University of San Diego put an emphatic stamp on their improvement within their first D1A season with a 40-19 defeat of UCLA Saturday.
While the Bruins actually scored first when skipper and lock Jack Pargetter powered over from short range, Los Toreros got that one right back after a UCLA penalty. From the lineout, USD run some hard charges—13 phases of no more than one pass, but all at least making the gainline and all forcing at least two Bruins to make a tackle—before No. 8 Dennis White picked up and was over.
San Diego added to that with a nifty move off the scrum in which they moved to the openside only to pop is back inside to left wing Vaughn Fouts, who raced in and managed to get to the line as the defenders swarmed.
Prop Thomas Kapust charged through some arm tackles to added USD’s third, and with Kieran Downs sure on his kicks it was 21-7.
USD’s forward power was impressive and they forced UCLA to respect the short ball attack. As a result, when everything was pointing to the big men to press the line, and the Torreros spun it wide to Fouts, UCLA was not able to cover and the wing was in for his second and a 26-7 USD lead.
UCLA slowed the onslaught down a bit in the second half and did a better job of managing field position. Jeff Bunch’s try made it 26-14 but it stayed that way until the final 10 minutes.
Paul Habeeb’s try was the dagger, as it has often been for San Diego, and while UCLA answered with Bunch’s second off an excellent pickup-and-pass from Sam Reade, Habeeb matched it as time expired.
"We've had a bit of time to get fitter and more battle hardened," said Head Coach Charlie Purdon. That has allowed them to "tighten up our set-piece and kicking game, build some cohesion and a clearer identity on how we want to play and what is most effective for us."
It's clear this current USD team is different from the team that took the field in the fall.
