Southland Roundup : USD’s Fogarty Gets First Victory Over Azusa

In his first six years at the University of San Diego, Coach Brian Fogarty had never beaten Azusa Pacific.

After Saturday night, that can no longer be said.

USD trounced Azusa, 24-6, in front of a season-opening crowd of 3,827 at USD’s Torero Stadium.

“That was fun,” Fogarty said. “We just beat a good football team.”

Azusa, an NAIA Division II team, finished 7-1 last season, including a 14-13 victory over USD. The Toreros finished 5-4.

“That was a great win for us,” Fogarty said. “I can’t think of any better ones. There might be one or two, but I can’t think of any right now.”

USD fullback Todd Jackson rushed for 117 yards on 21 carries. Jackson, a 5-foot-11, 205-pound senior, pounded the Cougar defense with runs up the middle and off-tackle.

“The belly play was going instead of our sweeps,” Fogarty said. “If they can’t stop the fullback, we’ll keep giving it to him.”

USD was equally successful with the pass. Quarterback Brendan Murphy passed for 192 yards, completing 14 of 21 passes, including a five-yard touchdown pass to Mike Hintze.

Hintze’s touchdown, a nice lunging grab in the back of the end zone, gave USD a 24-6 lead that held up.

Azusa, which managed only 133 of offense (56 rushing, 77 passing), got its only score in the third quarter on Tommy Daniel’s 26-yard run. The conversion kick was wide left.

After an initial 71-yard drive stalled inches short of the goal line, USD scored on its next possession. From the five, Murphy turned a broken play into a touchdown by sweeping to the right sideline.

USD increased its lead to 10-0 with a 20-yard field goal by Dave Bergmann with 3:43 left in the first quarter.

On its next possession early in the second quarter, USD drove 90 yards in three plays--Jackson scoring on a one-yard off-tackle run--to take a 17-0 lead into halftime. The drive’s setup plays were a 33-yard run by Jackson and a 56-yard pass from Murphy to Ken Jones down the right sideline.

In building its lead, USD dominated every statistical category. The Toreros controlled the ball for 22:01 to just 7:59 for Azusa. The Cougars ran just 18 plays.

Murphy had 159 yards on 10-of-14 passing to just 28 for Azusa’s Brian Hunt (three of eight). Jackson had 13 carries for 84 yards to lead a ground game that totaled 116 yards. Azusa managed just 19 yards rushing.

Torero defensive back Darryl Jackson had an interception and also recovered a fumble.

He added another fumble recovery and had one of the biggest hits of the night in the second half. On a fourth and two in the third quarter, Jackson came up from his cornerback spot and crunched Azusa’s Adam Gonzaga, who lost four yards on the play.