Wildcats Finish Road Swing at San Diego

Davidson Wildcats (2-6, 2-4 PFL) vs. San Diego Toreros (3-5, 2-4 PFL)
Nov. 7, 2009 - San Diego, Calif.
Torero Stadium (7,000) - 1 p.m. (PST) - Natural Grass

Today's Game
• The Wildcats play their last road game of the season as they travel across the country to take on Pioneer Football League opponent San Diego.
• It will be the 1,000th contest in Wildcat football history.
• It will be the 50th game that head coach Tripp Merritt has coached at Davidson.
• The 'Cats are 0-4 on the road this season.
• Davidson is 7-15 all-time in league games on the road, including 2-8 in its last nine and 0-3 this season.
• The 'Cats are 14-14 in their last 28 PFL contests and own a 20-23 all-time PFL record.
• The Wildcats are allowing just 16 points and 293 total yards a game in six league contests.
• Davidson is coming off a 14-7 setback at Butler last Saturday and has lost its last three games.
• San Diego is coming off a 21-14 setback at Dayton and has lost its last three.
• The Toreros are 1-2 at home.

Series Record
• San Diego leads the all-time series, which began in 2000, 5-1, and has won the last five.
• Davidson's lone victory in the series came at San Diego in the first meeting between the schools. The Wildcats earned a 27-13 win.
• The last two games of the series have been decided by four points or less.
• San Diego running back Matt Jelmini rushed for 133 yards, and defensive back Derek Pilkington had a key interception late in the game to lead the Toreros to a 28-24 victory over Davidson at Richardson Stadium last season.
• Trailing by four points, Davidson drove 54 yards down to the San Diego 15-yard line, but on 2nd-and-10, Pilkington intercepted a Ryan Alexander pass at the 11 and returned it 45 yards with 3:55 to play.
• The Toreros tried to run the ball to take time off the clock, and Davidson linebacker Tyler Lemons shot through the line to tackle Jelmini for a 4-yard loss to set up 3rd-and-12. But San Diego ran a draw play, and Jelmini got 16 yards and a first down with just over two minutes to play.
• Torero quarterback Sebastian Trujillo converted a 3rd-and-4, by rushing for six yards, putting the game away for San Diego. The Toreros finished the day 8-for-13 on third down conversions.
• Alexander completed 21-of-27 passes for 214 yards and two scores to lead the Wildcats. Andrew Aldrich caught six passes for 68 yards, and Chad Barnes led the squad with 51 yards on the ground.
• Justin Williams took the opening kickoff back 98 yards for a touchdown to spark Davidson to a 21-0 lead. The Toreros closed the margin to 21-14 at halftime with the two TDs coming in a total of 2:12 midway through the second quarter.

Scouting the Toreros
• San Diego has suffered some tough-luck losses at the quarterback position since opening the campaign 2-1. Starter Sebastian Trujillo left the program for personal reasons, and backup Sam Scudellari is out for the season after getting hurt against Jacksonville. True freshman Bo Stompro made his first career start last week against Dayton and threw for 169 yards and two TDs.
• J.T. Rogan leads the Toreros in rushing with 436 yards and five TDs.
• John McGough leads the team in receiving and is averaging 60.6 yards a game.
• San Diego has 63 tackles for loss, 12 sacks and five interceptions.

Claw Marks
• Running back Kenny Mantuo rushed for a career-high 147 yards against Butler Oct. 31. It was the first game in which he rushed for over 100 yards but Davidson lost. His 61-yard run in the third quarter was the longest since John Leverett ripped off a 71-yard gain in 2003.
• Defensive back Peter Kidwell has both Davidson interceptions this season, and they came in consecutive weeks. His 75 INT return yards are the most since Ricky Childers had two picks for 82 yards in 2002.
• The Wildcats' six sacks against Drake Oct. 24, were the most in a game since Oct. 26, 2002, when they recorded seven in a 31-0 victory over Wesley.
• Eleven different Wildcats have been in on Davidson's 16 sacks this season.
• Defensive lineman Daniel Hauffe did not start the game against Drake Oct. 24, ending a long streak of starts for the senior. Hauffe had started 27 consecutive games.
• Davidson's 141.3 rushing yards a game ranks fourth in the PFL.
• The Wildcats allowed just 59 rushing yards against Morehead State Oct. 10. It was the least rushing yards Davidson has allowed since the 'Cats gave up minus 40 yards in a 24-21 home victory over Drake in 2007.
• Linebacker Tyler Lemons had nine tackles against Morehead State to give him 200 for his career. The senior now has 220.
• Mark Hanabury had a career day at Jacksonville Oct. 3, catching nine passes for 146 yards and a touchdown. It was the most yards for a Davidson receiver since Kirk Konert had 153 against Dayton in 2008.
• Neither Davidson nor Jacksonville committed a turnover in their game Oct. 3. It's the first time Davidson has been involved in a game in which neither team committed a turnover since the 2008 season finale against Butler. That's also the last time the Wildcats had a turnover free game.
• With their 24-7 victory over Campbell Sept. 19, the 'Cats have now won their Pioneer Football League opener in six of the nine seasons they have been in the league.
• The 'Cats are 4-1 when either running back Kenny Mantuo or Justin Williams rushes for 100 yards or more.
• Junior quarterback Michael Blanchard is making his ninth career start. Davidson is 2-6 with Blanchard as its starting quarterback. Blanchard has 341 rushing yards, the most for a Davidson quarterback since Tommy Dugan had 486 in 1998.
• Head coach Tripp Merritt is climbing the all-time victory list at Davidson. With 22 wins, he needs three to move into the top-5.
• The 'Cats need one more victory to make 2000-09 the winningest decade in school history.
• The Wildcats opened the 2009 home schedule with new red jerseys. The new look was a surprise to the team as they found them laid out by their lockers when they reported to the Richardson Stadium locker room on game day. Davidson is 1-1 with the red jerseys.
• Davidson's 56-0 loss at Elon was its worst since a 56-0 setback at San Diego in 2004. It was the first time the 'Cats were shut out since a 33-0 loss at VMI in the 2005 season opener.
• Davidson was shut out in its first two games of the 2009 campaign. It's the first time Davidson has not scored in consecutive games in the same season since the 1985 campaign, when the 'Cats lost 28-0 at James Madison and 15-0 to Penn the previous week. The 'Cats failed to score in three straight games that season as they lost 31-0 at The Citadel.
• It was the first time Davidson was held scoreless in consecutive contests since falling 23-0 to Georgetown in the last game of 2004 and opening the 2005 season with a 33-0 setback at VMI.
• The Wildcats have scored 20 points in the first half this season.
• The 'Cats have been shut out three times this season. It's the first campaign Davidson has been shut out three times since 1985, when opponents blanked the 'Cats in five games.

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