A homecoming victory for USD

Toreros take down the University of Dayton, 36-34

Anderson Haigler / Sports Editor / The USD Vista

It wasn’t easy, and at times it wasn’t pretty, but the University of San Diego football team earned themselves a Homecoming Weekend win. Taking on the University of Dayton Flyers (3-4, 2-2 PFL), the Toreros faced their toughest Pioneer League opponent yet, battling for a narrow, 36-34 victory in a game that was marred by multiple gaffes on special teams. At times, the close game evoked shades of USD’s last home loss to a PFL team eight years and 31 games ago — a 21-20 defeat to the Flyers in October of 2010. This time around, though, the Toreros finished strong, sealing the conference win in the game’s final minute behind a gutsy performance from quarterback Anthony Lawrence. 

The victory unfolded in front of a crowd of many current, former, and perhaps future Toreros who were present for Homecoming Weekend. As has been the case for the majority of games this season, the USD Bull Pit was packed, with painted faces, signs, and vuvuzelas at the ready. They enjoyed fireworks both of the literal and metaphorical variety, as USD went all out with pregame pageantry and on-field efforts as they welcomed alumni back to Alcala Park. Food, fun, and festivities were in ready supply last Saturday at Torero Stadium, and the game itself certainly did not disappoint.

While they finished the game in decisive fashion, USD (4-2, 3-0 PFL) did not look like themselves early on. After Dayton won the pregame coin toss and opted to kick off to begin the contest, USD embarked on a 14-play, seven-minute drive that spanned 58 yards. With Lawrence connecting with his receivers, and sophomore running back Emilio Martinez darting through the Dayton defenders, it appeared to be business as usual for the Torero offense. How the drive concluded, though, was not. After a third and 12 incompletion from Lawrence, USD sent out their field goal team, with kicker Aedan Johnson set for the 34-yard try. The senior’s kick was blocked by Dayton’s Matt Rightnour, who quickly scooped up the ball after the deflection and ran for 13 yards before ducking out of bounds. The unsuccessful attempt made one thing clear — the Toreros were up against much more resistance than they encountered in their first two PFL games, which were decided by a combined 56 points in favor of USD.

The Flyers made the most of their possession. A quick, five-play march down the field punctuated by a 46-yard touchdown pass from Dayton’s Jack Cook gave the Flyers a 7-0 lead.

After taking back possession, the Toreros once again found quick success on offense. Lawrence and junior wide receiver Michael Bandy teamed up for 55 of the drive’s 56 total yards, but once again USD found themselves stymied by the Flyer defense, settling for their second field goal attempt of the day. Nearly identical to their first effort, Johnson set up yet again, this time for a 36-yard try. His second attempt of the day made it to the uprights, but went wide left, leaving the Toreros with nothing to show for their first two drives of the day, and a 7-0 deficit to overcome. 

As the first quarter wound down, the USD offense began to find their footing. A deep pass to redshirt first year Bennet Dondoyano propelled the Toreros 38 yards downfield, setting up an 11-yard touchdown completion to senior Christian Brooks, who dove into the right-hand corner of the end zone for the score. The drive, which began with 1:19 remaining in the first period and elapsed just 45 seconds, gave USD a chance to tie the score at seven, contingent on a successful kick for a converted point after. Instead, it would be yet another misstep for the Toreros on special teams. For the third time Saturday afternoon, Johnson missed a kick, this time watching his attempt get blocked by Flyers defensive end Dante Stefani. USD football head coach Dale Lindsey spoke about his team’s struggles with kicking. 

“The kicking game was atrocious when it comes to the eight points we left on the field,” Lindsey said. “It would’ve made a difference in the score down here. Good teams don’t do that, and we’re just lucky as hell to get away with a win from Dayton. Really, if you have three blocked kicks in the first quarter, you should lose the game.”

When the second quarter began, USD trailed by a 7-6 margin. 

That margin grew larger in the opening minutes of the second period. A rushing touchdown from Dayton’s Cook widened the Flyers’ lead to be 14-6, which would be their biggest of the game. 

When the Toreros took the ball back following Dayton’s score, they took control of the game as whole. Keeping with the theme of long passes on offense, Lawrence aired it out for another 60 passing yards en-route to a score, capping the drive with a 33-yard strike to redshirt tight end Cooper Hagmaier. The pass was set up as part of a trick play, with Lawrence first pitching the ball underhanded to sophomore running back Terrence Smith before Smith passed the ball back to his quarterback, who then found a wide-open Hagmaier. Seconds after the first year dashed into the end zone without a defender in sight, Johnson converted his first successful kick of the day, and USD was within one point of their opponent, chasing by a score of 14-13. The touchdown would be the first of 17 unanswered points by the Toreros. 

In a game that was often characterized by the Toreros’ own mistakes, one from their opponent afforded them a chance to take the lead. With just shy of seven minutes remaining in the second half, a fumble by Dayton off of a USD punt was recovered by redshirt senior linebacker Kim Mahoney on the Flyers’ two-yard line, placing the Toreros in a perfect position to take the lead. Mahoney explained the play after the game, quick to give credit to teammate Michael Hawkins, who blocked a Dayton player into the ball, causing the fumble.

“Obviously getting the ball at the two-yard line is a pretty good starting field position,” Mahoney said. “It was really all Mikey Hawkins. He made a smart football play blocking the other guy into the punt, and then I was able to scoop it up on the two.” 

USD quickly capitalized on their newfound possession. A quick sprint into the end zone for Martinez was good for a touchdown, and a 20-13 lead for the home team. The Toreros added on with a field goal from Johnson, and when the first half of play concluded, USD led 23-13. 

After several scoreless drives from both teams to begin the second half, Dayton broke through with a touchdown two-thirds of the way through the third quarter, cutting the Toreros’ lead to just two points and demonstrating that the Flyers were not out of the fight yet. The Toreros responded when Martinez broke free for a 29-yard rushing touchdown to move the score to 29-21 USD. The scoring continued for the Toreros when Lawrence targeted Bandy for a 74-yard score, with the junior weaving in and out of the Dayton defense after the catch, ultimately outrunning three defenders on his way to the end zone. With a comfortable 36-21 advantage and only 11 minutes remaining in the game, it appeared the Toreros may have created enough distance from the Flyers to secure the victory. However, USD was unable to hold off Dayton’s persistent efforts on offense, allowing an additional 13 points to the Flyers in the game’s final minutes. Lindsey assessed his team’s defensive efforts last Saturday.

“The defense was like an old car that needs new spark plugs,” Lindsey said. “They sputtered along, play good, play bad.”

The visiting team’s late-game comeback culminated in a 36-34 lead for the Toreros  as they stared down Dayton’s two-point conversion attempt with 2:44 to play. Nothing short of a stop would protect USD’s slim lead. As the Torero defense closed in on and pressured Dayton’s quarterback, he rolled right and lobbed a desperate pass as he was sacked. The last-chance effort was knocked to the ground by a pair of USD defenders, and the Toreros held strong and successfully defended their lead.  With less than three minutes remaining in the game, the Toreros took over on their own 45-yard line, and needed a lengthy drive to run time off the clock and minimize Dayton’s chances at a late-game comeback. The Toreros were able to do just that. A bold, 19-yard quarterback keeper by Lawrence that featured a brilliant spin move demonstrated an extraordinary amount of athleticism from the redshirt senior, and earned USD a much needed first down, allowing them to successfully maintain possession of the ball and run the remainder of the time off the clock. Lawrence described his mad dash.

“It felt good,” Lawrence said. “The coaches gave me an opportunity to make a play and the blockers set it up nice. I just really wanted to win. I wanted to get the first down, I wanted to seal it.”

Lindsey said that he was not surprised by his quarterback’s determined effort.

“This is just typical Anthony Lawrence,” Lindsey said. “I think a lot of people look at us and say ‘Well, he can’t run.’ (They’re) totally wrong. Now I think they’re looking at him and going, ‘This guy can run.’ The best thing about Anthony Lawrence is that whatever it is you ask him to do, he’ll do. He’s gonna compete harder than the next guy, he’s gonna find a way to win.”

When time expired, the Toreros were 36-34 victors, and owners of a resilient win against a tough conference opponent. Lindsey said that this was one of the better Dayton teams he has seen in his tenure at USD.

“This is a really good Dayton team,” Lindsey said. “This is one of the better Dayton teams that we’ve seen in four or five years.”

Aside from his team’s miscues on special teams and relative lack of effective defense, the coach stated that he was pleased with his team’s resiliency.

“I can’t say enough about the guys,” Lindsey said. “They did what they were supposed to do in a pressure situation. They just kept playing, they just kept chugging.”

The Torero offense was a bright spot for Lindsey in a hard-fought victory.

“Our offense did a great job,” Lindsey said. “They scored when we needed them to. They ran the ball, they ate the clock up, and that’s the best way to keep Dayton from scoring.”

Sophomore running back Emilio Martinez, who had two rushing touchdowns in the game, said that he was extremely proud of the way his team battled.

“I can honestly say that I’ve never been more proud of a football team in my life,” Martinez said. “I mean, that was hard-fought, beginning to end. We went down early, but we fought the entire game, and thankfully came out victorious. I couldn’t be more proud of all the guys in the locker room.”

The win is the Toreros’ third straight PFL victory, placing USD in first place atop conference standings and moving their overall record to 4-2 on the season. Next week they travel to Indianapolis, Indiana to take on the Butler University Bulldogs (3-3, 1-2 PFL) to continue PFL play. 

The Toreros will return home for yet another Pioneer League game on Saturday, Oct. 27 against the Jacksonville University Dolphins at 2 p.m. at Torero Stadium.