San Diego is a tourist’s dream, with sights only surpassed in beauty by the nearly impeccable weather conditions. But the trip to the west coast was anything but a dream for Butler’s football team.

Led by senior running back Phil Morelli’s 101 yards rushing, the host San Diego Toreros (1-3) handed Butler its second loss of the season by a score of 24-0.

The Bulldogs (2-2) got off to a quick start, driving 60 yards over 16 plays to set up a field goal attempt for juniorDavid Lang.

“On the sideline, I was feeling good about how easily we were driving the ball,” linebacker Nick Caldicott said.

Lang’s kick sailed wide right and the momentum shifted towards the Toreros.

After amassing 60 yard on their opening drive, the Bulldogs would finish the game with just 91 total offensive yards compared to San Diego’s 356.

“We didn’t execute offensively,” head coach Jeff Voris said. “We have let opportunities slide by in all of our games and San Diego just took advantage of them.”

After Butler dominated possession in the first quarter, San Diego controlled the rest of the game, forcing Butler’s
defensive unit to stay on the field for nearly 36 of the game’s 60 minutes.

Sophomore Jordan Ridley led the Bulldogs with 10 tackles. Caldicott followed with nine tackles of his own and an interception.

“Defensively, we hung in there and made it a game for as long as we could,” Voris said. “When one unit is struggling, the other two have to make some sort of dramatic play or field position shift and we never got that done.”

Despite the absence of a momentum-shifting play, Butler’s defense didn’t let the team go down without a fight.

The Bulldogs turned the ball over twice on offense.

However, pestered by a resilient Bulldog defense, San Diego was only able to pick up three points off of those
turnovers.

After throwing for 288 yards and two scores against Taylor, junior quarterback Andrew Huck was contained by the Toreros’ aggressive defense.

San Diego’s constant pressure limited Huck to 74 yards through the air. He was sacked four times and fumbled once.

The Bulldogs didn’t fare any better in their running game.

Senior Scott Gray finished the day with 25 yards on eight carries.

Butler failed to earn a first down in both the second and third quarters.

San Diego, on the other hand, had no problem moving the ball.

Sophomore quarterback Mason Mills threw for 198 yards and a touchdown on 18 for 22 passing.

Morelli gained 134 allpurpose yards and scored twice in the Toreros victory.

San Diego was perfect inside the red zone. The Bulldogs look to bounce back when they host Campbell on Saturday.

“Campbell is as improved a team as any,” Voris said. “They are extremely well coached and are going to provide a tremendous challenge for anyone they line up against.”

After struggling against San Diego, the Bulldogs will need to find a way to contain fifth-year senior quarterback Daniel Polk and the rest of the Camels.

Voris said, “We will need to play better than we have thus far if we are going to come out on top.”