Cal Poly stuns Idaho in opener with long fourth-down touchdown

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Aug. 29—SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. — It appeared as if Idaho would wrap up a memorable rally and open its season on a high note. Instead, Cal Poly broke the Vandals' hearts on an incredible play in the final seconds.

Mustangs quarterback Anthony Grigsby Jr. rolled right and threw up a prayer on fourth-and-8 from the Idaho 34-yard-line, and Cal Poly receiver Tayvion McCoy outmatched his defender and brought down a miraculous, go-ahead touchdown reception with nine seconds left, handing the Vandals a 38-34 Big Sky Conference loss on Friday night in front of a record crowd at Mustang Memorial Field.

Cal Poly jumped out to a 14-3 lead in the second quarter, spurred by stellar play from Grigsby, but the Vandals regrouped after halftime and chipped away at the deficit, eventually tying the score early in the fourth quarter. Idaho quarterback Joshua Wood connected with Ryan Jezioro for a 65-yard reception, then hit Tony Harste for a 5-yard TD on the next play. After a successful 2-point conversion, the score was tied 24-all.

The Mustangs missed a field goal on the ensuing possession, then Wood dropped a perfect pass to Harste for a 75-yard TD to give Idaho its first lead. It didn't last long, as Grigsby responded with a 15-yard scoring run with 2:16 remaining.

Wood had seemingly produced a game-winner when he dropped a 43-yard pass to Zack Card, setting up a 40-yard Owen Forsman field goal to take the lead with 1:03 to play, but the Mustangs answered on the first play of their next drive with a 41-yard completion to McCoy. With Cal Poly out of field-goal range a few plays later, Grigsby was forced to throw one up to his top receiver, who finished with 170 yards.

Grigsby completed 26 of 35 passes for 319 yards and four touchdowns, and the Mustangs outgained Idaho 516-482 in all.

Wood went 18 of 25 for 363 yards and two TD passes, adding 42 rushing yards. Harste showed star potential, piling up 180 yards and two TDs on nine catches.

The Vandals defense struggled for much of the night to contain a Cal Poly team that suddenly has new life under first-year coach Tim Skipper, whose Mustangs produced 14 plays of 15 or more yards and averaged 6.6 yards per play. Idaho settled in during the second half, but its defense stumbled badly in the waning moments and second-year coach Thomas Ford Jr. is now facing a difficult task of getting the Vandals back on track to compete in the conference after taking their first-ever loss to the Mustangs, who have been one of the Big Sky's worst teams in recent memory.

It doesn't get any easier for Idaho, which travels to face power-conference foe Utah on Thursday.

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