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SAN DIEGO, Calif.--Morehead State football boards a west-bound airplane Thursday for their final road game of the 2010 season, travelling to San Diego for a 4 p.m. Eastern kick-off on Saturday.
MSU has never beaten the Toreros in five tries, which includes the 2005 Pioneer Football League championship, the first-ever meeting between the two teams. The majority of the games have been close, but the two USD big wins have come on Morehead State’s last two trips to California.
In addition to having a first-ever win against San Diego on the table, the Eagles are also in a position to have their first winning season since 2007 if they win out. That’s an obtainable goal with two of MSU’s final three games at home.
Morehead State is coming off a 61-17 loss against Jacksonville, MSU coach Matt Ballard will expect a performance more along the lines of the road game at Butler, in which the Eagles had a big second half to win on a late field goal. It was running back Desmond Cox’s best day of the season with 72 yards on 13 carries. Quarterback Zach Lewis had another prolific game versus the Bulldogs with 307 yards of passing. Both Cox and Lewis will need to have similar games at San Diego.
Defensively, the Eagles are led by Tony Bachman and Jerome Raymond. Bachman has a stellar 82 tackles, ranking him second in the PFL. Raymond has six sacks, 12.5 tackles for loss and three fumble recoveries. MSU will need to utilize its shut down potential along the line with Bachman, Raymond, Mark Hall, Keaton May and Thaddeus Winston.
San Diego is down compared to recent years, but that’s relative considering it finished first or second in the league from 2002 to 2008. The Toreros are 3-6 overall, with all three wins coming against PFL opponents (Butler, Marist, Valparaiso). Two of their three losses in conference play, they share with Morehead State, league-leading Dayton and Jacksonville. USD is a fair balanced team offensively, rushing the ball 328 times compared to 294 passes in nine games played. Quarterback Mason Mills has done most of the work under center for the Toreros, but he is just one of four players to throw a pass for coach Ron Caragher. They rank in the middle of the pack in almost every category in the PFL, including fifth for total offense and sixth in total defense.
Morehead State returns home for its final two games, versus Valparaiso and Campbell, in the next two weeks.
