USD FOOTBALL: Toreros continue to roll

By Tom Shanahan - For The North County Times | Saturday, September 6, 2008 10:40 PM PDT ∞

SAN DIEGO ---- On a day San Diego State threatened to stun the nation's preeminent Catholic school football program, a small Catholic school from San Diego continued to roll along at a pace like Notre Dame of yesteryear.

The University of San Diego won its 26th straight home game Saturday night, routing Azusa Pacific 38-10 at Torero Stadium.

The streak is the longest in the nation among NCAA schools in both the Football Bowl Subdivision and Football Championship Subdivision. USD (2-0) competes in the latter.

Azusa Pacific (0-2), ranked No. 20 in the nation among NAIA schools, fell to USD for the fourth straight year.

"I'm going to get a win out of here one of these years," said Azusa Pacific head coach Victor Santa Cruz, the Cougars' third-year head coach and a Rancho Buena Vista High graduate. "They're obviously doing all the things right you want out of college football program. Their facilities and resources are great. They're a great example for our football program."

Toreros senior wide receiver John Matthews continued to validate himself as an NFL prospect on a night scouts from the Chargers, Carolina Panthers, New York Giants and Green Bay Packers were in attendance.

Matthews, a 6-foot, 203-pounder, finished with 10 catches for 231 yards and touchdowns of 4, 33 and 52 yards. He was one reception shy of tying the school record for catches in a game and 4 yards shy of breaking the record for yards in a game. He and two others have caught 11 passes in a game.

Second-year USD coach Ron Caragher joked that had he known Matthews was so close, he might have called for a hitch pass to Matthews in the fourth quarter before pulling his starters.

"But John doesn't care about those things," Caragher said. "I asked him how many catches he had tonight, and he said, 'I don't know, Coach. I just know it felt good.' "

USD junior quarterback Sebastian Trujillo finished 20-of-35 for 364 yards with four touchdowns and two interceptions.

USD led 24-7 at halftime, and Matthews' 43-yard reception set up the Toreros' first touchdown of the third quarter. Junior backup fullback Nick Coppedge, a Vista High alumnus, scored on a 3-yard run up the middle.