SAN DIEGO—In its home opener Saturday afternoon, San Diego defeated Butler 27-13 in Torero Stadium and entered the FCS record books.
 
With the win, the Toreros (2-0, 2-0 PFL) tied the NCAA FCS record for consecutive conference wins with their 39th-straight victory over a Pioneer Football League opponent. The record was previously set by Duquesne (1999-06 – MAAC).
 
USD's offense finished the day with 475 total yards (302 passing, 173 rushing) and dominated time of possession for 41:43. Mason Randall finished the day 32-of-41 for 302 yards and two touchdowns. Derek Kline hauled in eight catches for 77 yards and a touchdown and Michael Gadinis caught five passes for 85 yards including a long of 30 yards.
 
Emilio Martinez led the way on the ground, with 17 carries for 86 yards (5.1 average) and added six receptions for 29 yards and a touchdown, finishing the day with 115 all-purpose yards. Michael Carner also recorded 104 all-purpose yards (28 rushing, 50 receiving, 26 punt return yards).
 
The defense turned in another impressive performance, limiting the Bulldogs (0-2, 0-2 PFL) to just 35 rushing yards and 12 first downs. BU did most of its damage in the air, with 212 passing yards and its only touchdown of the afternoon.
 
Hunter Nichols paced the defense with 10 tackles (six solo), including one tackle for a loss of two yards. Michael Hawkins finished the day with seven tackles (six solo) and a pass breakup and Zamir Wallace collected USD's only interception of the day, adding three pass breakups.
 
San Diego took its opening drive 10 plays, 65 yards down field and capped it off with a 12-yard rushing touchdown by Carner to put USD on top, 7-0.
 
The teams traded possessions before Butler put its first points on the board with a 38-yard field goal with 7:05 remaining in the first quarter. The Toreros answered with a Brandon Eickert 25-yard field goal to take a 10-3 lead at the end of the first quarter.
 
USD put together another solid drive to start the second quarter, marching 81 yards on 11 plays and highlighted by a 28-yard completion to Gadinis. Randall then found Martinez on a four-yard touchdown pass on third down to give USD the 17-3 advantage.
 
The Bulldogs answered immediately, finding the endzone for the only time in the contest with a 12 yard touchdown pass with 7:02 remaining in the first half. The teams traded possessions four times with under two minutes remaining in the quarter.
 
With Butler threatening on the USD 24-yard-line, Zamir Wallace picked off a pass from BU quarterback Sam Brown on the one-yard line and USD went into the halftime break up, 17-10.
 
With 9:48 remaining in the third quarter, Eickert knocked through his second 25-yard field goal of the day to extend the USD lead, 20-10. The Bulldogs answered on the next possession with a 27-yard field goal putting points on the board for the final time in the contest with 5:16 remaining in the third quarter.
 
 The Toreros found the endzone again to begin the fourth quarter on a 2-yard completion to Kline to make it 27-13, USD. The following drive, San Diego's defense held tough on fourth and one from the USD 6-yard-line to force a turnover on downs. The Toreros then put together an impressive 16 play drive for 82 yards that took 9:13 to run out the clock for the victory.
 
Next up, San Diego will travel to Clinton, S.C. to face Presbyterian on Saturday at 8 a.m. (PT).