SAN DIEGO – San Diego clinched the Pioneer Football League championship and automatic berth to the FCS Playoffs with a thrilling 56-52 victory against Davidson on Saturday afternoon at Torero Stadium.
It was a wild game filled with offense as FCS offensive records and program records were broken en route to the Toreros (8-2, 7-0 PFL) seventh PFL title in the past eight years and fifth consecutive.
With a Marist loss at Drake earlier in the day, a Toreros victory against the Wildcats (5-5, 2-5 PFL) would secure their 11th PFL title in program history and fifth consecutive trip to the FCS Playoffs.
The Toreros needed its biggest comeback of the season to get the job done, however, as Davidson produced electrifying offensive plays and jumped on USD early. The Toreros trailed the Wildcats by 24 points twice in the first half.
The Toreros would not be denied and stormed back with an elite offensive performance.
Anthony Lawrence racked up a single-game school-record 556 yards on 24-of-36 passing. He became the PFL's all-time leader in career passing yards with 12,017. In addition to those records, Lawrence also accomplished the following.
- Became just the 13th FCS quarterback to reach at least 12,000 career passing yards.
- Tied Josh Johnson (2004-07) for most career touchdown passes with 113.
- Tied program record with seven touchdowns in a single game.
- Moved into FCS top-10 all-time in career touchdown passes.
- Set USD record for most passing yards in a single season (3,496), passing Mason Mills' mark in 2013 (3,463).
- Became USD's all-time leader in career total offense with 12,061 yards and became first to reach 12,000 plateau.
- Now has a career-high 3,496 passing yards in single season, eclipsing his previous season high of 3,131 during 2017. He accomplished his career high in 2018 in three fewer games than in 2017.
Michael Bandy was Lawrence's favorite target and had 10 catches for a single-game school-record 324 yards. His average of 32.4 yards per catch is an FCS record (minimum of at least 10 catches).
Bandy moved into second place in multiple all-time single-season record categories, including receiving yards (1,427) and touchdown catches (16). He needs 51 more receiving yards and five more touchdown catches to tie the respective single-season records.
Both teams produced gaudy offensive numbers with the Toreros racking up 556 passing yards and Davidson rushing for an FCS single-game record 789 yards. The Wildcats had four players with 150 or more rushing yards apiece.
USD allowed 38 points in the first half, which was the most points allowed by USD in a single game since a contest against Dayton on Oct. 19, 2013.
Davidson struck early and often with three rushing touchdowns of 80 or more yards in the first quarter and held a 24-7 lead. A 56-yard rush by Tyler Phelps set Davidson up for a 2-yard touchdown run to extend its lead to 31-7 early in the second quarter.
The Toreros offense was a bit stagnant in the first quarter but came alive when faced with the adversity. Lawrence and Bandy connected on a 30-yard touchdown on the ensuing drive to cut USD's deficit to, 31-14.
The Wildcats scored on their next drive to reestablish a 24-point advantage but the Toreros answered with 21 straight points.
Touchdown receptions by
Emilio Martinez and two by
Dalton Kincaid pulled USD to within three points just before halftime, 38-35. Kincaid's second touchdown catch was particularly impressive as he caught the pass with one hand as he was falling into end zone.
The game tightened up in the second half with both teams limiting the other to a touchdown apiece in the third quarter. Davidson's William Wicks registered a 6-yard touchdown run at the 12:01 mark of the third.
Michael Armstead responded on the ensuing kick off with a 98-yard return. It is his second kickoff return for a touchdown this season.
While the offense provided all the fireworks, it was a goal-line stand by the Toreros defense that changed the momentum in the fourth quarter. On the first drive of the fourth quarter, Davidson decided to go for it on 4th-and-goal from the 1-yard line.
The Toreros forced a Davidson fumble and the ball ended up in the end zone and was recovered by a different Wildcats player. While Davidson initially thought it had extended its lead, the play was ruled to have been a forward fumble, resulting in a turnover on downs.
The Toreros took over on their 1-yard-line. On the second play of the drive, Bandy gave USD its first lead of the game since the Toreros' opening possession. He caught a pass near the right sideline, beat his defender and ran 99 yards to put USD up with 9:29 to play, 49-45.
Davidson retook the lead, 52-49, on a 12-yard run by Keylan Brown with 2:38 to play.
Lawrence made sure the Toreros were not behind for long, connecting with Martinez on a 5-yard pass before airing out a 46-yard completion down the center of the field to Bandy who beat double-coverage.
Lawrence went back to Bandy on the next play for a 20-yard touchdown pass to put the Toreros up for good with 1:43 to play, 56-52.
With the victory, the Toreros maintained the nation's longest active conference winning streak to 28. USD has won 34 straight home PFL games and owns the longest active home winning streak among FCS teams at 21 games.
The Toreros will look to complete their third straight undefeated PFL season next Saturday at 9 a.m. PT when it takes on Marist in the regular-season finale.
