Toreros Shut Down Whittier : USD: Pressure from defensive front is the difference in 16-3 victory.

With six sacks, three interceptions, two recovered fumbles and a blocked punt, the University of San Diego’s big-play defense made the biggest difference Saturday night as the Toreros defeated Whittier, 16-3, for the fifth consecutive year.

USD, which improved to 5-2 with two road games remaining, has now outscored the Poets, 104-25, the past five years. Whittier fell to 0-6 and has not won in its past seven games dating to last year.

“The pressure from the defensive front was the difference. They were impressive,” said defensive back Darryl Jackson, who intercepted his third pass of the season with 7:18 left. “They helped us a lot. It made it a lot easier to cover their receivers.”

After trailing, 3-0, in the first quarter, USD tied the score on Dave Bergmann’s first of three field goals. The Toreros then scored a touchdown in the second quarter and two field goals in the third quarter.

While USD’s offense was so-so and typically conservative--it had 265 total yards, including 153 rushing--the defense was typically impressive.

USD allowed only 137 yards, 56 in the second half. Whittier, which has been struggling on offense all season and had fumbled 19 times in five games, managed only 76 yards rushing and 61 passing, completing nine of 24 attempts.

Senior linebacker Lenny Territo had three sacks and Christian Sirek, John Gillis and Bobby Tubbs each had one. Gillis, a senior and the Toreros’ punter, was starting for only the second time in his career. Tubbs is a freshman, Sirek a sophomore.

Defensive coordinator Kevin McGarry was pleased with his unit’s performance.

“We got some nice pressure without even blitzing very much,” said McGarry, who noted that he called for only five blitzes, all in the first half. “After that, we just held back. We were getting good pressure even without it.”

Whittier scored first. After a 41-yard drive stalled at the USD 15, Michael Westmoreland kicked a 32-yard field goal.

USD tied the score on a 24-yard field goal 1:24 into the second quarter. The kick followed a nine-play, 62-yard drive that stalled when USD failed to score after gaining a first and goal at the five.

Neither team moved the ball much the rest of the first half, but USD got a huge break when Darby Barrett partially blocked Richard Bernard’s punt with 1:30 remaining and the Toreros took over at the Poet 18.

Six plays later with 19 seconds left, quarterback Brendan Murphy found running back John Eck in the end zone for a two-yard touchdown. On the previous play, Whittier defensive back Chad Crites was called for pass interference, having jumped on Eck’s back on a similar play, and USD was given an automatic first down.

USD’s Scott Sporrer just missed getting his second 100-yard game of the season, finishing with 97 yards in 19 carries.