Football prepares for kickoff

Toreros will aim to win their sixth consecutive Pioneer Football League title in 2019

Chris Spiering / Sports Editor / The USD Vista

The University of San Diego’s football team is ready to fight no matter who is on their schedule.

Every season since 2013, the Toreros have either won the Pioneer Football League (PFL) or have been named co-champions every season. This year, they aim to take possession of the title for the sixth-consecutive season.

As the players are finishing up their summer vacations, they stayed in shape by lifting weights and eating healthy to get ready for the grind of training camp.

USD started training camp Aug. 1, as they moved past the heartbreaking end of last season. The Toreros finished the year 9-3 after losing in the first round of the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) playoffs.  

 Redshirt junior quarterback Alex Farina expects some rough patches early on in the season, but is confident that the team will keep its momentum going.

“I’m excited,” Farina said. “Our team is full of talent on both sides of the ball and we have a number of guys ready to compete. Like every new season though, there will be old shoes to fill and questions to answer, but fortunately, there is a special willingness across the board for guys to step up and fill these roles.”

The team  lost 11 seniors from graduation last season, but fully expected to fill those roles during camp.  This past May, the Toreros lost two important leaders to graduation, quarterback Anthony Lawrence and tackle Daniel Cooney. Farina realizes the loss may be tough, but explains what needs to be done to expand that leadership role.

“Ant and Cooney were vital to our success in the previous years and both were great leaders, so they will certainly be difficult to replace,” Farina said. “However, there are 11 guys on the field at once, each with a different responsibility working to achieve the same goal. I’m confident that we will be fine.”

Senior fullback Zach Nelson had similar thoughts about the leadership roles on the team.

“We’ve been able to handle the transition just fine,” Nelson said. “I think myself and Marcus Vaivao have played a big role so far in leading the team and I think a lot of other seniors as well have stepped up and shown how to go about it the correct way­­ — the winning way.”

The Toreros will look to move past last year, but also keep a little bit of the flair they had in the regular season. 

“Ultimately, I think we have a great thing going,” Farina said. “And we will carry off the momentum from the last few years.”

A collective unit of Toreros  will be fighting to establish their role on the team. 

Nelson had some strong words to say about some of his teammates when giving his thoughts on the start of training camp.

“I’m very confident,” Nelson said. “We have a dynamic group of skill players. Very ball dominant guys on offense. Tight ends, wide receivers, running backs, are going to be a nightmare for defenses. Defense has the best defensive line group I’ve ever seen. Marcus Vaivao will lead the defense. Very athletic secondary with the Tolbert twins and Brian Kelly.”

In program history, USD has made four appearances in the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) playoffs with an overall record of 2-4. The Toreros ended their 2018 season with a loss in the FCS playoffs by the score of 49-30 to Nicholls State. Once again for the third consecutive season, the Toreros swept the PFL with their only losses in the regular season coming from UC Davis and Harvard.

USD has won or shared the PFL title seven of the past eight seasons. The Toreros are a combined 72-21 over that span. Total dominance would be an understatement. Moving to a more competitive conference could be an option but the team is only focused on the present.  

“There are definitely some more competitive conferences out there, but I try not to concern myself with things that are out of my control as a player.” Farina said. “I’m confident that there isn’t a team in the FCS that we couldn’t go compete with on any given day though, so if the were to happen, we’d welcome the opportunity.”

The Toreros know that they can only control what they can control.

“Always up to the challenge.” Nelson said. “This program has shown it has no issue playing bigger programs, Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) or Football Championship Subdivision (FCS). We’re confident enough to go out, compete, play our style, and hang with whoever it may be. I think it’s just a matter of when at this point.” 

The Toreros kick off the  2019 season on the road against Cal Poly San Luis Obispo on Saturday, Aug. 31 at 2 p.m. Their first home game is Saturday, Sept. 7 at 2 p.m. against UC Davis at Torero Stadium. Tickets are free for students.