San Diego Toreros (1-0, 0-0 PFL) • Central Washington Wildcats (0-0, 0-0 Lone Star)

Saturday, September 7, 2024  •  1:00 p.m. PST

Torero Stadium (6,000) • San Diego, CA

Live Streaming • ESPN+ | Live Statistics • USDToreros.com

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SAN DIEGO —  After opening up its 2024 season with a thrilling 27-21 win over Cal Poly in front of a sold-out crowd at Torero Stadium last Saturday, San Diego football (1-0, 0-0 PFL) will look to remain undefeated on Saturday afternoon when it hosts Central Washington (0-0, 0-0 Lone Star) at 1 p.m. in Torero Stadium.

The game will be streamed live on ESPN+ with The Voice of the Toreros Jack Cronin (play-by-play) on the call alongside Braden Surprenant (analyst). Live statistics will be available on USDToreros.com.

With a win, San Diego would earn its first 2-0 start in a full season (excluding the pandemic-altered 2020-21 campaign) since 2011.

ALL TIME SERIES AGAINST CENTRAL WASHINGTON
• Saturday afternoon's contest will mark the first-ever meeting between the Toreros and Wildcats on the gridiron.

LAST TIME OUT
• San Diego football recorded three interceptions, including two for touchdowns in a 27-21 victory against Cal Poly last Saturday evening in front of a sold-out crowd of 5,792 at Torero Stadium.

HOW THEY BEAT THE MUSTANGS
• Senior Aidan Lehman recorded the first points of the season with a 35-yard field goal, capping off a 15-play, 85-yard drive in the first offensive set of the season.

• The defense stepped up on the next drive. Senior Trey Ortega caught a tipped ball, defended by Matt Ballentine, and took it 38 yards to the house for San Diego's first touchdown of 2024 to take a 10-0 lead with 4:20 left in the opening quarter.

• With 18 seconds left in the first half, Cal Poly got on the board with a 2-yard touchdown pass to cut their deficit down to three.

• On the fourth play of San Diego's opening drive of the second half, Colombo caught a pass but fumbled the ball right into the hands of a Mustangs defender to take it for a 35-yard fumble return touchdown. That gave Cal Poly its first lead of the game at 14-10 with 13:07 remaining in the third quarter.

• The Toreros were able to stop the Mustangs' momentum as graduate student Eric Haney hauled in an interception with 8:57 left in the third quarter.

• Two plays later and after two Mustangs penalties, senior Logan Gingg punched it in from a yard out to put San Diego back in front 17-14 with 7:32 left in the third quarter.

• The defensive movement continued Saturday night for the Toreros as Ballentine recorded the team's second pick-six of the night, this one coming from 40 yards out to extend USD's lead to two possessions, 24-14 with 13:37 in the final quarter.

NOTABLE
• Quarterback Grant Sergent led the Torero offense by completing 15 of 24 passes for 154 yards

• Running back Matt Colombo logged 15 rushes for 88 yards with three receptions for 14 yards.

• Receiver Cole Monach had a team-five receptions for 43 yards.

• Meanwhile, Ja'seem Reed led the team with 56 receiving yards on three catches, including a 41-yard reception.

• The interception for Ortega was the first of his collegiate career, in addition to his first defensive touchdown.

• Ballentine, who recorded a pass breakup against Cal Poly last year, recorded his second interception and first defensive touchdown at the Div. I level.

DOMINANT DEFENSE
• In the Toreros' Saturday night victory over Cal Poly, the USD defense secured the win by hauling in a pair of pick sixes alongside an additional interception to score 14 of its 27 total points from the defensive side of the ball.

• Trey Ortega got the first pick-six from 38 yards out with 3:14 in the first quarter before Matt Ballentine recorded the other from 40 yards with 13:37 in the fourth quarter. Both defensive touchdowns gave USD respective 10-point leads.

• The other interception came from Eric Haney with 8:57 remaining in the third quarter to stop any momentum by the Mustangs (0-1, 0-0 Big Sky).

• Additionally, the Torero defense recorded 41 total tackles, including five tackles-for-losses combining for 24 yards, as well as four total pass breakups.

A SIGNATURE VICTORY UNDER THE LIGHTS
• San Diego's thrilling victory over Cal Poly on Saturday evening marked the third time since 2016 that it has defeated a scholarship opponent.

• It was also just the third night football game that USD has hosted since 2016 and the Toreros' first since 2022 when they defeated La Verne 58-0 in a kickoff that began at 6:00 p.m.

MATT BALLENTINE NAMED PFL CO-DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
• After sealing San Diego's football's thrilling 27-21 win over Cal Poly on Saturday night with a clutch pick-six, graduate defensive back Matt Ballentine has been named the PFL Co-Defensive Player of the Week, the Pioneer Football League announced on Sunday afternoon.

• With the Toreros clinging to a 17-14 lead at the start of the fourth quarter, Ballentine intercepted a pass at the Cal Poly 40-yard line and returned it for a touchdown, extending the USD lead to 24-14. He also had two pass breakups and a tackle to lead a San Diego defense that forced three turnovers and turned two of those takeaways into defensive touchdowns.