USD Never Gets to Use Second Wind : Wrong Choice on Coin Toss Becomes Key in 41-7 Loss

University of San Diego’s coaches made what turned out to be a wrong decision even before the start of Saturday’s game won by Occidental, 41-7.

USD, after losing the coin toss, had the option of driving into the wind in the first or second quarter. The Toreros decided to save the wind until the second quarter. The problem was that by the time they had the wind behind them, they were also behind, 13-0.

USD didn’t do much right after that, either, losing its fifth straight game in front of 4,000 in Toreros Stadium.

“Yeah, not taking the wind in the first quarter really turned out to be a bad move,” USD Coach Brian Fogarty said. “We couldn’t stop them from scoring.”

One reason Occidental scored so easily was it had good field position--after a couple of poor punts by USD’s Pat McNamara.

After Occidental scored first on a two-yard run by Tim Kennedy, USD failed to move the ball on its ensuing possession. McNamara’s first punt, a 26-yarder into the wind, set up a 27-yard field goal by Tim Dewberry. After USD failed to move again, McNamara punted just 28 yards, setting up a 37-yard field goal by Dewberry.

McNamara’s next punt was blocked by Mike Sandlin at the USD 11. Three plays later, quarterback Mark Krajnik hit Kevin Vegas with a five-yard touchdown pass to make it 20-0.

USD’s touchdown came on an 18-yard pass from Pat Dixon to Scott Reilly in the second quarter. The Toreros finished with only 196 yards of total offense compared to 392 by Occidental. Occidental (5-2-1) gained 304 yards on the ground.

The Toreros finish their regular season Saturday at Menlo College.