Ex-Husky Huard Leads Cal Poly to 27-10 Victory in Debut

Sam Huard, the former University of Washington quarterback, had a successful Cal Poly debut on Saturday by throwing for 364 yards and a touchdown to lead the Mustangs to a 27-10 victory over San Diego.

Playing before a home crowd of 6,248 at Alex Spanos Stadium in San Luis Obispo, Huard made his first start in two seasons and completed 24 of 42 passes, including an 87-yarder to tight end Carlton Brown that set up a second-quarter score. 

He capped that series with a 1-yard TD pass to wide receiver Tyrece Fairly-Diyem for a 17-3 lead.

"We made a lot of great, explosive plays and had some big-time drives," said Huard, a 6-foot-2, 200-pound sophomore who spent two seasons at the UW and transferred to Cal Poly this past winter.

Wearing No. 7 in an all-green uniform, Huard committed just one glaring mistake in his Big Sky launch. His third-quarter screen pass was intercepted by San Diego's Ruben Lopez and returned 48 yards for a touchdown, cutting Cal Poly's lead to 17-10. 

Yet that was just a momentary setback for Huard, who helped generate 460 yards of total offense for his new team, which was 2-9 in 2022, including a loss to San Diego.

Next up for Huard, who is the son of former UW QB Damon Huard and nephew of ex-Husky QB Brock Huard, is a road game on Saturday at San Jose State, which opened with a 42-17 loss to Oregon State over the weekend in San Jose. 

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