Ex-Mater Dei Player Likes Football’s Slow Lane

He has a normal haircut. There are no funky designs shaved into his scalp, no long-on-top, short-on-the-bottom themes.

He does not wear earrings. No studs in his lobe and certainly nothing dangling down his neck.

Meet Scott Buccola, formerly of Mater Dei and now a starting cornerback for the University of San Diego.

You will not see him on television this fall hamming it up on the bench. But then again, you will not hear about him accepting illegal money from boosters who have to win now .

No, San Diego is a low profile, Division I-AA school, and that’s OK. And while third-teamers at top 20 schools think they are definitely NFL material, Buccola simply can’t wait to fly to Evansville, Ind., for Saturday’s game.

Until this fall, when San Diego joined the fledgling Pioneer Football League, Buccola had never seen the Midwest. Then, a few weeks ago, the Toreros played at Dayton and, the next week, at Valparaiso (Ind.).

This Saturday, it’s Evansville.

“I hear it’s been pouring rain all week,” Buccola said, grinning. “The coaches have been watching film and they say that the field is just nothing but a mud bowl.”

Hollywood doesn’t make movies about Division I-AA programs that offer only need-based scholarships. But sometimes a “Rudy” can be found someplace other than Notre Dame.

Once he saw the San Diego campus, Buccola, a 5-foot-11, 190-pound senior, didn’t even bother to take any recruiting visits during his final year at Mater Dei. He briefly thought about going to St. Mary’s in Moraga but scotched that idea when he attended a football information session at San Diego with his parents.

“I saw the campus and I was amazed,” he said. “It was beautiful.”

But here was the twist: Buccola was denied admission out of high school.

“When I didn’t get in, it just killed me,” he said. “I wanted to come here even more.”

Determined, he went to Orange Coast College for a year, bumped up his grades and then was admitted to San Diego.

Four years later, Buccola has no regrets.

“I love it,” said Buccola, who has been voted by his position group as the hardest-working defensive back. “All four years have been great. The campus is gorgeous, the classes are nice and small. You’re able to get a great education and play football at the same time.

“A lot of schools can’t offer that.”

Buccola has shown the same determination on the field he did during entrance interviews. He finally became a starter as a junior last fall but then dislocated his shoulder in the second game.

He missed four weeks, rehabilitated and then played in the final four games of the season.

Team trainers warned him that he needed to strengthen the shoulder further, so he spent the summer hard at work.

And then, during fall camp this August, it popped out again.

“The doctor suggested surgery the next day and I was thinking my football days were over,” he said. “I didn’t look at any option other than surgery. The word was, I was out for the season.

“But two days after the injury, I looked at all of my options and one of them was to hold off surgery until after the season and risk popping the shoulder out every time I was hit.”

So he did. He has started all five games so far, making one interception--against Dayton--and 17 tackles.

“As far as work ethic, he’s where he’s at because of it,” said Kevin McGarry, San Diego defensive coordinator. “He’s not blessed with super athletic skills. He just worked his butt off.”

No, Buccola and the Toreros will not be on television this fall, but they have been to Chicago.

“Valparaiso was nice because it was Indiana. We did a lot of busing, got to see a lot of the Midwest. On the way back, we had some time and the coaches asked the bus driver on the way to O’Hare Airport if he could take us through Chicago and he said, ‘Sure.’

“We went by Soldier Field, Comiskey Park, the Sears Tower, Lake Michigan. All the way through downtown, which was pretty cool because I had never seen Chicago.”

And this was after San Diego lost to Valparaiso, 35-25.

“The trips have been really tough, especially on studying,” said Buccola, a business administration major. “Sundays are the best days to get your schoolwork done--you can get in five or six hours of studying and be set for the week.

“But when you fly to Dayton, you’re tired, you’ve lost three hours, you get back to San Diego around noon and then we have a 6 p.m. practice. That’s been the biggest challenge, keeping your studies up.”

One day, Buccola thinks he will take his degree and go into sales. But right now he has a senior year to finish. Yes, there are practices to attend and games to play, but there are also some trips to make and sights to see.

“It’s like these guys at San Diego State,” Buccola said. “At a big-time school, the third-stringers are so stressed out about not playing that they’re never enjoying the game. And they’re so worried about the scout team, or running the opponents’ offense . . .

“At our level, guys know they are not going to play professionally. We’re playing for the love of it. It makes it so much more enjoyable.”

No, Buccola will not be preparing for the NFL draft in April. He will have that shoulder surgery after the season but, the way he figures it, that’s OK. One surgery in eight years of football? For a lifetime of memories? He’ll take it.

Sometimes, a small school can be as nice as an evening at home with the family.

“Just because you’re undersized, or your speed is off a little bit, there is a place where some of these guys can go,” McGarry said. “Good football players should be playing football. Not everybody has to go to UCLA or USC.”

But, just once, everybody should cruise through Chicago and check out the Sears Tower.