Sept. 24, 2005
Final Stats
(Princeton, NJ) - The USD Toreros (3-1) turned in another outstanding effort, playing their hearts out for 60 minutes, but in the end came up shy in a hard fought 20-17 loss to the Princeton Tigers (2-0). Similar to last year's 24-17 loss in San Diego to this same Princeton club, the Toreros were hurt by turnovers, specifically three interceptions that were picked off by safety Jay McCareins. With the Toreros within 13-10 and facing a 3rd and 8 from the Princeton 13 with about 1 1/2 minutes to play, McCareins picked off QB Josh Johnson for the third time and raced 99 yards to put the Tigers ahead 20-10 with 1:14 to go. After the ensuing kickoff, USD answered from their second play from scrimmage as Johnson connected with WR Jon Matthews for a 40-yard TD reception with 00:46 seconds left to pull to within 20-17. Without any timeouts, USD's onside kick was grabbed by who else, Jay McCareins, and Princeton was able to run the clock out for their second straight win.
This game was similar to last week's win over Yale in that the Toreros fell behind by two touchdowns before a 34-yard Hutch Parker field goal just before intermission pulled the Toreros to within 13-3 at halftime. The Tigers' first score, a 2-yard pass from Jeff Terrell to Jon Dekker with 7:43 left in the 1st quarter, came after Princeton's McCareins snatched his first interception of the day. Princeton went ahead 13-0 five seconds into the 2nd quarter when backup QB Bill Foran scored on a keeper from 4 yards out. USD moved the ball on their next drive, getting down to the Princeton 22 yard line, but Hutch Parker's 39-yard field goal was wide left. He cashed in about 7 ½ minutes later from 34 yards for the 13-3 halftime score.
For the second straight week the Torero defense shut out its opponent in the 2nd half to allow the Toreros to rally. Princeton was forced to punt after their opening drive stalled, and USD's offense answered quickly, going 81 yards in just 5 plays. Johnson was 4-for-4 during the drive for 80 yards - he connected with Adam Hannula on his last three for 51, 8 and the 13-yard TD with 11:33 to go in the 3rd period that pulled USD to within 13-10.
The defense came up with big play after big play to prevent the Tigers from doing any more offensive damage, and with 7:20 left in the game, the Toreros put together a 14-play drive that moved them from their own 20 down to Princeton's 13-yard line. Twice during this drive Johnson converted on 4th down situations with big completions to WR Wes Doyle. Facing a 3rd-and-8 from the Princeton 13, Johnson's pass towards the endzone was picked off by McCareins and returned 99 yards for the 20-10 advantage.
For the game, Torero QB Josh Johnson completed 24-of-46 passes for 301 yards, 2 touchdowns and 3 picks. Senior WR Adam Hannula, who set USD's all-time receptions record last week, turned in his best game of the year with 7 receptions for 119 yards and one score. USD's running game was led by JT Rogan (52 yards), but limited to just 99 yards on 35 carries. Defensively the Toreros were paced by junior LB Kyson Hawkins (10 tackles), senior DB's Adam Burke (6 tackles) and Philip Bretsch (6 tackles), and DE Eric Bakhtiari (5 tackles). Josh Brisco and Scott Cooper each came up with an interception.
For Princeton, Jay McCareins ended the game with 229 all-purpose yards (69 punt return, 47 kickoff return, 113 interception return) and 7 passes defended (3 interceptions, 4 pass breakups). No play was bigger in the game than his 99 yard interception return that put them ahead 20-10.
The Toreros will play their second straight road game next Saturday, Oct. 1st, against Menlo College at San Jose City College (12:30 pm). USD's next home game will be on Oct. 8th when they host Butler in their PFL opener, also USD's homecoming game.
