Torero defense denies Bulldogs upset in opener

USD holds off Drake to escape with 13-10 win despite turnovers, red-zone struggles

ERIC BOOSE / SPORTS EDITOR / The USD Vista

The old adage, “defense wins championships,” held true on Saturday as the University of San Diego’s defensive unit made sure that 13 points was all the Toreros needed to begin their pursuit of a seventh straight Pioneer Football League title with a win. USD allowed Drake only 25 yards of total offense and three first downs all game, and the Bulldogs’ two scoring drives both came after San Diego’s offense coughed up the ball. 

Head coach Dale Lindsey called the game, “an outstanding day for the defense, a very average day for the offense.”

“The positive is that we won,” Lindsey said. “We weren’t pretty doing it, we turned the ball over twice on offense that really helped the Drake team, and it kept us in a hole. Plus, we had two missed field goals that could have iced the game for us earlier. That’s the negative side. The positive side was everybody played hard, the defense rose to the occasion, did what they needed to do, which was minimize points and give us good field position.” 

Redshirt senior defensive lineman Kevin Glajchen led that outstanding day for the Toreros’ stifling defense, recording a team leading eight tackles and three sacks, plus a forced fumble. He was named PFL Defensive Player of the Week for his performance. 

While they were not as dominant as the defense, the USD offense picked up after a slow start under the guidance of another redshirt senior — quarterback Mason Randall. Randall finished the day with 19 completions on 25 attempts for 234 yards passing, but he started with a couple moments he will surely want to forget.

On the second play of the game, Randall fumbled the snap from first-year center Finley Leckey but was able to fall on the ball. One drive later, he was not so lucky. On USD’s next offensive play, Randall did well to keep a high snap from Leckey in front of him, but could not recover in time to make a clean handoff to his running back, and the Bulldogs got to the ball first, taking over only 24 yards from the end zone. While the fumble put the Torero defense in a tough spot, it was a possibility they had prepared for, as senior linebacker Kama Kamaka explained.

“We always practice those situations, sudden change situations where our offense turns it over and our backs are kind of against the wall,” Kamaka said. “Those are situations where we try to thrive in, where we need to get a stop for our team and try to hold them to three points, or minimize whatever points they can possibly get out of that situation.”

Unfortunately for USD, a roughing the passer penalty on third down gave Drake first and goal at the ten yard line, and San Diego’s defense could not keep the hosts out of the end zone. Bulldog quarterback Ian Corwin scrambled out of the pocket and dove in at the pylon to put the home team ahead, 7-0. 

The Toreros responded immediately, as junior safety Hunter Nichols’ 62-yard kickoff return set Randall on the offense up at Drake’s 31 yard line — well within striking distance for a team that put up 49 points the last time these two teams met. Unfortunately, USD’s offense wasn’t on the field very long. On second down, Randall’s throw was too far ahead of his intended receiver, making easy pickings for Bulldogs defensive back Joey Lukrich and handing the ball back to Drake. 

The Bulldog offense only went backwards thanks to back-to-back sacks by San Diego’s defense, and on their fourth offensive drive, the Toreros finally started clicking. First, Randall hit redshirt sophomore receiver Michael Carner with a nice pass to the sidelines on a third down. On the next play, Randall connected with another redshirt sophomore, tight end Derek Kline for 29 yards, despite Kline having a defender draped all over him. 

With the Toreros ten yards from tying the game, Drake’s defense stood up, holding San Diego to a field goal, which sophomore kicker Brandon Eickert knocked through from 25 yards out. 

That became the pattern for the rest of the half. USD’s defense would immobilize Drake’s offense, their offense would get close to the endzone (usually through passes to Carner or Kline, both of whom finished with yardage counts in the 90s), but the Bulldogs would hold them to a field goal. Eickert had a chance to give San Diego the lead right before halftime, but missed his 23-yard kick. With 30 minutes of football in the books, the score was Drake 7, USD 6. 

The second half started similarly to the first. After Drake went three and out to start the third quarter, the Toreros handed the ball right back to the Bulldogs thanks to yet another high snap. Randall couldn’t even keep this one from going over his head, and it bounced to USD’s 28-yard line before a Bulldog grabbed it. San Diego’s defense did what they could and forced another three and out, but Drake was still in field goal range, and a 44-yarder made their lead 10-6. 

In need of points, the Toreros finally found the end zone on their next drive. Senior running back Emiliano Martinez picked up a couple first downs on the ground, and Randall picked up a couple more through the air (one of which was thanks to a defensive pass interference penalty) to get San Diego deep into Drake territory. Then, USD got some help from a lucky bounce. On a second down run, Martinez fumbled the ball, but junior offensive lineman Luke Lacilento fell on it at the one-yard line. A quarterback sneak by Randall gave the Toreros their first lead of the season, 13-10. 

They had chances to add to it. Almost immediately after scoring, Glajchen’s sack-fumble gave USD the ball on Drake’s 15-yard line, but the offense only went backwards before Randall saw a pass get batted into the air and picked off. The third quarter ended with San Diego leading, but only by three. 

In the fourth quarter, USD once again got within 10 yards of the goal line, and thought they had another touchdown as Carner out-jumped his defender to pull down a pass in the corner of the endzone. However, the referees ruled that Carner had failed to maintain possession of the ball as he hit the ground, making the pass incomplete and bringing up fourth down. To add insult to injury, Eickert missed his second chip-shot field goal of the day, this time from 25 yards. 

While the six points that Eickert’s two misses left on the table would have helped the Toreros see out the game, Lindsey made it clear that he still backed his kicker.

“He has the leg, he has accuracy, it just was off the other day, and I’m sure he didn’t enjoy it any more than we did,” Lindsey said. “What we need to do is probably practice more kicking from the hash mark, which is what he had to do the other day … We’re going to practice at a different angle, which probably, in his defense, we haven’t done enough.”

Down only three but needing a spark on offense, Drake called on backup quarterback Ben Nienhuis, and while he did record the Bulldogs’ first completed pass of the game, he could not manufacture even a scoring threat, let alone points. 

With the win over Drake, USD extended their PFL winning streak to 38 games, one away from the all-time Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) record for consecutive conference wins. They will have a chance to tie that record on Saturday, as they host another squad of Bulldogs, this time from Butler, in San Diego’s home opener. The game kicks off at 1 p.m.