Sept. 14, 2005
GAME #3: The USD Toreros will look to continue their winning ways when they host the Yale Bulldogs on Saturday, Sept. 17th, at 1:30 pm. Jack Murray (play-by-play) and Rick Hill (color analyst) call the action (all home games) that can be heard via the internet at www.usdtoreros.com. San Diego owns a 7-game winning streak in games played at Torero Stadium.
SERIES RECORD: The Yale Bulldogs lead the series, 2-0. Yale won the first meeting played at Torero Stadium in 1999 (17-6), then cruised past theToreros in the Yale Bowl in 2002 (49-14). USD is searching for its first win against an Ivy League opponent - it currently is 0-5 (0-2 vs. Yale, 0-1 vs. Brown, Penn and Princeton).
HEAD COACH Jim Harbaugh: Harbaugh is his 2nd season after a 7-4 mark in his rookie year. He heads into the Yale game with a 9-4 record and seven- game winning streak. Prior to being named USD's 11th head coach, he spent two seasons in the NFL as an offensive assistant with the Oakland Raiders. He spent 15 years in the NFL with five different teams - Chicago (1987-1993), Indianapolis (1994-97), Baltimore (1998), San Diego (1999-00) and Carolina (2001). A 1987 first round draft pick by the Chicago Bears, Jim played in 117 NFL games with 140 starts. For his career he completed 2,305 of 3,918 passes for 26,288 yards with 129 touchdowns. In 1995 he led Indianapolis to the AFC Championship game; was voted to the Pro Bowl; was named the 1995 Comeback Player of the Year and the AFC Player of the Year; and was runner-up in the NFL MVP voting. A 1986 graduate of Michigan, Jim was a 3-year starter for legendary coach Bo Schembechler. In his senior year in '86, Jim guided Michigan to a No. 2 national ranking while earning Big Ten Player of the Year honors and finishing 3rd in the Heisman race. Jim and his wife, Miah, have three kids - Jay, James, and Grace.
PFL NORTH STANDINGS/SCHEDULE: SAN DIEGO (2-0), Dayton (2-0), Valparaiso (1-1), Butler (0-2), Drake (0-2). SEPT. 17TH SCHEDULE: USD vs. Yale, Austin Peay at Dayton, Butler at Robert Morris, Morehead State at Valparaiso, Drake at Wisconsin-Platteville.
TOREROS SHUTOUT SOUTHERN OREGON, 51-0: For the 2nd straight week the Toreros (2-0) dominated their opponent as they shutout the visiting Southern Oregon Raiders (0-1) by the score of 51-0. Dating back to last season the Toreros have now won 7 straight games and over the past 2 weeks has outscored its opponents, 81-6. The Torero defense, behind six QB sacks, limited SOU to -48 yards rushing (new USD single game defensive record) and just 64 yards of total offense. Offensively the Toreros amassed 458 balanced yards of offense (255 rush; 203 pass). After the Torero defense stopped SOU on 3 straight plays to open the game, and opened on the SOU 35-yard line after a short punt, sophomore QB Josh Johnson found WR Nick Garton for an 18-yard TD strike to culminate a 9-play, 35-yard drive with 11:34 to go in the quarter. It was all USD the rest of the way as Kevin Herron scored on a 2-yard burst and the Toreros tacked on 2 points from a safety to take a 16-0 first period lead. Johnson ran in around the right side from 5 yards out with 4:56 to go in the half for USD's commanding 23-0 halftime advantage. In the third period USD spread the wealth around as WR Wes Doyle hauled in a 28-yard TD strike from Johnson, and fullback Jon Polk bulled his way in from 1-yard out to extend the lead to 37-0. In the 4th period backup QB David Perez connected with WR Jon Matthews for a 24-yard TD strike, and third string QB Theo Nikolakopulos found the endzone from 4-yards out for the final score. The offensive line did an outstanding job throughout the game with both pass and run protection. Redshirt freshman JT Rogan totaled 100 yards on 19 carries, while Polk chipped in with 30 yards on 5 rushes. Senior WR Adam Hannula hauled in 6 passes to lead nine different receivers with at least one catch. QB Josh Johnson turned in another solid outing (21-of-29 passes for 174 yards and 2 TDs. Defensively it was once again an outstanding total team effort. Junior LB Kyson Hawkins was credited with 7 tackles, including 4 tackles for loss, 1 QB sack and 1 pass breakup. Senior DB Philip Bretsch chipped in with 5 stops, while Eric Bakhtiari, Ronnie Pentz, Kevin Hertko, Brenden Nakata and Colin Murphy all totaled 4 stops. Joe Staab added an interception for the Torero secondary.
TORERO TIDBITS: With its two wins to open the 2005 campaign, USD has now strung together 7 straight victories... you have to go back to the 1980-81 seasons for a longer streak which is 12, the current school record... USD won its final 3 games in 1980, then opened the '81 campaign with 9 straight wins before dropping the last game of the season to Saint Mary's (31-12)... over this current 7-game streak USD has outscored its opponents, 300-81 (an average of 42.9 ppg to 11.6)... during this win streak USD has also tallied 438 yards or more of total offense; in fact the Toreros have accomplished this feat 9 straight games - the last time USD was held under 400 yards was against Princeton (332) last Sept. 25, 2004.
2-GAME STATISTICAL LEADERS: Through two games the Toreros are being led by QB Josh Johnson (44-63 for 460 yards and 5 TDs), RB JT Rogan (102.5 yards per game), WRs Adam Hannula (12 catches for 118 yards) and Nick Garton (10 for 87 yards, 2 TDs), kicker Hutch Parker (3-4 FG; 10-10 PAT), punter George Villa (43.7 ave.), LB Kyson Hawkins (12 tackles, 5 for loss), LB Ronnie Pentz (12 tackles), DE Eric Bakhtiari (9 tackles, 2 QB sacks), and DB Philip Bretsch (7 tackles). Don't forget the offensive linemen who are playing a key role in the USD averaging 453.3 yards of total offense per game.
TOREROS HELP VICTIMS OF HURRICANE KATRINA: On Friday, Sept. 9th, head coach Jim Harbaugh, along with members of the team and coaching staff, helped collect donations for victims of Hurricane Katrina... the Toreros joined NBC Channel 7/39 news members Kimberly King and Jim Laslavic on "San Diego Street Scene" as they collected donations downtown near the NBC Studios. THANK YOU USD FOOTBALL!
