Cal Poly beats Eastern Washington 31-27

Cal Poly3-231
Eastern Washington1-427Final
Sat, Sep 26 · Roos Field, Cheney, Wash. · Crowd 5,320ESPN+

Cal Poly beat Eastern Washington 31-27.

We had Eastern Washington favored. Cal Poly won.

How it swung

The turning point: Grigsby 23-yd TD pass to McCoy, Cal Poly goes ahead 31-27 (Q4, 1:03). Cal Poly went from 33% to 69% to win.

Before kickoff, our ratings gave Cal Poly a 45% chance, and the closing betting line (Cal Poly was a 3.5-point underdog) put it at 39%.

Down to a 15% chance in the fourth quarter, Cal Poly still won.

Up to an 85% chance in the fourth quarter, Eastern Washington still lost.

FinalCal Poly 31-27 Eastern WashingtonCal Poly wonMove across the chart, or tap a numbered swing, to see any play.
50%25%75%90%Q1Q2Q3Q435% at halfCal PolyLowest 15%Won31-2712+19+36Scores
50%25%75%90%Q1Q2Q3Q435% at halfCal PolyLowest 15%Won31-2712Scores
50%10%25%75%Q1Q2Q3Q465% at halfCal PolyHigh 85%Lost27-3112−19−36Scores
50%10%25%75%Q1Q2Q3Q465% at halfCal PolyHigh 85%Lost27-3112Scores

The two plays that swung it

  1. 1Q1 12:12Grigsby 31-yd TD pass to Hall, Cal Poly goes ahead 7-0Cal Poly 40% → 59% (+19)
  2. 2Q4 1:03Grigsby 23-yd TD pass to McCoy, Cal Poly goes ahead 31-27Cal Poly 33% → 69% (+36)

The two plays that swung it

  1. 1Q1 12:12Grigsby 31-yd TD pass to Hall, Cal Poly goes ahead 7-0Eastern Washington 60% → 41% (−19)
  2. 2Q4 1:03Grigsby 23-yd TD pass to McCoy, Cal Poly goes ahead 31-27Eastern Washington 67% → 31% (−36)
Cal Poly’s chance to win after every play.
How to read this chartStarts from the pregame line (Eastern Washington -3.5), at 33% for Cal Poly (the play-by-play feed's kickoff number, moved to match the line; our model's and the betting line's own numbers are in “The betting line, and the fans”). Dots are the biggest swings; ticks under the chart are scores.

Every drive

Cal Poly scored on 5 of its 14 drives; Eastern Washington on 4 of its 15.

Cal Poly’s drives are teal, Eastern Washington’s amber. A line runs from where a drive started to where it ended; a filled dot means it scored.

own goalgoal lineQ1Cal Poly: Touchdown, from 70 yards out to 0TouchdownEastern Washington: Punt, from 75 yards out to 70PuntCal Poly: Punt, from 67 yards out to 65PuntEastern Washington: Punt, from 88 yards out to 83PuntCal Poly: Interception, from 51 yards out to 48InterceptionEastern Washington: Missed field goal, from 26 yards out to 22Missed FGCal Poly: Punt, from 78 yards out to 69PuntEastern Washington: Touchdown, from 62 yards out to 0TouchdownCal Poly: Interception, from 75 yards out to 70InterceptionEastern Washington: Missed field goal, from 30 yards out to 29Missed FGQ2Cal Poly: Fumble, from 17 yards out to 15FumbleEastern Washington: Touchdown, from 63 yards out to 0TouchdownCal Poly: Touchdown, from 75 yards out to 0TouchdownEastern Washington: Punt, from 77 yards out to 73PuntCal Poly: Turned over on downs, from 70 yards out to 28DownsEastern Washington: End of half, from 72 yards out to 85End of halfQ3Eastern Washington: Touchdown, from 81 yards out to 0TouchdownCal Poly: Punt, from 75 yards out to 69PuntEastern Washington: Punt, from 72 yards out to 69PuntCal Poly: Touchdown, from 58 yards out to 0TouchdownEastern Washington: Touchdown, from 15 yards out to 0TouchdownCal Poly: Field goal, from 79 yards out to 25Field goalEastern Washington: Punt, from 74 yards out to 53PuntCal Poly: Punt, from 89 yards out to 67PuntQ4Eastern Washington: Interception, from 80 yards out to 24InterceptionCal Poly: Punt, from 85 yards out to 70PuntEastern Washington: Punt, from 57 yards out to 49PuntCal Poly: Touchdown, from 70 yards out to 0TouchdownEastern Washington: End of game, from 70 yards out to 29End of game

From Eastern Washington’s side

Eastern Washington’s best moment: Bell 9-yd pass to Carlson (Q4 0:31). It lifted Eastern Washington’s win chance by 18 points.

6 lead changes. The winner fell to 11%.

Box score

Cal Poly 31, Eastern Washington 27

Cal Poly covered +3.5 by 7.5. The total, 58, stayed under 58.5.

Cal Poly leaders

  • Passing Anthony Grigsby Jr. 13 of 25, 163 yds, 2 TD, 2 INT
  • Rushing Jaden Green 28 for 269 yds, 2 TD; Trey Wilson 7 for 8 yds
  • Receiving Tayvion McCoy 5 for 69 yds, 1 TD; Don-Ray Hall Jr. 3 for 47 yds, 1 TD

Eastern Washington leaders

  • Passing Nate Bell 23 of 37, 253 yds, 2 TD, 2 INT
  • Rushing Kevin Allen III 15 for 49 yds, 1 TD; Jaxon Bell 7 for 29 yds
  • Receiving Jamai East 4 for 65 yds, 1 TD; David Cabrera 2 for 56 yds, 1 TD

Before kickoff

Recent games, the series and the betting line below are as they stood going in; the season profile is the season so far.

Recent games

Last 4 games

Cal Poly · 2-2

Rated 199th in our preseason ratings, 210th now.

2-2 in its last 4, including a 4-point win over Idaho as a 5.5-point underdog.

Last 4 games

Eastern Washington · 1-3

Rated 186th in our preseason ratings, 168th now, up 18 spots.

1-3 in its last 4 — but nothing on this résumé beats a top-40 team yet.

Week by week

Eastern Washington

Wk 1: L 27-34 at Northern Arizona▼7N. ArizonaWk 1: W 34-24 vs Northern Iowa▲10N. IowaWk 2: L 23-41 at South Dakota▼18South DakotaWk 3: L 16-48 at Washington▼32Washington
  • Wk 1Lat Northern Arizona27-34
  • Wk 1Wvs Northern Iowa34-24
  • Wk 2Lat South Dakota23-41
  • Wk 3Lat Washington16-48

Cal Poly

Wk 1: W 38-34 vs Idaho▲4IdahoWk 1: W 24-17 vs Central Washington▲7C. Washingt…Wk 2: L 20-30 at San José State▼10San José St.Wk 3: L 35-38 vs San Diego▼3San Diego
  • Wk 1Wvs Idaho38-34
  • Wk 1Wvs Central Washington24-17
  • Wk 2Lat San José State20-30
  • Wk 3Lvs San Diego35-38

Power rating by week

Eastern Washington is rated 1.9 points ahead as of week 3. Our power rating by week; higher is better.

-7-8-10Wk 0Wk 2Wk 3Eastern WashingtonCal Poly

The series

Eastern Washington leads the series 9-2

11 meetings since 2004 · Cal Poly won the last meeting

Eastern Washington wonCal Poly won2004: Eastern Washington by 172005: Cal Poly by 52011: Eastern Washington by 22013: Eastern Washington by 132015: Eastern Washington by 12016: Eastern Washington by 212018: Eastern Washington by 532019: Eastern Washington by 12022: Eastern Washington by 72023: Eastern Washington by 352025: Cal Poly by 920042025
  • 2025Cal Poly 43-34
  • 2023Eastern Washington 48-13
  • 2022Eastern Washington 17-10
  • 2019Eastern Washington 42-41
  • 2018Eastern Washington 70-17

Line, fans and home field

The betting line, and the fans

Our model and the betting line don’t fully agree on Eastern Washington’s chances here.

50-50Model 55% · Line 61%Cal PolyEastern Washington

Eastern Washington favored by 3.5 · Total 58.5

How games like this usually go

Eastern Washington by 3.5, on the usual path until 0:05 left in the fourth

50%90%Q1Q2Q3Q450%90%Q1Q2Q3Q4

Half of games8 in 10 gamesThis game

The band is where a favorite’s chance ran in the 377 games since 2025 with a favorite of 3.5 to 7.5 points.

The market

The spread moved 0.5 points toward Eastern Washington.

opened −3now −3.5

The total fell 1 point.

opened 59.5now 58.5

Spread: −3 → −3.5 · Total: 59.5 → 58.5

The books’ cut: 5.4%, the margin built into the odds

Home field

Eastern Washington has had no measurable home edge since 2018 — +0.2 points (±5.3), home against road — 3rd percentile of FBS.

0% at home, 17% on the road against FBS opponents (0-2 home, 2-10 away).

Our model gives every stadium the same flat 2.3-point home edge (why); the books use about 3. Against the closing line this stadium reads +4.3 at home vs. away over 55 games — inside the ±7.5 noise, so the flat number is the honest one here.

The visitors travel about 857 miles to get here.

Where next

Conference standings

Place in the conference, then conference record.