Plenty of college football teams around the country are bowl-eligible. But only one has a guaranteed, secured spot in the post-season and it hails from San Diego.
The USD Toreros hammered Davidson 63-7 on Saturday in North Carolina to win the outright Pioneer League championship and earn an automatic spot in the Football Championship Subdivision Playoffs. It was the 20th straight PFL win for the Toreros.
Quarterback Anthony Lawrence was borderline perfect. The junior from Grossmont High School completed 24 of 28 passes for 403 yards and three touchdowns. Justin Priest caught eight of those passes for 110 yards and a score.
The Toreros were nearly as effective on the ground. They ran 41 times for 288 yards and four more TDs, the longest coming from a quarterback. Backup Alex Farina, a redshirt freshman from Phoenix, outscored Davidson with two plays. He completed a 12-yard touchdown pass to Alex Spadone and took off on an 87-yard touchdown run.
San Diego’s defense was every bit as good as the offense, holding the Wildcats to 135 yards and forcing a turnover on a Blake Martin interception.
USD has one more regular season game, next Saturday at Torero Stadium for a 2:00 p.m. start against Marist, before finding out whom they get to play in the first round. Last year the Toreros beat Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo in the playoffs for the program’s first post-season win.
