1998 Cal Poly Mustangs football team

The 1998 Cal Poly Mustangs football team represented California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo as an independent during the 1998 NCAA Division I-AA football season. Led by second-year head coach Larry Welsh, Cal Poly compiled a record of 3–8.^[1] The team was outscored by its opponents 299 to 226 for the season. The Mustangs played home games at Mustang Stadium in San Luis Obispo, California..

1998 NCAA Division I-AA independents football standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
Morehead State		–		9	–	2
Davidson		–		8	–	2
No. 20 Hofstra		–		8	–	3
No. 22 South Florida		–		8	–	3
No. 19 Western Kentucky		–		7	–	4
Samford		–		6	–	5
Liberty		–		5	–	6
Southern Utah		–		5	–	6
Austin Peay		–		4	–	7
Buffalo		–		4	–	7
Jacksonville		–		4	–	5
La Salle		–		3	–	6
Cal Poly		–		3	–	8
Charleston Southern		–		3	–	8
Saint Mary's		–		2	–	8

Rankings from The Sports Network poll

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 5		Northern Arizona	Mustang Stadium San Luis Obispo, CA	L 0–9
September 12		at Sacramento State	Hornet Stadium Sacramento, CA	L 14–22	5,011	^[2]
September 19		at No. 11 Montana	Washington–Grizzly Stadium Missoula, MT	L 14–37	17,325	^[3]
September 26		Saint Mary's	Mustang Stadium San Luis Obispo, CA	W 35–13
October 3		No. 7 (D-II) UC Davis	Mustang Stadium San Luis Obispo, CA (rivalry)	L 24–34
October 17	11:30 a.m.	at Northern Iowa	UNI-Dome Cedar Falls, IA	L 7–31	13,117
October 24		Western New Mexico	Mustang Stadium San Luis Obispo, CA	W 36–17
October 31		at Portland State	Civic Stadium Portland, OR	L 34–41	5,337	^[4]
November 7		at Southern Utah	Eccles Coliseum Cedar City, UT	L 17–27
November 14		at Nevada	Mackay Stadium Reno, NV	L 0–63	16,828	^[5]
November 21		Liberty	Mustang Stadium San Luis Obispo, CA	W 45–35		^[6]
Rankings from The Sports Network Poll released prior to the game All times are in Pacific time

↑ "Independents". St. Louis Post-Dispatch (St. Louis, Missouri). November 30, 1998. p. B7. Retrieved February 17, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
↑ "Sac State rushes to second victory". The Sacramento Bee. September 13, 1998. Retrieved July 19, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
↑ Montana Grizzlies Media Guide Archived July 31, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
↑ "Portland State 41, Cal Poly 34". The Missoulian. November 1, 1998. p. 29. Retrieved November 28, 2023.
↑ "Nevada Information Guide" (PDF). p. 130. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 14, 2016. Retrieved February 14, 2017.
↑ "Cal Poly–San Luis Obispo 45, Liberty 35". The Roanoke Times. November 22, 1998. Retrieved April 7, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
↑ "History (1915–2023)" (PDF). Cal Poly Athletics. p. 26. Retrieved May 26, 2025.