San Diego (1-2, 0-0 PFL)   at   St. Thomas (3-1, 0-0 PFL)
Saturday, Sept. 26, 2026  •  11 a.m. PT (1 p.m. CT)  •  O'Shaughnessy Stadium  •  St. Paul, Minn.
Watch: Midco Sports Plus / FOX9+   |   Listen: USDToreros.com  (Jack Cronin)  |   Social: @USDFootball

LAST TIME OUT: SAN DIEGO 38, CAL POLY 35

• Emiliano Salazar's 38-yard field goal with 2 seconds left broke a 35-35 tie and gave San Diego its first win of 2026, a 38-35 decision at Cal Poly on Sept. 19 that spoiled the Mustangs' homecoming in front of 10,259 at Mustang Memorial Field — the largest crowd the Toreros have played before this season.
• Dom Nankil completed 25 of 30 passes for a season-high 236 yards and two touchdowns, both to Cole Monach (7 and 22 yards), and added a 1-yard scoring run with 6 seconds left in the half that sent USD to the break up 28-21.
• Adam Criter ran 28 times for a career-high 179 yards, 55 of them on a first-quarter touchdown run that put San Diego ahead 14-7. Omar Mbakwe's 1-yard score capped an 11-play, 75-yard march to open the second half and pushed the lead to 35-21.
• San Diego did not turn the ball over for the first time this season, outgained Cal Poly 499-384, picked up a season-high 29 first downs and held the ball for 35:49. The Toreros' opening possession alone went 16 plays and 88 yards over 8:07.
• The defense stopped Cal Poly on fourth-and-goal from the 1 when Ruben Lopez met Anthony Grigsby Jr. at the line with 12:18 to play, ending a 14-play, 74-yard drive that ate 6:22 without producing a point. Shaun Aletor's 5-yard sack on third-and-18 then forced the punt that gave USD the ball at its 22 with 1:06 left.
• Eight plays, 57 yards and 1:04 produced the winning points, with Nankil's 28-yard completion to Christopher Hall reaching the Cal Poly 24 with 11 seconds left. Jack Munro led the defense with eight tackles, Josiah Estes added six, and Salazar was perfect on five extra points to go with the winner.

SALAZAR NAMED PFL SPECIAL TEAMS PLAYER OF THE WEEK

• The Pioneer Football League named Emiliano Salazar its Special Teams Player of the Week on Sunday, Sept. 20, after he went 5-for-5 on extra points at Cal Poly and saved his only field-goal attempt for the last play that mattered, a 38-yarder with 2 seconds on the clock. He accounted for eight of San Diego's 38 points.
• It is the third PFL weekly honor of his career, all as Special Teams Player of the Week, following selections on Sept. 28 and Oct. 26 of last season.
• The kick was his second game-winner in the final seconds as a Torero, and the first came against Saturday's opponent: a 25-yard field goal as time expired that finished a 17-point comeback and beat St. Thomas 30-27 on Sept. 27, 2025, a performance that made him Stats Perform FCS National Special Teams Player of the Week.
• Through three games he is 3-for-3 on field goals (34, 37 and 38 yards) and 9-for-9 on extra points, and his 18 points share the team lead with Cole Monach. He is also averaging 42.6 yards on 17 punts with seven inside the 20, five of 50 yards or longer and no touchbacks.

ALL-TIME SERIES VS. ST. THOMAS

• St. Thomas leads the series 3-2, and the home team has won four of the five meetings, all PFL games since the Tommies joined the league in 2021. Saturday is the sixth meeting and the third in St. Paul, where San Diego is 0-2.
• The Toreros won the most recent one, rallying from 27-10 down late in the third quarter to beat St. Thomas 30-27 at Torero Stadium in last season's PFL opener on Sept. 27. Emiliano Salazar kicked three field goals, the last a 25-yarder as time expired; Dom Nankil threw for 265 yards and two touchdowns on 16 attempts; Adam Criter ran 28 times for 120 yards and a score; and Cole Monach's nine catches for 117 yards and a touchdown gave him his first 100-yard game of 2025.
• Both St. Thomas home wins came with record-setting days: Andrew McElroy's 200 receiving yards and three touchdowns, plus a 95-yard kickoff return score, carried the Tommies to a 49-42 win on Oct. 29, 2022, and Hope Adebayo ran for 277 yards and three touchdowns in a 34-14 win on Oct. 26, 2024. Both marks remain St. Thomas Division I-era records.
• Four of the five games have been decided by seven points or fewer. San Diego took the first meeting 27-24 at Torero Stadium on Oct. 2, 2021, and St. Thomas won 20-14 in overtime in San Diego on Nov. 11, 2023.

PFL OPENER

• Saturday pairs the No. 1 and No. 3 teams in the league's preseason coaches poll. San Diego drew five first-place votes and 90 points, three-time defending champion Drake had five first-place votes and 88, and St. Thomas — with a first-place vote of its own — finished third at 87, the tightest top three the poll has produced.
• Elsewhere in the league's opening week Saturday: Drake at Davidson, Presbyterian at Marist and Butler at Valparaiso.
• San Diego is 12-4 in PFL play over the last two seasons and finished second both years. St. Thomas went 5-3 in the league in 2025 for its fifth straight top-three finish, and the Tommies' Glenn Caruso, in his 18th season, is 13-4 in conference openers and 4-1 in them since the program moved to Division I.

STRENGTH OF SCHEDULE

• San Diego's three nonconference opponents are a combined 6-2 in their other games this season, and two of them sit in this week's AFCA coaches poll: UC Davis (3-1) is No. 9 and Idaho State (3-0) is No. 16. Both were ranked when the Toreros played them.
• Cal Poly (2-2) opened Big Sky play with a 38-34 win over Idaho and visits Eastern Washington on Saturday.
• The Toreros received votes in the AFCA poll again this week, and St. Thomas picked up a vote as well. The Tommies' only loss came at North Dakota, 62-26, on Sept. 5 — the Fighting Hawks are No. 8 in this week's poll — and their 28-26 win over Southern Utah last Saturday was the program's second over a Division I scholarship team since moving up from Division III.

ROAD SWING FINALE

• Saturday is the last of three straight road games — Idaho State, Cal Poly and now St. Thomas — and the longest trip of the stretch at roughly 1,530 air miles. San Diego returns to Torero Stadium on Oct. 3 against Davidson.
• It is also the second straight week the Toreros are the visitors on homecoming, one week after spoiling Cal Poly's.

FAMILIAR FACE

• Tight end Travis Plugge spent 2022 and 2023 at St. Thomas, redshirting his first year and then appearing in two games at quarterback in 2023, when he ran for 74 yards and a touchdown against Stetson, before transferring to USD in 2024.
• He started at tight end in his first appearance of 2026 at Cal Poly and caught three passes for 23 yards, the first receptions of his Torero career, and his 4-yard run on fourth-and-3 kept the Toreros' opening touchdown drive alive.

BALL CONTROL

• San Diego has won time of possession in all three games and is holding the ball for 33:56 a game — 35:21 at Idaho State and 35:49 at Cal Poly — while running 216 offensive plays to its opponents' 176.
• The Toreros are averaging 214.7 rushing yards on 5.1 per carry through three games, and four players have run for a touchdown: Omar Mbakwe and Dom Nankil twice each, Adam Criter and CJ Ceron once apiece. Criter's 55-yarder at Cal Poly and Ceron's 53-yarder at Idaho State are the two longest runs of the season.
• Criter leads USD with 294 rushing yards through three games, Mbakwe has 143 and two of the team's six rushing touchdowns, and Ceron has 99 on six carries.

PICKED FIRST IN THE PIONEER FOOTBALL LEAGUE

• San Diego was picked to win the PFL for a second straight year, edging three-time defending champion Drake 90-88 in the preseason coaches poll, with St. Thomas third at 87.
• The Toreros placed a league-best nine players on the Preseason All-PFL Team, filling 10 of the 31 spots, with Emiliano Salazar the only player selected at two positions.

2025 IN REVIEW

• San Diego went 8-4 overall and 6-2 in the PFL, finishing second in the league for a second straight season.
• The Toreros closed on a four-game winning streak, outscoring Dayton, Valparaiso, Butler and Stetson by a combined 145-55.
• The fourth quarter belonged to San Diego. The Toreros scored 137 of their 341 points in the final period — more than they managed in the first and third quarters combined (98) — and outscored opponents 137-72 after three.
• San Diego turned takeaways into points better than anyone it played, scoring 64 points off turnovers against seven the other way, and finished plus-12 in turnover margin with 18 takeaways to six giveaways.

PLAYERS TO WATCH
#9  Dom Nankil   QB  •  Senior  •  6-0  •  175  •  Chula Vista, Calif.  •  Mater Dei Catholic HS
2026

• Has completed 52 of 83 passes (62.7%) for 535 yards and three touchdowns through three games, has run for two more scores, and his 572 yards of total offense lead the team.
• Threw for 177 yards and a 22-yard score to Cole Monach against No. 6 UC Davis, ran 7 yards for a touchdown at No. 24 Idaho State, then completed 25 of 30 for a season-high 236 yards and two touchdowns — and added a 1-yard scoring run — in the 38-35 win at Cal Poly.

2025

• Started all 12 games and ranked fourth in the PFL in completions (157), attempts (246), passing yards (1,945) and touchdown passes (13), and third in passing efficiency (145.2).
• Completed 63.8% of his throws and was intercepted three times — tied for the fewest in the league and tied for the eighth-fewest in a single season in program history (minimum 100 attempts).
• Threw 147 passes before his first interception of the season, which did not come until Oct. 25 at Davidson.
• Season-high 288 passing yards in the 40-28 win at Davidson; completed 81% (13-of-16) at Princeton on Sept. 20.
• Ran for both of his rushing touchdowns against Southern Utah on Sept. 6.
• His 2,058 yards of total offense led the team by more than 1,100.

Career

• A Jerry Rice Award finalist as a freshman in 2023, finishing 15th in the voting after throwing for 1,158 yards and five touchdowns in eight games.
• Entered 2026 ninth in program history with 452 career pass attempts and has 535 through three games.

#4  Adam Criter   RB  •  Graduate  •  6-3  •  205  •  Downers Grove, Ill.  •  St. Francis HS
2026

• Leads San Diego with 58 carries, 294 rushing yards and 316 all-purpose yards through three games.
• Ran 28 times for a career-high 179 yards at Cal Poly, including a 55-yard touchdown that is the longest run by a Torero this season, after 61 yards on 16 carries at No. 24 Idaho State and a 31-yard run that sparked the first touchdown drive against No. 6 UC Davis.

2025

• All-PFL First Team. Led the league in rushing attempts (180) and rushing touchdowns (12) and finished second in rushing yards (921) in his first season at the position after moving over from wide receiver.
• PFL Offensive Player of the Week on Sept. 21 and an Opta Stats Perform FCS National Player of the Week honorable mention the following day.
• Four 100-yard rushing games, topped by 120 yards and a touchdown in the 30-27 win over St. Thomas on Sept. 27.
• Career-best 35 touches at Princeton on Sept. 20 — 25 carries for 105 yards and three fourth-quarter touchdowns, plus 10 catches for 68 yards in a 42-35 comeback.
• Added 23 receptions for 136 yards and led the team in all-purpose yards (1,129, 94.1 per game).
• His 79-yard run against Cal Poly on Aug. 30 was the longest by a Torero in 2025.

Career

• Preseason All-PFL First Team in 2026.

#17  Cole Monach   WR  •  Graduate  •  6-1  •  185  •  San Juan Capistrano, Calif.  •  San Juan Hills HS
2026

• Leads San Diego with 16 catches for 182 yards and three touchdowns through three games, capped by eight receptions for 87 yards and scores of 7 and 22 yards in the 38-35 win at Cal Poly.
• Also the holder on Emiliano Salazar's placekicks, including the game-winner at Cal Poly.

2025

• All-PFL Second Team. Led USD in receptions (55), receiving yards (822) and receiving yards per game (68.5), and tied for the team lead with six touchdown catches.
• Ranked among the PFL's top 10 in seven receiving categories, including fourth in yards and third in yards per game.
• His 14.9 yards per catch led every Torero with at least 19 receptions.
• Four 100-yard games, headlined by 119 yards on four catches against Butler on Senior Day, Nov. 15.
• Scored in five straight games from Sept. 27 to Nov. 1 and caught at least three passes in eight of his final nine.
• His 73-yard catch against Drake on Oct. 11 was San Diego's longest reception of the season.

Career

• Preseason All-PFL Second Team in 2026.
• Has 105 career receptions for 1,439 yards and 12 touchdowns, including 29 catches for 362 yards and three scores in 2024 and 55 for 822 and six in 2025.

#41  Emiliano Salazar   K/P  •  Junior  •  6-1  •  170  •  Orange, Calif.  •  Villa Park HS
2026

• PFL Special Teams Player of the Week on Sept. 20 after his 38-yard field goal with 2 seconds left won at Cal Poly, 38-35.
• Is 3-for-3 on field goals (34, 37 and 38 yards) and 9-for-9 on extra points through three games, and his 18 points are tied for the team lead.
• Averaging 42.6 yards on 17 punts with seven inside the 20, five of 50 yards or longer and no touchbacks, including a season-long 55-yarder at No. 24 Idaho State.

2025

• PFL Special Teams Player of the Year. All-PFL First Team as a punter and honorable mention as a placekicker.
• Led the league with 85 points and 40 extra points and tied for the league lead with 15 field goals in 18 attempts (83.3%).
• Perfect on extra points — 40-for-40.
• Made a season-long 47-yarder twice, against Drake on Oct. 11 and Dayton on Nov. 1, and hit three field goals in a game on three occasions.
• Averaged 44.8 yards on 37 punts, a single-season program record (minimum 15 punts), with a league-high 16 downed inside the 20 and 13 traveling 50 yards or more.
• FCS National Special Teams Player of the Week on Sept. 29; PFL Special Teams Player of the Week on Sept. 28 and Oct. 26.
• Handled kickoffs as well, averaging 61.9 yards on 65 attempts with 27 touchbacks.

Career

• Preseason All-PFL selection at both placekicker and punter in 2026, the only player in the league chosen twice.
• Has two game-winning field goals in the final seconds as a Torero: a 25-yarder as time expired to beat St. Thomas 30-27 on Sept. 27, 2025, and the 38-yarder at Cal Poly on Sept. 19.

 
#6  Ruben Lopez   FS  •  Graduate  •  6-0  •  180  •  Mission Viejo, Calif.  •  Mission Viejo HS
2026

• Has 11 tackles, an interception and a pass breakup through three games. Made San Diego's only interception of the season in the end zone against No. 6 UC Davis, then stopped Cal Poly quarterback Anthony Grigsby Jr. on fourth-and-goal from the 1 with 12:18 left to protect a tie in the 38-35 win.

2025

• All-PFL Second Team and All-PFL Academic Second Team. A captain who played all 12 games in the heart of the defense.
• Recorded 53 tackles (37 solo), three tackles for loss and a sack.
• Tied for second in the PFL with five interceptions, returning them 50 yards, and added four pass breakups and a forced fumble.
• Intercepted a pass in three consecutive games from Oct. 25 to Nov. 8 and in four of his final five.
• Season-high seven tackles twice — at Montana State on Sept. 13 and at Stetson on Nov. 22.

Career

• Entered 2026 tied for fourth in program history with 11 career interceptions; the pick against UC Davis was his 12th.
• All-PFL Second Team in 2024 and PFL Co-Defensive Player of the Week that Oct. 6, after an 87-yard walk-off fumble return for a touchdown in overtime against Presbyterian.
• Preseason All-PFL Second Team in 2026.

#49  Cayden Gibson   OLB  •  Junior  •  6-2  •  220  •  Chandler, Ariz.  •  Arizona College Prep
2026

• Has played in two of San Diego's three games, starting at LEO at Cal Poly, and has two tackles.

2025

• Played all 12 games and tied for seventh on the team with 41 tackles (24 solo), including 3.5 for loss and 2.5 sacks.
• Season-high eight tackles in the 29-7 win over Butler on Nov. 15.
• Forced a fumble and recorded an interception at Marist on Oct. 4, then forced another the following week against Drake.
• All 2.5 of his sacks came in a three-game stretch between Sept. 27 and Oct. 11.

Before San Diego

• Piled up 285 tackles, 61 tackles for loss and 50 sacks at Arizona College Prep, with three blocked punts as a senior.
• A two-time all-region defensive player of the year and four-time Arizona all-state honoree who also wrestled, placing second in the state as a senior.

#96  River Abenroth   DT  •  Junior  •  6-2  •  270  •  San Diego, Calif.  •  Point Loma HS
2026

• Has four tackles and 1.5 tackles for loss through three games. At Cal Poly he shared a tackle for loss with Jae'Von Reels on the Mustangs' opening series, dropping Anthony Grigsby Jr. for a 2-yard loss on third-and-1.

2025

• All-PFL Honorable Mention. Appeared in all 12 games with 32 tackles (14 solo), five tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks.
• Season-high six tackles against Butler on Nov. 15.
• Recorded at least half a tackle for loss in four consecutive games from Sept. 27 to Oct. 25.

Career

• A 2026 Preseason All-PFL selection, one of two Toreros among the league's five preseason defensive linemen.
• A San Diego native who played at Point Loma High, roughly 10 minutes from campus.

#76  Sean Scheck   DT  •  Senior  •  6-3  •  260  •  Batavia, Ill.  •  Marmion Academy
2026

• Has five tackles and half a tackle for loss through three games.

2025

• All-PFL Honorable Mention. Recorded 20 tackles in 10 games with six tackles for loss and five sacks, second on the team in both.
• Season-high 2.5 sacks and 2.5 tackles for loss in the 31-13 win over Dayton on Nov. 1 — the best single-game sack total by a Torero in 2025.
• Got to the quarterback in back-to-back games at Princeton (Sept. 20) and against St. Thomas (Sept. 27).

Career

• A 2026 Preseason All-PFL selection.
• Earned four all-conference honors at Marmion Academy, two in football and two in wrestling, and was an all-state wrestler.

#95  Jae'Von Reels   NT  •  Senior  •  6-1  •  280  •  San Jose, Calif.  •  Bellarmine College Prep
2026

• Has eight tackles and half a tackle for loss through three games, five of the tackles at Cal Poly, where he stuffed Jaden Green for no gain on third-and-goal from the 1 a play before Ruben Lopez's fourth-down stop.

2025

• Played nine games with 10 tackles and a tackle for loss.
• Recorded half a tackle for loss against St. Thomas on Sept. 27 and again at Davidson on Oct. 25.

2024

• All-PFL Honorable Mention. Put up 19 tackles (10 solo) in nine games with three tackles for loss, half a sack, an interception and a pass breakup.

Career

• W-Cal Defensive Lineman of the Year at Bellarmine College Prep in 2023.

NEW FACES

• San Diego brought in 10 transfers for 2026: Doug Williams (Stetson/Glendale CC), Elijah Taylor (Northern Arizona), Nolan Story (Moorpark College), Alex Whitman (Notre Dame), Robert Tucker III (Cornell), Michael Roni (San Diego State), Tim Hays (Boston College), Jake Arellano (Bentley), Mansfield Owsley (Georgetown) and Jack Hinchey (Modesto JC).
• Four are on the two-deep — Taylor and Hays as starters, Story and Williams on the second unit — and all four played in the opener, along with Robert Tucker III.

#3  Elijah Taylor   WR  •  Graduate  •  6-0  •  190  •  Phoenix, Ariz.  •  Higley HS  •  Northern Arizona
 

• Started his Torero debut at wide receiver against No. 6 UC Davis and is second on the team with 11 catches for 94 yards through three games, including a season-high six for 47 yards at Cal Poly.
• Spent five seasons at Northern Arizona, playing 11 games in 2025 largely on special teams with three special teams tackles and two catches for 28 yards.
• His most productive year came in 2022: 20 receptions for 198 yards in 10 games, including a season-high six catches for 57 yards against Montana State and his first career rushing touchdown at Idaho State.
• Made seven starts in 2023 and averaged 21.8 yards on four catches, among them a 60-yard reception against Sacramento State.
• Recovered a blocked punt for a touchdown against Lincoln in 2024.
• Big Sky All-Academic in 2025. Pursuing a graduate degree in educational leadership.

#5  Nolan Story   OLB  •  Sophomore  •  6-0  •  210  •  Thousand Oaks, Calif.  •  Newbury Park HS  •  Moorpark College
 

• Ranks fifth on the team with 12 tackles as the second-team STAR — six in his Torero debut against No. 6 UC Davis, five at No. 24 Idaho State and one at Cal Poly.
• Put up 199 tackles in 19 games across two seasons at Moorpark College — 10.5 per game — with 17.5 tackles for loss, six forced fumbles, six interceptions and two sacks.
• Junior College Gridiron All-American First Team and National Northern All-Conference First Team in both 2024 and 2025.
• Moorpark's defensive MVP in 2024, then team captain and team MVP in 2025.
• Unanimous Southern California Football Association Defensive Utility Player of the Year and an All-California Community College First Team Defense pick in 2025. Named MVP of the 2025 Patriotic Bowl.
• A First Team All-Canyon League linebacker and First Team All-Ventura County running back as a senior at Newbury Park.

#42  Tim Hays   OLB  •  Graduate  •  6-1  •  227  •  Concord, Mass.  •  Carlisle HS  •  Boston College
 

• Started at WILL in his Torero debut and leads San Diego with 19 tackles through three games, topping the team in each of the first two — eight against No. 6 UC Davis and seven at No. 24 Idaho State — before adding four tackles and a quarterback hurry at Cal Poly.
• Played 12 games at Boston College over three seasons, at linebacker and on special teams, recording tackles against Notre Dame and Georgia Tech.
• ACC All-Academic Team in 2025. Graduated magna cum laude with a degree in finance and computer science.
• Majoring in applied artificial intelligence at USD.
• His cousin, Garrett Reilly, punted at Boston College in 2018.

#2  Doug Williams   CB  •  Junior  •  5-9  •  180  •  Hollywood Hills, Calif.  •  Heritage Christian  •  Stetson / Glendale CC
 

• Second-team left cornerback who played in his Torero debut against No. 6 UC Davis.
• Arrives by way of Stetson — the PFL opponent San Diego closes the regular season against on Nov. 21 — and Glendale Community College.
• Named Community College Student Athlete of the Year at Glendale, where he carried the highest grade-point average of any athlete on campus.
• Recorded 50 tackles at Heritage Christian with six pass breakups, five tackles for loss, an interception, a forced fumble and a blocked punt, earning First and Second Team All-Conference honors.
• A first-generation college athlete. Both of his parents work in entertainment — his father as an actor and comedian, his mother as an actress — and his younger brother, Adan, plays cornerback at Glendale.