SAN DIEGO, Calif. – In what will be the second time that the university's football program has ever traveled to the state of California, the Presbyterian College football team will take to the skies this weekend for a cross-country visit to the Golden State, facing off with PFL adversary San Diego this Saturday. Only ever facing the Toreros twice in school history and both emanating from Clinton, the Blue Hose will roll into San Diego for a 5:00 ET kickoff, televised by the WCC Network.

Competing on the pacific border for the first time since a similar trip to California-Berkley in 2011, PC and first-year head coach Steve Englehart will search for their first Pioneer Football League win of the year in their fourth attempt, taking on a USD team that just achieved that feat a week ago in a midwestern victory over Drake in Des Moines, Iowa.

Presbyterian will traverse a path of over 2,300 miles for their longest trip in over a decade, hoping to atone for consecutive losses to the Toreros since becoming PFL foes two seasons back. The first of those occasions came in the abbreviated spring '21 campaign in an outcome decided by a mere field goal at Bailey Memorial Stadium, where the more recent decision one year back was reached in a much larger margin of 69-28.
 
GAMEDAY CENTRAL
WHAT: Presbyterian (1-5, 0-3 PFL) at San Diego (2-3, 1-1 PFL)
WHERE: Torero Stadium (San Diego, Calif.)
WHEN: Saturday, October 15 – 5:00 p.m. ET (2:00 PT)
 
FOLLOW THE ACTION
WATCH: WCC Network
LIVE STATS: Sidearm Live Stats
RADIO: WSPG (Ryan Clary & Tyler Shugart)
TWITTER: @BlueHoseFtball
GAME NOTES: Presbyterian Notes | PFL Notes
 
Opponent Profile
• The epitome of the phrase "road war­riors" through the first month of the sea­son, San Diego will host the Blue Hose this weekend in only their second home meeting of the entire year and their first since Week 1 way back on Sept. 3
 
• Due to four road appearances and a canceled home matchup with Stetson due to inclement weather, the Toreros will be the hosting party for the first time in six weeks when taking on the Blue Hose, most recently snaring a 22-10 victory over Drake in Iowa last Saturday.
 
• Steadily contributing to the scoring column in each quarter to down the Bulldogs for their first W against PFL competition, SD is carried by the quar­terback duo of Judd Erickson and Re-al Mitchell, the former slinging 941 yards on six TD's over their first five bouts.
 
• Chris Childers paces the Toreros on the ground with 336 rushing yards on a pair of house calls, while Vance Jefferson has emerged as the team's favorite long-dis­tance target through the air thanks to 382 receiving yards and a trifecta of scores.
 
 Wesley Jumps in Spotlight
• The team's third-string signal-caller at the start of the sea­son, true freshman Tyler Wesley made an immediate impact when his name was called last Saturday vs. Valparaiso, filling in for an injured Nate Hayden to record 281 yards of total offense, 210 of those in the opening half.
 
• Making a convincing case for increased exposure behind three total touchdowns, Wesley's breakout party makes an already-deep PC QB room that much more dangerous overall.
 
Herriott Among Best in FCS
• Living up to his billing as a preseason all-league caliber linebacker in only his second year donning the blue and white, sophomore Alex Herriott has exploded on the scene in 2022, recently going for a new career-high of 16 tackles vs. Val­paraiso, the 5th-most in a single game since the program joined the NCAA's Division I class in the late 2000's.
 
• Sitting atop the throne as the Pioneer Football League leader in both solo and total tackles, Herriott's 38 unassisted stops rank as the 5th-most in all of FCS entering Week 7, while his 60 total tackles place 14th among all Football Championship Subdivision performers.
 
Last Time Out
• Unable to keep the pressure on for the full 60 minutes despite a rock-solid opening half, the Blue Hose were sty­mied by Valpo last weekend in a 41-21 decision that favored the Beacons at Bailey Memorial Stadium.
 
• Behind Wesley's run/pass combo and a season-high 116-yard receiving day from redshirt-junior Jalen Jones, PC grasped their first halftime lead of conference play before the visitors controlled the tempo in the 3rd quarter to reassume order in their favor.
 
• Only able to muster eight snaps in the 3rd while the Beacons embarked on a 96-yard scoring drive to gain some distance, the loss wasn't without many positive developments as PC looks to establish momentum on the west coast.
 
PC Atop PFL Ranks
• Over the course of the first six games of the 2022 season, the Blue Hose rank inside the Pioneer Football League's Top 5 among the following categories:
 
• While it hasn't always translated to profitable scoreboard results, PC has racked up the second-most first downs in the conference with 99, only trailing defending league champion Davidson.
 
• Whether it's Nate Hayden, Tyler Wesley, or Ty Englehart di­recting traffic, the results have been trending upward with nearly 13 yards per completion to a host of young receivers, good for 3rd in the PFL.
 
• Penalized only four times per contest (the 4th-lowest figure in the league at the halfway point), Presbyterian also takes the 4th-place spot in 4th-down conversion defense (33%), and total sacks (15 for a total loss of 93 yards), averaging 2.5 per game.
 
• Meeting the opponent behind the line of scrimmage 34 times this fall for a rate of nearly six TFL's per appearance, PC's swarming defensive front puts them in 5th place in the league across that category.
 
Around the PFL
• Butler brought the NCAA's longest scoring streak to an end, shutting out Dayton 31-0 to highlight a wild Week 6 in the PFL. The Flyers saw their consec­utive game scoring streak end at 501 games. Dayton's streak dated back to Oct. 16, 1976, when they fell 9-0 to Marshall. The streak lasted 16,971 days and spanned the administrations of nine U.S. Presidents.
 
• Marist downed Stetson in a wild fourth-quarter that saw the teams combine for five touchdowns in the fourth period alone. There were four return touchdowns during the week, three of them coming in the aforementioned Marist-Stetson game.
• San Diego's Hunter Nichols added the other 98-yard kickoff return for a touch­down in the W at Drake, while 10 PFL defenders recorded an interception each during the week.