USD Football 2008

TOREROS LOOK TO CONTINUE WINNING WAYS

and sophomore end Julian Strickland. The depth of the defensive line unit will be bolstered by the return of se– nior Vince Atofau, senior Josh Sutchar, junior John G'Sell, sophomores Ben Thorne and Paul Tremblay, and red– shirt freshman Michael Fetterman. Re– turners competing for playing time at linebacker will include senior Averill Sutchar, junior Hanner Hart, sopho– more Steve Roseman, and freshmen Loka Kanongataa, Joe Martin and Bran– don Moberg. The defensive secondary will get help from senior safety Daniel Cornsweet, senior rover Joe Staab, and a couple of players that have moved over from offense - former quarterback Kevin Dunn moves to safety and former running back Derron Juarez lines up at corner back. The special team's unit will be solid again with the return of J.T. Rogan. Last season Rogan earned First Team All– America honors as a return specialist. He finished No. 1 in the nation among FCS players in kickoff returns with his 33.2 yard average. Junior John Mcsorley is back as the team's punter. Last year he earned Second Team AII-PFL honors aher averaging 35.9 yards on 24 punts. With Hutch Parker, the program's all– time scoring leader lost to graduation, Mcsorley is projected to compete for kicking duties as well. Look for Conrad Smith to handle long snapper duties, while Sean Cullina will be the holder. The Toreros play an eleven game schedule with the luxury of seven home contests at Torero Stadium. With their season opener on August 29th, USO will be putting its 24-game home winning streak on the line. Additional noncon– ference home games include Azusa Pacific (Sept. 6) and UC Davis (Nov. 22), while PFL home dates are with Val– paraiso (Oct. 4), Morehead State (Oct. 11 ), Dayton (Nov. 1) and Butler (Nov. 15). The four road contests are all PFL games and will be played at Campbell (Sept. 20), Drake (Sept. 27), Jacksonville (Oct. 25) and Davidson (Nov. 8). The Gridiron Classic, between the regular– season champions of both the PFL and NEC, will be played on Dec. 6th at the site of the NEC champion. 2008 PFL PRESEASON COACHES POLL 1. SAN DIEGO (2) ..................... 58 2. Dayton (3) ..................................... 55 3. Davidson (3) ................................. 51 4. Morehead State (1) .................... 48 5. Drake............................................... 36 6.Jacksonville................................... 29 7. Butler .............................................. 19 Valparaiso ...................................... 19 9.Campbell ...........................................9

The 2008 USO football team is under the direction of second year head coach Ron Caragher. In his rookie season Cara– gher stepped right in and guided the To– rero football program to its third straight Pioneer Football League title (6-1 mark, tie with Dayton), as well as an overall re– cord of 9-2. USO, which finished ranked second in the final Sports Network FCS Mid-Major poll, ranked first among all NCAA FCS teams in scoring (44.34 ppg) and third in total offense (483.1 yards per game). The 2008 team, which is the pre– season favorite in the PFL Coaches Poll, will be without the services of some key contributors, most notably Josh Johnson and Eric Bakhtiari. Johnson, a 5th round draft pick by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Walter Payton Award finalist, com– pleted his Torero career as the NCAA's all– time career leader in passing efficiency (176.68). What Johnson meant to the To– rero offense, Bakhtiari was his equal on the defensive side of the ball. Bakhtiari, who is in the San Diego Chargers camp, last year led the nation in pass sacks (20). He was also a finalist for two prestigious national honors - the Buck Buchanan Award and the Ted Hendricks Award. Although these are big shoes to fill, Coach Caragher and his staff feel very strongly that this year's squad will an– swer the challenge by collectively work– ing hard every day as a team to get bet– ter. No matter whether it is the offense, defense or special team's unit, football is a team game played by eleven competi– tors at a time, and USO has numerous players ready to prove themselves on the field of play. The Toreros return 14 starters and 36 lettermen from last year's 9-2 club. Leading the way will be a quartet of seniors that have been picked by their teammates as team captains. Offensive captains will be running back J.T. Rogan and wide receiver John Matthews, while the defensive captains are corner back Patrick O'Neill and safety Ryan Echer. The offense, under the direction of coordinator Jimmie Dougherty, will con– tinue to use a balanced west coast attack. Competing for the vacant quarterback spot will be fifth-year senior Ben Han– nula and junior Andrew Rolin. Hannula saw most of the spring ball snaps as Ro– lin sat out recovering from a lower back injury. Hannula, an all-around athlete that has earned AII-PFL recognition at both wide receiver and defensive back, was an All-League quarterback during his prep days. Rolin has game experi– ence as the signal caller having guided the Toreros in last year's season-open– ing 42-32 win at Azusa Pacific with four touchdown passes. Look for first-year JC transfer Sebastian Trujillo to push both Torero returners for playing time as the Torero signal caller.

The running attack will be led by the hard charging J.T. Rogan. A fihh– year senior, Rogan is coming off his sec– ond straight 1,000-plus rushing cam– paign. He heads into the 2008 season already owning USO career marks for touchdowns (46), rushing yards (2,967) and all-purpose yardage (5,233). Nick Coppedge is projected to start at full– back, while Brett Marquis should see some action behind Rogan. Although the sure-handed Wes Doyle will be missed at wide receiver, the always explosive John Matthews will continue to be the team's number one deep threat. Last season Matthews set a new Torero record with 16 touch– down receptions, hauling in 47 balls for 1,088 yards (23.1 yard per catch av– erage). Godfrey Smith, last year's Most Outstanding First Year Player, will line up at split end after catching 30 balls for 347 yards and 4 TDs. The receiving corp will be bolstered by the return of Sean Cullina, and redshirt freshmen John McGough and Chad Rusinkovich. The tight end position will be in good hands with fifth-year senior Mitch Ryan The offensive line unit will be an– chored by senior tackle Deene Kabil– ing, a 2007 The Sports Network Mid– Major All-American. He will be joined by two-year starter Conrad Smith, with the group also being bolstered by the likes of junior guard Kyle Kofoed and JC transfer Nick Kostielney. The defense, directed by first year coordinator George Darlington, will look to its six returning starters to lead the defensive charge. Senior captain Patrick O'Neill, with nine interceptions over the past two seasons, will move from safety to corner back. The other corner back slot will be taken by ju– nior Gabriel Derricks, a 2007 First Team AII-PFL honoree. Additional returners with starting experience include senior tackle Chris Gianelli, senior linebacker Jordan Sinclair, junior tackle Alex Rice