USD Gets a Chance to Pay Back Menlo for Missing Last Year’s Playoffs

Last year, the University of San Diego football team missed the Division III playoffs by a field goal.

Menlo College defeated USD, 17-15, in the season’s final game. Menlo, 7-3 and ranked 16th in the final coaches’ poll, advanced to the 16-team playoffs. USD, 6-3-1 and 20th, did not.

Today in Atherton, the two teams meet in the season opener.

“We don’t talk about revenge, but it’s a natural incentive for us,” said Brian Fogarty, starting his sixth year as coach. “The kids want to prove they were better than last year.”

Their goal is to reach the playoffs, something the school has missed out on since 1973. “It will be disappointing to us if we’re not in the top of Division III football,” Fogarty said. “We may not be the best, but we should be there.”

With 16 starters returning, including nine from the nation’s 10th-ranked defense, they are optimistic on the Alcala Park campus.

“It’s nice now that people are asking me football questions instead of academic questions,” Fogarty said. “It’s always been the opposite here. We’ve always been known as an academic school with a football team. Now we’re a football team with high academics.”

Example: Senior defensive back Bryan Day led the Toreros in six defensive categories last year, including tackles (91) and interceptions (6). A business and economics major, he has a 3.78 grade-point average and was first-team academic All-American.

“Bryan Day is the key,” Fogarty said. “He’s like the quarterback of our defense. He’s a legitimate All-American candidate.”

Joining Day in the secondary are Chris King and Darryl Jackson, who started as freshmen last year. Returning at linebacker are Frank Love, Shawn Rezaian and Matt Haniger. On the line--the strength of the defense, according to Fogarty--Dave Dunn, David Gilmore and John Gomez are back.

And in what seems a bizarre switch, quarterback Braulio Castillo is now a linebacker. “It’s an odd move,” Fogarty said. “But to people who know the situation, it doesn’t surprise them. He’s just a super athlete. He’ll probably be our best outside linebacker.

“In the past, we were a bend-but-don’t-break defense. Our philosophy now is an attacking aggressive style. We were adequate before. But adequate wasn’t where we wanted to be. We wanted to be better than that.”

Last year, they were the best (No. 1 nationally in scoring defense) until a 34-7 loss to Division II St. Mary’s College in the ninth week. USD finished 10th, allowing 10.0 points per game.

But while the defense was bullish, the offense was sluggish. “We had an adequate offense with an outstanding defense,” Fogarty said. “I’ve always been a believer that you win with a good defense.

“As long as I’m the head coach, we’ll always be a ball-control team. We’ll run 60% to 65% of the time.”

Carrying the most will be fullback Todd Jackson (405 yards, 4.6 average) and Virgil Enriquez (two-year starter limited by injuries). Quarterback Brendan Murphy (52 for 109 passing for 769 yards, 8 touchdown) returns following off-season shoulder surgery.

The top receivers are Ken Zampese and Ken Jones.

Asked whom he could least afford to lose to injury, Fogarty said, “He’s already gotten hurt.” Senior tight end David Nottoli is out three to four weeks after having arthroscopic knee surgery last week.