2016 Cal Poly Mustangs football team

2016 Cal Poly Mustangs football
FCS Playoffs First Round, L 21–35 vs. San Diego
Conference	Big Sky Conference
Ranking
STATS	No. 24
FCS Coaches	No. T–21
Record	7–5 (5–3 Big Sky)
Head coach	Tim Walsh (8th season)
Offensive coordinator	Saga Tuitele
Defensive coordinator	Josh Brown
Home stadium	Alex G. Spanos Stadium (Capacity: 11,075)

2016 Big Sky Conference football standings

	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 4 Eastern Washington +^		8	–	0					12	–	2
No. 12 North Dakota +^		8	–	0					9	–	3
No. 25 Weber State ^		6	–	2					7	–	5
No. 24 Cal Poly ^		5	–	3					7	–	5
Southern Utah		5	–	3					6	–	5
Northern Colorado		4	–	4					6	–	5
Northern Arizona		4	–	4					5	–	6
Montana		3	–	5					6	–	5
Montana State		2	–	6					4	–	7
Portland State		2	–	6					3	–	8
UC Davis		2	–	6					3	–	8
Sacramento State		2	–	6					2	–	9
Idaho State		1	–	7					2	–	9
$ – Conference champion ^ – FCS playoff participant Rankings from STATS Poll

The 2016 Cal Poly Mustangs football team represented California Polytechnic State University in the 2016 NCAA Division I FCS football season. The Mustangs were led by eighth-year head coach Tim Walsh and played their home games at Alex G. Spanos Stadium. They were members of the Big Sky Conference. They finished the season 7–5, 5–3 in Big Sky play to finish in a tie for fourth place. They received an at-large bid to the FCS Playoffs where they lost to San Diego in the first round.

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 3	6:30 PM	at Nevada*		Mackay Stadium Reno, NV	CI	L 27–30 OT	19,138
September 10	6:05 PM	San Diego*		Alex G. Spanos Stadium San Luis Obispo, CA	GoPoly	W 38–16	6,251
September 17	4:00 PM	at No. 9 South Dakota State*		Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium Brookings, SD	ESPN3	W 38–31	16,887
September 24	12:00 PM	No. 6 Montana		Alex G. Spanos Stadium San Luis Obispo, CA	RTNW	W 42–41	8,156
October 1	11:00 AM	at North Dakota	No. 16	Alerus Center Grand Forks, ND	Midco SN	L 24–31	10,097
October 15	2:30 PM	at Portland State	No. 19	Providence Park Portland, OR	GoPoly	W 55–35	4,019
October 22	6:05 PM	UC Davis	No. 17–T	Alex G. Spanos Stadium San Luis Obispo, CA (Battle for the Golden Horseshoe)	GoPoly	W 21–16	11,075
October 29	6:00 PM	at Sacramento State	No. 14	Hornet Stadium Sacramento, CA	GoPoly	W 59–47	5,334
November 5	6:05 PM	No. 3 Eastern Washington	No. 14	Alex G. Spanos Stadium San Luis Obispo, CA	GoPoly	L 21–42	9,722
November 12	11:00 AM	at Weber State	No. 16	Stewart Stadium Ogden, UT	KJZZ	L 15–22	7,821
November 19	6:05 PM	Northern Colorado	No. 21	Alex G. Spanos Stadium San Luis Obispo, CA	GoPoly	W 55–48	6,863
November 26	4:00 PM	No. 24 San Diego*	No. 21	Alex G. Spanos Stadium San Luis Obispo, CA (FCS Playoffs First Round)	ESPN3	L 21–35	3,356
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from STATS FCS Poll released prior to game Poll released prior to the game All times are in Pacific time

• Source: Official Schedule

Game summaries

at Nevada

	1	2	3	4	OT	Total
Mustangs	7	3	0	14	3	27
Wolf Pack	21	3	0	0	6	30

See also: 2016 Nevada Wolf Pack football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
3–6	1998	NEV, 63–0

San Diego

	1	2	3	4	Total
Toreros	0	13	0	3	16
Mustangs	10	7	14	7	38

See also: 2016 San Diego Toreros football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
4–0	2014	POLY, 34–3

at South Dakota State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Mustangs	7	10	0	21	38
#9 Jackrabbits	7	3	7	14	31

See also: 2016 South Dakota State Jackrabbits football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
5–3	2014	SDSU, 44–18

Montana

	1	2	3	4	Total
#6 Grizzlies	7	17	7	10	41
Mustangs	7	21	7	7	42

See also: 2016 Montana Grizzlies football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
4–15	2015	POLY, 20–19

at North Dakota

	1	2	3	4	Total
#16 Mustangs	0	7	7	10	24
Fighting Hawks	10	0	14	7	31

See also: 2016 North Dakota Fighting Hawks football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
5–5	2015	UND, 45–21

at Portland State

	1	2	3	4	Total
#19 Mustangs	13	14	14	14	55
Vikings	7	7	14	7	35

See also: 2016 Portland State Vikings football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
11–11	2015	PSU, 38–35

UC Davis

	1	2	3	4	Total
Aggies	6	3	0	7	16
#17–T Mustangs	0	7	7	7	21

See also: 2016 UC Davis Aggies football team and Battle for the Golden Horseshoe

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
19–20–2	2015	POLY, 55–38

at Sacramento State

	1	2	3	4	Total
#14 Mustangs	14	3	21	21	59
Hornets	7	14	0	26	47

See also: 2016 Sacramento State Hornets football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
19–16	2015	POLY, 36–14

Eastern Washington

	1	2	3	4	Total
#3 Eagles	14	7	14	7	42
#14 Mustangs	7	7	7	0	21

See also: 2016 Eastern Washington Eagles football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
2–6	2015	EWU, 42–41 OT

at Weber State

	1	2	3	4	Total
#16 Mustangs	0	7	8	0	15
Wildcats	12	3	0	7	22

See also: 2016 Weber State Wildcats football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
6–5	2014	POLY, 30–24

Northern Colorado

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bears	7	17	7	17	48
#21 Mustangs	21	13	7	14	55

See also: 2016 Northern Colorado Bears football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
6–5	2013	POLY, 42–14

FCS Playoffs

First Round–San Diego

	1	2	3	4	Total
#24 Toreros	14	0	7	14	35
#21 Mustangs	0	7	7	7	21

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
5–0	9/10/16	POLY, 38–16

Ranking movements

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked RV = Received votes т = Tied with team above or below

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	Final
STATS FCS	—	RV	RV	RV	16	21	19	17–T	14	14	16	21	21	24
Coaches	—	RV	RV	RV	18	22	20	18–T	17	16	20	23	20	21–T