The stats tell the tale

The stats from the Cal Poly football team’s 51-14 loss at North Dakota State on Saturday told the story.

The Good: The Mustangs opened with touchdowns on their first two drives, snapping a streak of six quarters without a touchdown. … Cal Poly tallied four first downs on the first two drives, which ended in Matt Brennan’s 7-yard touchdown pass to Justin Belcher and James Noble’s 2-yard touchdown run.

The Bad: Cal Poly added just two more first downs and allowed 51 unanswered points the rest of the way. … Brennan finished 3 of 8 for 15 yards passing. Noble had another rough game with 13 carries for 52 yards.

The Ugly: North Dakota State had 466 yards of offense, including 324 yards rushing as two backs surpassed the 100-yard mark against a Cal Poly defense that had allowed just one 100-yard rusher all season. … The Bison didn’t have to punt until 4 minutes into the fourth quarter. … Time of possession: NDSU 40:17, CP 19:43. … No. of plays: NDSU 68, CP 37. … Red-zone scoring opportunities: Both teams were perfect. Cal Poly was 2 of 2. The Bison were 6 of 6. ... We'll go ahead and stop right there.