The Cal Poly football team will make its 2025 Big Sky Conference debut at home against Sacramento State. Kickoff is slated for Saturday at 6 p.m.

Both teams are 2-2. The game will be telecast on ESPN+. Live links to the game, as well as behind the scenes content for Cal Poly football, will be available on the Cal Poly website.

Cal Poly and Sacramento State have both played competition at a widely varying level. The homestanding Mustangs’ wins have come against San Diego, a fellow NCAA Division 1 FCS team that plays in a smaller league, the Pioneer League, and NCAA Division 2 member Western Oregon.

The Mustangs lost 63-9 against FBC member Utah and 35-17 at Stephen F. Austin last week. The Lumberjacks have been among teams getting votes in FCS polling.

The Hornets lost to FBC members South Dakota State and Nevada then defeated FCS members Mercyhurst and Central Arkansas. Mercyhurst made the move to NCAA Division 1 during the 2024-25 school year. Central Arkansas is a member of the smaller United Athletic Conference, which opened play in 2023.

Both of Cal Poly’s top two quarterbacks have healthy ratings. Pitt transfer Ty Dieffenbach has thrown for 579 yards, with five touchdown passes and one interception. Anthony Grigsby Jr. has passed for 282 yards, with two touchdown passes and one interception.

Dieffenbach has a rating of 196.2. Grigsby has a rating of 140.27.

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Dieffenbach has rushed for 89 yards this year. That is the leading Cal Poly individual rushing total so far this season.

Michael Briscoe is by far Cal Poly’s leading receiver, with 20 catches for 428 yards and seven touchdowns.

Damian Henderson II leads a Hornets ground game that averages just under 200 yards a game. Henderson averages 64.5 yards a game rushing and has rushed for four touchdowns.

Sacramento State quarterback Cardell Williams has stats and a rating similar to Dieffenbach’s. Williams has thrown for 586 yards, with four touchdown passes and one interception. His rating is 185.15.

None of the Hornets receivers has big stats, but Sacramento State averages nearly 200 yards a game through the air.  

The Hornets defense has been fairly solid. Sacramento State yields an average of 16 points a game. The quality of the Cal Poly defense has varied widely, depending on the quality of the opposing offense the Mustangs have faced.