SAN DIEGO – The San Diego defense forced four turnovers and held Valparaiso to less than 250 yards while redshirt senior Reid Sinnett was responsible for six touchdowns to lead the Toreros to a 42-17 win at Torero Stadium on Saturday.
 
The Toreros (4-2, 3-0 PFL) won their 32nd consecutive conference game and 36th straight conference home contest – both the longest active streaks in Division I – with the help of an overwhelming first-half defensive effort. While holding an opponent to less than 250 yards for the second time in the last three weeks, the Torero defense surrendered just 55 yards in the first half, including two yards on the ground, and allowed two first downs. Valparaiso (0-7, 0-3 PFL) finished with 249 total yards: 182 passing and 67 rushing.
 
In addition to limiting the yards gained, USD recorded two interceptions and two fumble recoveries to match its season-high in turnovers with four. Two of the turnovers occurred in the first half and were flipped into 14 points to help build a 28-3 lead at the half.
 
Sinnett, who is responsible for 25 touchdowns in six games this season, threw five touchdown passes and rushed for one to power the USD offense that scored its most points in a game this year. The quarterback was 21-of-31 with 271 yards in the air and gained 63 yards on seven attempts on the ground.
 
Senior Michael Bandy was the primary target for Sinnett, hauling in eight passes for a season-high 171 yards and three touchdowns. The wide receiver had touchdown catches of 50 and 75 yards to help turn in his third multi-touchdown game of the season.
 
Junior Alex Spadone was the target of the other two Sinnett touchdown passes, including the first touchdown of the day almost four minutes into the game. After the Toreros recovered from a punt on their opening drive with an interception by David Tolbert, Sinnett quickly found Spadone on the left side for an 11-yard touchdown pass.
 
The Toreros did not score again in the first quarter, while surrendering a field goal, but in the second, the offense broke out for three touchdowns, including two with less than a minute remaining. Sinnett connected with Bandy for the 50-yard touchdown halfway through the quarter before the two capped a 13-play, 78-yard drive with an eight-yard touchdown pass with 0:54 on the clock.
 
The defense returned the ball back to the offense 10 seconds later when Kama Kamaka forced and recovered a fumble at the Valpo 25-yard line. After a trick offering on the subsequent drive's first play – an Alex Farina reverse pass play to Terrence Smith for 17 yards – Sinnett found Spadone from eight yards out to make it 28-3 with 0:31 remaining in the half.
 
The two sides traded touchdowns on the first three drives of the second half, including a Sinnett-to-Bandy 75-yard touchdown pass on the only play of the drive five minutes into the third quarter, before the Toreros finished off their scoring with a 15-yard rushing touchdown by Sinnett with 0:35 left in the third.
 
USD forced two turnovers and a punt in the fourth quarter to shut out Valpo in the final 15 minutes.
 
Offensively, the Toreros finished with 466 total yards of offense, including 307 passing yards and 159 rushing. Sinnett was the leading rusher.
 
Kamaka tied for the team lead with nine tackles, including two for a loss. USD had 9.0 total tackles for a loss with eight different Toreros recording at least one.
 
The Toreros continue PFL play with a big road matchup at Dayton on October 26 at 9 a.m. PT. Dayton, which lost to Stetson on Saturday, is 2-1 in conference and 4-2 overall.
 
 
NOTES
The Toreros have scored 30+ points in nine straight games dating back to last year.
 
In addition to be the longest active streak in Division I, USD's 32-game conference winning streak is the third-longest in FCS history. The next longest conference winning streak is 36 games by Jacksonville State (2013-18) while the longest is 39 by Duquesne (1999-06).
 
Head coach Dale Lindsey is 26-0 in PFL home games in his career.
 
The USD defense has held its last four opponents to a combined 2.4 yards per carry (307 yards on 129 attempts).
 
The Toreros have 12 turnovers this season. Last year, they had 16 all season.