USD Turns Up the Heat on Winless Claremont-Mudd : College football: Margin of victory in 30-3 rout is Toreros’ biggest since 1987.

Funny, the University of San Diego’s football victory Saturday over Claremont-Mudd didn’t seem like a 27-point rout.

Maybe it was the hot and smoggy conditions. Perhaps it was the dearth of fans--no more than 200 at Stag Field for the final home game of the season. Or it could have been the 10 turnovers, or even that there was only one touchdown in the first half.

After all, the scoreboard was on the blink until an electrician fixed it with 12 minutes left in the game.

When the clock ticked to 0:00, the score read: USD 30, Claremont-Mudd 3.

But on a scale of one to 10, Coach Brian Fogarty gave his team only a 7.5.

“We could have done better, much better,” senior safety Dave Paladino said.

Still, not since 1987 has there been a bigger margin in a USD victory.

The last time USD, which is 25-13-1 over the past 4 1/2 seasons, including 4-2 this fall, had a bigger victory was during the sixth week of 1987, when it beat Pomona-Pitzer, 42-6.

“It doesn’t feel that way to me, but I’ll take it,” Fogarty said.

Take it, indeed. After a number of players took an impromptu dip in the nearby campus swimming pool to cool off after the game, USD returned home having scored more points in back-to-back games than any other Torero club since that one in ’87.

USD beat Whittier, 31-7, last week behind the speed of freshman running back Willie Branch. On Saturday, there were many heroes.

Daniel Branch, Willie’s younger brother who is also a freshman, scored on a spectacular 82-yard punt return and gave 11 Stags a lesson in what it must be like to chase a jackrabbit in an open field.

Fullback Scott Sporrer had 124 rushing yards and one touchdown in 19 carries to give him 583 yards in 107 carries and six games. Sporrer led a 7-2 USD team last year with 568 yards in 112 carries.

Dave Bergmann, the most prolific kicker in USD history, had field goals of 27, 43 and 24 yards and barely missed wide right on another 43-yard attempt that would have tied his own school record of four in one game.

Jim Washam, Paul Sellers and Ken Robak each had a sack. Chon Starlin had the hit of the game, knocking Stag quarterback Michael Sullivan (10 of 28, four interceptions and 76 yards) four yards backwards and out of the game. And Jeff Blazevich, Paladino, Scott Wahl and T.J. Burke each had an interception.

Paladino’s play, however, put all the others to shame on this blazing day.

Stepping in front of receiver Jack Mansperger deep in Stag territory, Paladino picked off a pass and practically walked untouched nine yards into the end zone.

“It was a short run on a short day,” Paladino said. “That’s what I wanted; not one of those 80-yarders. I didn’t have to work nearly as hard as those other guys.”

Despite the relative ease of the victory over a Claremont-Mudd team that is 0-6 this year and 2-13 the past two seasons, there were some areas of concern.

USD turned over the ball five times--three fumbles and two interceptions by the Stags’ Christopher Neal. Two long touchdown runs were called back because of penalties. The Toreros were flagged seven times for 89 yards.

Other than a Bergmann field goal in the second half, the offense was basically shut down, gaining only 98 total yards after rolling up 208 in the first 30 minutes.

“Offensively, we were sputtering,” Fogarty said, “and we needed the defense to pick it up. Fortunately, they were able to do that. The defense played great.”

Said defensive tackle Rick Salazar: “It was nice to show we have the guts to play an 0-5 team to our level, especially in this smog.”