Oct. 23, 2010

Final Stats | Photo Gallery

SAN DIEGO, Calif.- The University of San Diego football team piled up a season-high 453 yards of offense en route to a 30-10 victory over the Valparaiso University Crusaders Saturday afternoon at Torero Stadium. The win marks the third consecutive game in which the Toreros have set season highs in offensive output and puts them at 3-5 overall and 3-2 in Pioneer Football League play, while Valparaiso drops to 0-8 overall and 0-5 in the PFL.

Torero redshirt freshman quarterback Mason Mills led the offensive assault, completing 27 passes on 35 attempts for season-highs of 327 yards and three touchdowns, including a long scoring strike of 59 yards, also a season high. Mills and senior wide receiver Godfrey Smith connected for 10 completions, a career-high for Smith, that went for 151 yards and a touchdown.

"We worked hard at our game plan all week," said Mills after the game. "Going into the game we pretty much knew what we were going to do in every situation so by getting prepared it was pretty easy picking apart what they were doing and our receivers made great catches, I just had to put the ball in the general area and they caught it and took off."

The Torero defense held Valparaiso to just 89 yards rushing on 26 attempts, while allowing 284 yards of total offense to the Crusaders. Redshirt freshman safety Robbie Beathard tallied a season-high nine tackles on the day, while senior defensive end Hanner Hart and junior lineman Dustin Geyer recorded sacks.

The USD secondary pitched in to the defensive effort with a pair of momentum-shifting interceptions, as junior defensive back Fred Obi, who came into the game tied for the PFL lead in picks, intercepted his fourth pass of the season by snatching an Eric Lemon pass away early in the third quarter. Obi returned the interception for a touchdown on the play but a USD holding call brought the Toreros back to midfield, where they eventually settled for one of Stanley Shurson's three field goals on the day.

Junior cornerback Al-Rilwan Adeyemi also stole one from Lemon, stepping in front of a crossing route with 6:55 left in the fourth quarter that led to a Shurson field goal and effectively silenced Valparaiso's chances of climbing back into the game.

Mills posted the first score of the game in the first quarter when he scrambled left and found fullback Nick Scudellari, who caught the ball at the three and plowed his way through a pair of Crusader tacklers for his first touchdown of the season. The Toreros then scored with just under five minutes left in the first quarter on a 36-yard field goal from Shurson.

Valparaiso answered with a touchdown of their own with 2:53 to go in the half as Kevin Becker slipped open over the middle of the endzone where Lemon found him for the seven-yard score, which turned out to be the Crusaders' only touchdown of the day.

Freshman Sam Hoekstra reeled off a big return on the ensuing kickoff, getting out to the Valparaiso 44 yard line. Despite marching down to Valparaiso's eight yard line during the drive, Mills was unable to find an open receiver with eight second left and came away with nothing as Shurson missed the 37-yard attempt as time expired in the half.

The Toreros opened the second half with authority as Smith took a short pass from Mills on the third play and sprinted past Valparaiso defenders for the 59-yard touchdown reception. Obi's interception on the following possession gave the Toreros the ball right back and resulted in a 24-yard chip shot for Shurson.

Valparaiso threatened later in the third quarter, driving down into the redzone, but Geyer's sack halted the Crusader's drive and forced them to settle for a 29-yard field goal from Mike Pando.

USD answered on the next possession when senior running back Justin Fontenberry took a short screen from Mills 29 yards to the Valparaiso 21 yard line, which eventually led to a fourth-down 31-yard touchdown pass from Mills to redshirt freshman Colin King, his first of the season, that put the Toreros up 27-10. From there USD added a 34-yard field goal from Shurson in the final minutes to seal the victory.

Hoekstra had a big day on special teams with two punt returns for 42 yards, including a long of 31, and a kickoff return that went for 46 yards. Hoekstra broke another huge kickoff return all the way out to the Valparaiso 34 in the third quarter that was called back due to a pair of offsetting penalties which resulted in a re-kick.

Junior running back Matt Jelmini pitched in with 76 yards rushing on 18 attempts and a long of 17 yards that he broke off in the first quarter.

Lemon threw for 194 yards on 18 completions in 32 attempts and Sean McCarty led Valparaiso with seven catches for 80 yards.

The Toreros return to action next Saturday, Oct. 30th when they travel to Des Moines, IA to take on PFL-rival Drake University at 11:00 a.m. PT.