2008 Cal Poly Mustangs football team

The 2008 Cal Poly Mustangs football team represented California Polytechnic State University[note 1] during the 2008 NCAA Division I FCS football season.

2008 Cal Poly Mustangs football
GWC champion
FCS 1st Round, L 35–49 vs. Weber State
Conference	Great West Conference
Ranking
STATS	No. 3 (The Sports Network)
2008 record	8–3 (3–0 GWC)
Head coach	Rich Ellerson (8th season)
Offensive coordinator	Ian Shields (3rd season)
Home stadium	Mustang Stadium (Capacity: 8,500)

2008 Great West Conference football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 10 Cal Poly $^		3	–	0					8	–	3
UC Davis		2	–	1					5	–	7
North Dakota		1	–	2					6	–	4
South Dakota		1	–	2					6	–	5
Southern Utah		1	–	3					4	–	7
$ – Conference champion ^ – FCS playoff participant Rankings from The Sports Network poll

Cal Poly competed in the Great West Conference (GWC). The conference had previously been called the Great West Football Conference, but the new name reflected the addition of sports other than football to the conference. The 2008 Mustangs were led by eighth-year head coach Rich Ellerson and played home games at Mustang Stadium in San Luis Obispo, California. The team finished the season as champion of the GWC, with a regular season record of eight wins and two losses (8–2, 3–0 GWC).

At the end of the season, the Mustangs qualified for the Football Championship Division (FCS) playoffs. In the first playoff game they were defeated by Weber State. That brought their final record to eight wins and three losses (8–3, 3–0 GWC). The Mustangs averaged 44 points a game, outscoring their opponents 488–292 for the season. This was the final season for Rich Ellerson as head coach. In his eight seasons the Mustangs compiled a record of 56–34, a winning percentage of .622 .

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	Result	Attendance
August 30	at San Diego State*	No. 14	Qualcomm Stadium San Diego	W 29–27	26,851
September 6	No. 5 Montana*	No. 11	Mustang Stadium San Luis Obispo, California	L 28–30	10,035
September 13	at No. 8 McNeese State*	No. 14	Cowboy Stadium Lake Charles, Louisiana	Game Cancelled
September 20	at Northwestern State*	No. 13	Harry Turpin Stadium Natchitoches, Louisiana	W 52–18
October 4	South Dakota	No. 8	Mustang Stadium San Luis Obispo, California	W 49–22
October 18	at No. 21 South Dakota State*	No. 5	Coughlin–Alumni Stadium Brookings, South Dakota	W 42–28
October 25	Southern Utah	No. 6	Mustang Stadium San Luis Obispo, California	W 69–41
November 1	Idaho State*	No. 4	Mustang Stadium San Luis Obispo, California	W 49–10
November 8	North Carolina Central*	No. 3	Mustang Stadium San Luis Obispo, California	W 49–3
November 15	UC Davis	No. 3	Mustang Stadium San Luis Obispo, California (Rivalry)	W 51–28
November 22	at Wisconsin*	No. 3	Camp Randall Stadium Madison, Wisconsin	L 35–36 ^OT	80,709
*Non-conference game Rankings from Coaches' Poll released prior to the game

[1][2]

Team players in the NFL

The following Cal Poly Mustang players were selected in the 2009 NFL Draft.[3][4][5]

Player	Position	Round	Overall	NFL team
Ramses Barden	Wide receiver	3	85	New York Giants

Notes

1. The official name of Cal Poly is California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. However, it has been more commonly known as either Cal Poly San Luis Obispo or just Cal Poly since 1947. See: Cal Poly

References

1. "Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo Yearly Results". Retrieved January 12, 2017.
2. "Cal Poly Football; 2016 Media Guide". Retrieved January 12, 2017.
3. "2009 NFL Draft". Retrieved January 12, 2017.
4. "Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo Players/Alumni". Retrieved January 12, 2017.
5. "Draft History: Cal Poly – S.L.O." Retrieved March 18, 2017.