Oct. 31, 2005

The USD Toreros, winners of 5 straight and the outright owners of the PFL North Division title, received some more good news today when the PFL office announced that sophomore quarterback Josh Johnson (Oakland, Calif.) and sophomore DB Mark Johnson (Coto de Caza, Calif.) were recognized as PFL Players of the Week. Johnson took home his 2nd offensive award after he led the Toreros to a 63-21 victory over Valparaiso. While playing the first half only he completed 20-of-26 passes for 345 yards and 7 touchdowns. The 7 TD passes tie both the USD and PFL single game records (also held by former Torero Eric Rasmussen). Mark Johnson became just the second I-AA player this season to return an interception for 100 yards and a TD, and also chipped in with 5 tackles.

USD, with a record of 8-1 overall (4-0 PFL North Division), is also the unanimous No. 1 team in The Sports Network Mid-Major Top 10 for the third week in a row. San Diego defeated Valparaiso on Saturday and picked up all 28 first-place votes and 280 points to land in the top spot. The Toreros also locked up a spot in the Pioneer League title game and won the North Division with Saturday's victory.

Dayton remains at No. 2 after knocking off Davidson. Duquesne is up two spots to No. 3, and Central Connecticut State vaults two positions to No. 4 after a 15-13 win against Monmouth. Morehead State lost to Tiffin and dropped two places to No. 5. Marist is at No. 6, with Monmouth at No. 7, Drake at No. 8, Jacksonville at No. 9 and Stony Brook at No. 10. Nine of the top 10 teams are in action this weekend. No. 1 San Diego plays host to Chapman, while No. 2 Dayton is at Butler.

For the second straight week the Toreros received votes in The Sports Network I-AA Top-25 poll (includes 120 teams), moving up from 10 points to 25 points. They also received 9 points in this week's ESPN/USA TODAY Division I-AA Top 25 College Football Coaches Poll. USD will now host back-to-back nonconference games against Chapman (Nov. 5th, 7 pm) and Marist (Nov. 12th, 1 pm) to finish out their regular-season schedule. On Nov. 19th (time TBD), USD will host Morehead State, the PFL South Division winner (7-2; 3-0 PFL) for the 2005 PFL Championship title.