MSU football blows past Cal Poly

MSU cruised to a 59-19 win over the Cal Poly (CP) Mustangs this past Saturday. Notable in the ‘Cats dominating victory was the return of junior quarterback Tommy Mellott and the long-anticipated breakout of junior wide receiver Ty McCullouch, who joined the Bobcats as a transfer from Colorado State University in Fort Collins this past January.

The Mustangs came into the Oct. 14 contest with a 2-4 record — the lower than desirable mark being a casualty of what’s been a tough schedule through this point of the season. However, CP Head Coach Paul Wulff had beaten MSU in his last five matchups against the team. 

Both teams exchanged three-and-out drives to open the game but McCullouch provided a spark on his first punt return of the night. Returning the ball for 65 yards and a score, McCullouch flashed his wheels and opened the scoring 7-0 in favor of the ‘Cats. 

This was just a glimpse of what was to come for McCullouch, who would finish the game with 119 receiving yards. Such a statline easily catapulted him into the team lead for receiving yards per game, with 66.5. McCullouch started the year on the injury list, sitting out the first four ‘Cat games before making what was a largely pedestrian debut against Portland State. 

“I was a little antsy. It probably showed in the way I was playing, but I was excited,” McCullouch said about his breakthrough performance on Saturday. 

“He’s got that extra gear,” Head Coach Brent Vigen said about McCullouch, “We were pleased to get a little more out of him both on the receiving side of things and with the big punt return to really get things going.” 

The Bobcats didn’t take their foot of the gas for the rest of the game. The CP defensive unit looked hapless against a much quicker MSU squad, as their secondary — the cornerbacks and safeties — simply seemed unable to keep up. As a result, the Bobcat aerial attack was on point. In his return to action, Tommy Mellott was 7-9 through the air with a pair of touchdowns to boot. The ground game was similarly potent, with the ‘Cats combining for 335 total rushing yards.

Equally as impressive as the ‘Cats’ offensive efforts was the defensive side of things. Vigen’s teams have historically established themselves as run-stoppers and this trademark ability was on full display Saturday. CP was held to an astonishingly low 14 total rush yards in the first half. 

Granted, the Mustangs rank dead last in the conference in rushing yards per game, but still, 14 yards in a half is a downright embarrassing number. 

“We wanna run it, we did that, we wanna be able to stop it. It takes an effort that’s certainly about guys making plays, but they also have to have trust in one another to be in the right spot,” Vigen said about the team’s run defense thus far into the season. 

The Bobcats play at Sacramento State and University of Idaho the next two weekends.