USD Football 1992

1992 USD FOOTBALL PROFILE

Nine years ago, a goal was set by the new football stall to develop a football program that would be nationally recognized, but to do sowhile reflecting the philosophy and values of the university. In order to achieve this goal, it remains

important for the university to attract true student athletes. Not only must they be good football players, but good students aswell. USD stresses academics first, with athletics being an integral part of the educational process. The 1992 season will be USD's last at the NCAA Division Ill level. The Toreros are pleased to announce that the football program will become a member of the new Pioneer Football League effective with the 1993 season. Joining USD in this NCAA Division I-AA leaguewill be Dayton University, Butler University, Valparaiso University, Evans– ville University and Drake University. The USD football program has seen tremendous

growth overthe last nine years. The quality of its players has risen steadily both academically and athletically. The mini– mum requirements for incoming students are 3 .0 GPA's with a 900 on the SAT, and many of the players on the present squad were highly honored student-athletes at their high school. This combination of academics and athletics makes USD football an attractive opportunity for the serious student who is looking to get a good education as well as participating on an outstanding football team. The major recruiting emphasis is on high school seniors. This is a departure from the previous philosophy which depended heavily on transfers. To develop the consistency needed to be successful every year, players should be part of the program for four years. This process was slow, but, has paid great dividends. National and regional rankings over the past five seasons, along with four Academic All Americans are just a few of the bench marks that point to how far this program has come. The team GPA of 2.8 tells that USD's players are successful in the classroom as well. The Torero's offense is coming off oneof its finest seasons since Coach Fogarty arrived on the scene in 1983. Since switching to the Wing T offense, USD has given opposing defenses many different things to worry about defending. This misdirection offense is perfectly suited for taking advantage of the strengths of San Diego's personnel. Although USD loses some key performers from last year's 7-3 squad (7-0 against NCAA Div. Ill teams), the Toreros return approximately 37 lettermen and 11 starters; while 57 newcomers round out the squad. Key offensive players back include seniorQBMichael Bennett (919 yds, 9 TDs), senior FB Scott Sporrer (876 yds, 5 TDs). sophomore RB Michael Henry (269 yds), senior OT Eric Brown, senior OT Sean Parks, junior OG Victor Cruz and junior OG Kevin Barres. The San Diegodefense has established itself asoneol the best in Division Ill football. Defensively the Toreros return six starters that held opponents to 118.4 yards rushing a game in '91 . II the group remains healthy the Toreros should have another outstanding defense. Key returners include junior DB Matt Horeczko (77 tackles, 7 deflected passes), junior ILB

Marcus Carter (60 tackles), senior SS Jell Blazevich (50 tackles, 3 sacks), senior DL Christian Sirek (37 tackles, 2 sacks) and senior DL Rick Salazar (47 tackles, 5 OB hurries). Others expected to see plenty of action include senior DB Stephen Crandall (50 tackles), seniorOLB Bill Mathauer (20 tackles) and two linebackers coming back from injury -Neal Weitman and Fred Shaw. The special teams unit will be paced by sopho– more punter Robert Ray and newcomer Jay Parks at kicker. Heading the listfor kick and punt return dutieswill be sophomore Michael Henry. With the 1992 season the Toreros' last at the NCAA Division Ill level, USD hopes to put it all together and reach their goal of going to the NCAA playoffs. Last season saw them ranked as one of the top six teams in the NCAA Division Ill western region. It marked the third year in a row that USD just missed a berth in the NCAA

post season playoffs. But, USD has to deal with a very tough schedule that includes two Division II opponents as well as teams that comprise the always tough SCIAC conference. The future looks very bright for USD and 1992 should be a very good year for the Toreros.

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