2012 Cal Poly Mustangs football team

2012 Cal Poly Mustangs football
2012 Cal Poly Mustangs football
Big Sky co-champion
NCAA Division I Second Round, L 16–18 vs. Sam Houston State
Conference	Big Sky Conference
Ranking
Sports Network	No. 12
FCS Coaches	No. 12
Record	9–3 (7–1 Big Sky)
Head coach	Tim Walsh (4th season);
Co-offensive coordinators	Brian Cook (4th season); Saga Tuitele (4th season);
Offensive scheme	Spread triple-option
Defensive coordinator	Josh Brown (1st season)
Base defense	Multiple 4–3
Home stadium	Alex G. Spanos Stadium

2012 Big Sky Conference football standings

Team	W		L	W		L
No. 4 Eastern Washington +^	7	–	1	11	–	3
No. 5 Montana State +^	7	–	1	11	–	2
No. 12 +^	7	–	1	9	–	3
No. 20 Northern Arizona	6	–	2	8	–	3
Sacramento State	4	–	4	6	–	5
Northern Colorado	4	–	4	5	–	6
Southern Utah	4	–	4	5	–	6
North Dakota	3	–	5	5	–	6
Montana	3	–	5	5	–	6
UC Davis	3	–	5	4	–	7
Portland State	2	–	6	3	–	8
Weber State	2	–	6	2	–	9
Idaho State	0	–	8	1	–	10

$ – Conference champion ^ – FCS playoff participant Rankings from The Sports Network poll

The 2012 Cal Poly Mustangs football team represented California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo as member of the Big Sky Conference during the 2012 NCAA Division I FCS football season. Led by fourth-year head coach Tim Walsh, Cal Poly compiled an overall record of 9–3 with a mark of 7–1 in conference play, sharing the Big Sky title Eastern Washington and Montana State. The Mustangs received an at-large big to the NCAA Division I Football Championship, where after a first-round bye, they lost to Sam Houston State in the second round.^[1] The team played home games at Alex G. Spanos Stadium in San Luis Obispo, California.

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 1	4:05 pm	San Diego*		Alex G. Spanos Stadium San Luis Obispo, CA	Big Sky TV	W 41–14	6,022
September 15	3:00 pm	at Wyoming*		War Memorial Stadium Laramie, WY		W 24–22	21,728
September 22	6:05 pm	UC Davis		Alex G. Spanos Stadium San Luis Obispo, CA (Battle for the Golden Horseshoe)	KSBY, Big Sky TV	W 28–20	11,075
September 29	4:00 pm	at North Dakota	No. 23	Alerus Center Grand Forks, ND	Midco Sports Net, Big Sky TV	W 35–17	9,531
October 5	5:00 pm	at Weber State	No. 20	Stewart Stadium Ogden, UT	Big Sky TV	W 45–23	5,939
October 13	6:05 pm	Northern Colorado	No. 15	Alex G. Spanos Stadium San Luis Obispo, CA	KSBY, Big Sky TV	W 56–28	9,382
October 20	6:05 pm	Portland State	No. 14	Alex G. Spanos Stadium San Luis Obispo, CA	KSBY, Big Sky TV	W 37–25	10,025
October 27	6:05 pm	at Sacramento State	No. 11	Hornet Stadium Sacramento, CA	Big Sky TV	L 29–35	8,113
November 3	1:35 pm	at No. 7 Eastern Washington*	No. 16	Roos Field Cheney, WA	Big Sky TV	L 17–34	8,644
November 10	6:05 pm	Idaho State	No. 19	Alex G. Spanos Stadium San Luis Obispo, CA	KSBY, Big Sky TV	W 70–14	6,326
November 17	3:05 pm	at No. 15 Northern Arizona	No. 17	Walkup Skydome Flagstaff, AZ	Big Sky TV	W 42–34	6,119
December 1	1:00 pm	at No. 5 Sam Houston State*	No. 12	Bowers Stadium Huntsville, TX (NCAA Division I Second Round)	ESPN3	L 16–18	7,073
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from The Sports Network Poll released prior to the game All times are in Pacific time

The game against Eastern Washington, fellow Big Sky member, on November 3 was considered a non-conference game and had no effect on the Big Sky standings.^[2]^[3]^[4]

Game summaries

San Diego

	1	2	3	4	Total
Toreros	0	7	7	0	14
Mustangs	10	3	7	21	41

@ Wyoming

	1	2	3	4	Total
Mustangs	14	0	7	3	24
Cowboys	0	15	0	7	22

UC Davis

	1	2	3	4	Total
Aggies	10	0	0	10	20
Mustangs	7	7	14	0	28

@ North Dakota

	1	2	3	4	Total
#23 Mustangs	14	0	0	21	35
North Dakota	0	7	3	7	17

@ Weber State

	1	2	3	4	Total
#20 Mustangs	0	14	17	14	45
Wildcats	6	7	7	3	23

Northern Colorado

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bears	14	0	0	14	28
#15 Mustangs	14	14	14	14	56

Portland State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Vikings	14	3	8	0	25
#14 Mustangs	14	3	6	14	37

@ Sacramento State

	1	2	3	4	Total
#11 Mustangs	0	17	6	6	29
Hornets	7	21	0	7	35

@ Eastern Washington

	1	2	3	4	Total
#16 Mustangs	3	7	0	7	17
#7 Eagles	14	10	7	3	34

Idaho State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bengals	0	7	7	0	14
#19 Mustangs	28	14	14	14	70

@ Northern Arizona

	1	2	3	4	Total
#17 Mustangs	14	7	14	7	42
#15 Lumberjacks	7	6	7	14	34

@ Sam Houston State–NCAA Division I Second Round

	1	2	3	4	Total
#12 Mustangs	0	0	6	10	16
#5 Bearkats	0	8	7	3	18

References

^ Turner, Ronnie (December 1, 2012). "Sam Houston State advances with sloppy win". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved February 6, 2024.
^ "Cal Poly Mustangs Schedule 2012". ESPN. Retrieved September 28, 2024.
^ "2012 Football Schedule". Cal Poly Athletics. Retrieved September 28, 2024.
^ "History (1915–2023)" (PDF). Cal Poly Athletics. p. 26. Retrieved May 26, 2025.

[1] Turner, Ronnie (December 1, 2012). "Sam Houston State advances with sloppy win". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved February 6, 2024.

[2] "Cal Poly Mustangs Schedule 2012". ESPN. Retrieved September 28, 2024.

[3] "2012 Football Schedule". Cal Poly Athletics. Retrieved September 28, 2024.

[4] "History (1915–2023)" (PDF). Cal Poly Athletics. p. 26. Retrieved May 26, 2025.

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Cal Poly Mustangs football
Venues	Alex G. Spanos Stadium (1935–present)
Bowls & rivalries	UC Davis: Battle for the Golden Horseshoe
Culture & lore	Musty the Mustang "Ride High You Mustangs" Mustang Band Cal Poly football team C-46 crash
People	Head coaches NFL draftees
Seasons	1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943–1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025
National championship seasons in bold

Big Sky Conference football champions
College Division / Division II	Idaho State (1963) Montana State (1964) Weber State & Idaho (1965) Montana State (1966) Montana State (1967) Idaho, Montana State, & Weber State (1968) Montana (1969) Montana (1970) Idaho (1971) Montana State (1972) Boise State (1973) Boise State (1974) Boise State (1975) Montana State (1976) Boise State (1977)
I-AA/FCS	Northern Arizona (1978) Montana State (1979) Boise State (1980) Idaho State (1981) Montana, Idaho, & Montana State (1982) Nevada (1983) Montana State (1984) Idaho (1985) Nevada (1986) Idaho (1987) Idaho (1988) Idaho (1989) Nevada (1990) Nevada (1991) Idaho & Eastern Washington (1992) Montana (1993) Boise State (1994) Montana (1995) Montana (1996) Eastern Washington (1997) Montana (1998) Montana (1999) Montana (2000) Montana (2001) Montana, Montana State, & Idaho State (2002) Montana State, Montana, & Northern Arizona (2003) Montana & Eastern Washington (2004) Eastern Washington, Montana State, & Montana (2005) Montana (2006) Montana (2007) Weber State & Montana (2008) Montana (2009) Montana State & Eastern Washington (2010) Montana State & Montana (2011) Eastern Washington, Montana State, & (2012) Eastern Washington (2013) Eastern Washington (2014) Southern Utah (2015) Eastern Washington & North Dakota (2016) Southern Utah & Weber State (2017) Eastern Washington, UC Davis, & Weber State (2018) Sacramento State & Weber State (2019) Weber State (2020) Sacramento State (2021) Montana State & Sacramento State (2022) Montana (2023) Montana State (2024)
National championships in bold