14	14	0	6	34
Mustangs	7	0	0	21	0	28

See also: 2019 Montana State Bobcats football team

At UC Davis

	1	2	3	4	Total
Mustangs	0	10	7	7	24
No. 24 Aggies	24	10	0	14	48

See also: 2019 UC Davis Aggies football team and Battle for the Golden Horseshoe

North Dakota

	1	2	3	4	Total
Fighting Hawks	0	7	14	9	30
Mustangs	3	14	6	3	26

See also: 2019 North Dakota Fighting Hawks football team

Sacramento State

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 7 Hornets	0	17	7	14	38
Mustangs	0	0	7	7	14

See also: 2019 Sacramento State Hornets football team

At Idaho

	1	2	3	4	Total
Mustangs	3	0	0	6	9
Vandals	0	7	7	7	21

See also: 2019 Idaho Vandals football team

Eastern Washington

	1	2	3	4	Total
Eagles	14	14	7	7	42
Mustangs	0	14	14	13	41

See also: 2019 Eastern Washington Eagles football team

At Northern Colorado

	1	2	3	4	Total
Mustangs	0	7	7	14	28
Bears	7	7	7	0	21

See also: 2019 Northern Colorado Bears football team