Toreros Make Their Point--and Then Some : College football: USD routs Whittier, 31-7, to end string of 1-point losses.

There would be no one-point loss this week. The University of San Diego football team and freshman running back Willie Branch took care of that early en route to a 31-7 rout of Whittier in front of 4,000 Saturday night at Torero Stadium.

By the time the Toreros had run their 11th play from scrimmage, 14 seconds into the second quarter, they had three touchdowns, a 21-0 lead and more points than they had scored in any other game this season.

They increased their lead to 24-0 by halftime and it was 31-7 at the end of three quarters.

After coming up short in back-to-back 21-20 games against Cal Lutheran and Cal State Hayward, USD (3-2) enjoyed its most lopsided victory since beating Claremont Mudd, 31-7, in the second game of last season.

“After the last two games, we really felt like we needed to prove to ourselves that we were a good football team,” USD Coach Brian Fogarty said. “And we sought to do that early.”

The Toreros succeeded. It was evident nearly from the onset that USD could do as it pleased against a terribly outmanned Whittier team, which started seven freshmen and a sophomore on defense and fell to 2-3 under first-year Coach Ken Visser.

On USD’s fourth play from scrimmage, Branch took a pitch from quarterback Michael Bennett, cut upfield along the left hash mark and raced 43 yards for his first touchdown.

On play No. 9, Bennett rolled left from the Whittier 10-yard line, looked into the end zone, double pumped, looked again and finally nailed sophomore running back Michael Henry two yards deep in the end zone.

And on play No. 11, Branch struck again, this time taking a pitch and pacing the right sideline for a 59-yard score.

In only four attempts, Branch had a career-high 120 yards, and there was still 44:46 left in the game.

Branch, however, remained in the game only two plays and 50 seconds into the second half. His 47-yard touchdown run gave USD a 31-0 lead and prompted Fogarty to send in the reserves.

Branch finished with 179 yards in eight carries. His three touchdowns tied a school record held by many and gave him a team-leading six in five games since graduating from Sweetwater High.

“We had the feeling he would be the best athlete on the field tonight, and we wanted to take advantage of that,” said Fogarty, who added two new plays this week designed to highlight Branch’s speed. “Two new plays, and he scored on both of them.”

Said Branch: “I worked a lot at slowing down my pace in practice, slowing down and waiting for my blockers to do their job. And they did a great job.”

Dave Bergmann, USD’s all-time leader in field goals, added a career-best 53-yarder to his legacy with one second left in the first half.