Homecoming win for USD

USD football comes out on top over Marist College with four-straight interceptions

Anderson Haigler / Associate Editor / The USD Vista

University of San Diego football’s Homecoming game against Marist College featured plenty of festivities. Between the pregame pyrotechnics at midfield, the Torero-blue smoke that accompanied the team into the stadium, and a hearty amount of alumni there to tailgate and cheer them on, there was no shortage of excitement in Alcala Park last Saturday afternoon as the Toreros opened up Pioneer Football League (PFL) play. 

When the real fireworks began, however, was when the USD defense locked things down late in the game as they attempted to protect their 21-7 lead over the Red Foxes. With about eight minutes to play in the third quarter, senior safety Daniel Tolbert intercepted a pass from Marist quarterback Austin Day. Then, on the following drive, junior cornerback Cassius Johnson picked him off again. A couple minutes later, Johnson had himself another interception, this time snatching Day’s pass out of the Saturday afternoon sky at the Marist 39-yard line. 

The Torero defense, though, wasn’t done yet. Johnson, who confirmed after the game that he is, in fact, named after the legendary boxer Cassius Clay (Muhammed Ali), described he and his teammates’ mindset in the midst of a frenzy of turnovers.

“We were calling out the other (defensive backs) who hadn’t gotten any picks yet,” Johnson said. “We were like ‘it’s your turn now, its your turn, we all have to get one.’”

Thus, fueled by perhaps a bit of brotherly and teammate rivalry, senior cornerback David Tolbert — twin brother of Daniel Tolbert — knew he had to “get his,” so to speak. And as the fourth quarter wound down, he did just that, intercepting the beleaguered Day’s final pass of the day for a thrilling pick-six, dashing 46 yards for the score to put the final nail in Marist’s metaphorical coffin, sealing a 31-7 victory for USD. 

“(The quarterback) looked the other way at first, so I kinda stopped my feet,” Tolbert said of the play in which his interception occurred. “And then when he came back (toward me) it was improvised. And I guess him and the receiver weren’t on the same page, and he threw the ball right to me. First I had to make sure I caught it, then I had to make sure I was still inbounds. And then after that it was just — go score, go celebrate.”

All told, the Toreros had interceptions on four-straight possessions, all but bullying the Red Foxes’ quarterback out of the game enroute to a 24-point San Diego win. Lead: protected. Statement: made. Still, none of the four Toreros who recorded interceptions on the afternoon could say that they had ever been part of a defensive performance that was quite that dominant, at least turnover wise.

“It’s definitely up there, it’s definitely huge,” Johnson said. “Just one pick alone is enough to change the tide of a game, but four picks like that … nothing like that has ever happened since I’ve been here.”

David Tolbert shared Johnson’s sentiment. 

“In terms of turnovers, it was great,” Tolbert said. “Definitely the top of the charts.”

Top of the charts, or at least close to it, was right. USD’s four interceptions are the most the Toreros have recorded in a single game since November of 2016 against the Campbell Camels. And the 245 total yards the Torero defense allowed is the least they’ve given up since their November 2017 playoff game versus Northern Arizona University. 

Honest as ever, USD football head coach Dale Lindsey assessed his team’s staunch effort on defense. 

“I thought that the secondary played pretty well in the second half,” Lindsey said. “I didn’t think it was all that good in the first half.”

As for the four interceptions? 

“That’s what they’re supposed to do,” Lindsey said, going on to elaborate on his team’s strategy on defense. “We don’t put them out there to let the guy catch the ball, or to make the tackle for a first down. The position we put our secondary in a lot of the time — they’re not gonna make a lot of interceptions because they’re not playing the quarterback or the ball, they’re playing the man. And our philosophy is ‘deny the ball.’ And if you can’t throw the guy the ball, that means the rusher is gonna get there, and you have to find somebody else to throw it to. That’s our philosophy.”

The Toreros’ dominant day on defense complemented a solid offensive performance from quarterback Reid Sinnett and his receiver corps. The redshirt senior completed 19 of his 29 attempted passes with no interceptions, good for 341 yards and three touchdowns. Lindsey stated that he was pleased with Sinnett’s day on offense.

“I think Reid’s getting better each week,” Lindsey said. “He had played some previous to this season, but you have to play to learn how to play. And I think the game is slowing down a little bit for him, because he’s the guy, and he has the confidence that he’s the guy, and that he’s good enough to win it.”

Sinnett did so largely without his star wide receiver (and roommate) Michael Bandy, who left the game with seven minutes remaining in the first quarter after a leaping, 35-yard reception that saw him crash to the ground headfirst. Bandy, who leads the Toreros with more than 350 total receiving yards so far this season, immediately winced in apparent pain after the play, stumbling toward the sideline before dropping to the turf again. After being evaluated by USD’s athletic training staff, the redshirt senior walked off the field on his own power. Bandy did not return to the game following the play, and was reportedly removed as a precautionary measure after feeling “tingly,” though he never lost consciousness. Lindsey described the play in which Bandy was shaken up.

“I think he got dinged up, I think he landed on his head,” Lindsey said. “I don’t think it was a concussion, but maybe he had like a stiff neck or shoulder. We were already missing (starting running back Emilio) Martinez, we don’t want to miss Bandy too. Bandy is a difference maker in the game. So we’re hoping that everything will be fine for him.”

Lindsey did not provide a timetable for Bandy’s return. Martinez, the Toreros’ leading rusher who missed this week’s contest with an ankle injury, is expected to be back next week against Davidson. 

In their absence, multiple players stepped up for USD, including junior wide receiver Alex Spadone, who led the Torero receivers with 110 receiving yards and two touchdowns. 

According to Sinnett, the Toreros’ ability to prevail in the absence of two of their most-dynamic players on offense is a testament to the depth within their roster.

“He did a really good job,” Sinnett said. “People step up in opportunities when some of our best players get hurt, or are down. We have eight or nine really good receivers, I don’t think we skip a beat.”

The Toreros’ 31-7 victory over the Red Foxes moves their overall record on the season to 2-2 (1-0 PFL). It also extends two notable win streaks for USD — 30 consecutive PFL games, and 35 straight home PFL games, the longest such streaks in all of Division I football. To put it bluntly, the Toreros generally don’t lose PFL games. They haven’t lost a home one in more than 3,280 days (October 2010), and it’s been more than 1,455 days since they lost one at all (October 2015). And that’s something that the Toreros take pride in. 

“The first meeting we had for fall camp, I told the young guys and really the whole team — since I’ve been here I’ve never lost a PFL game, and it’s not gonna start this year,” David Tolbert said. “We treat every game like it’s a playoff game now, because we don’t want to leave it to any chance.”

Up next for the Toreros is an away matchup at Davidson College (4-1, 1-0 PFL), who the Toreros narrowly defeated last season in a wild, 56-52 win that Lindsey described as “the worst nightmare of a game ever.”

USD’s matchup with the Wildcats next week will take place at 10 a.m. PST, and can be streamed online via a link on the USD football schedule on their website.