Not a single player who takes the field at Torero Stadium on Saturday was even out of high school the last time it happened.
 
San Diego had an entirely different coaching staff and Stetson was two years away from announcing the return of football and hiring Roger Hughes to be the Hatters' head coach.
 
The year was 2010. That was the last time a Pioneer Football League member went into San Diego and came away with a win. Dayton pulled the trick, by the thinnest of margins, escaping with a 21-20 victory.
 
Since that time, San Diego has win streaks of 29 games at home against PFL foes, 21 games overall against PFL members and 17 straight at home overall. The Toreros have also won, or shared, each of the last seven PFL titles, never losing more than one league game in a season since that 2010 campaign.
 
This Saturday, when the unbeaten Hatters (3-0) tee it up against a USD team that has lost two of its first three games this year, they will have the eyes of the entire PFL on them.
 
Kickoff is set for 2 p.m. Pacific time, 5 p.m. Eastern. The game will be video streamed via WatchStadium.com.
 
Since Stetson launched its football program in 2013, San Diego has lost to a total of eight opponents. Of those, San Diego State plays in the Football Bowl Subdivision, North Dakota State has won five FCS national titles, Montana is a traditional FCS power, and Cal Poly and UC Davis are both scholarship programs.
 
That leaves Ivy League heavyweights Harvard and Princeton, along with Dayton and Jacksonville from the Pioneer Football League. Only Cal Poly has beaten USD as many as three times in that stretch, but the Toreros have paid them back by eliminating them from the FCS playoffs twice.
 
For the Hatters to join that list, the Stetson offense will have to do to the Toreros what they did to the Marist offense last week, keep them off the field. Stetson set a program record with more than 41 minutes time of possession in the 19-14 victory over the Red Foxes. To run the season-opening win streak to four games, the Hatters will have to match that, while also eliminating the three turnovers and numerous drive-killing penalties.
 
In a series that has often not been close – San Diego has outscored Stetson 227-53 in five meetings – the one time the Hatters gave the Toreros a challenge was in 2014. That challenge, Stetson lost 31-23, was the result of a solid ground game that averaged 4.6 yards per carry, helping the Hatters keep the time of possession even.
 
The Toreros turned a 23-17 fourth quarter Hatters lead by controlling the ball for just shy of 10 minutes in that final quarter.
 
With a veteran offensive line producing a much improved running game so far this fall, the Hatters have led time of possession, on average, in each quarter this year. Stetson is averaging 4.9 yards per rush attempt and, with 745 rushing yards in three games, has already far surpassed the entire season rushing total from 2017.
 
The offense has been balanced, with 745 rush yards and 712 pass yards so far this year. Senior Matt Taft (303 yards) and freshman Jareem Westcott (221 yards) have done the heavy lifting in the ground game while senior quarterback Colin McGovern has completed 69.6 percent of his throws, with senior tight end Donald Parham (21 receptions, 332 yards) serving as the primary target.
 
The Stetson defense has done its part to help the Stetson offense control the clock. On 20 of the 41 possessions for Stetson opponents that didn't end a half or the game, the Hatters' defense has gotten off the field in four plays or less, just shy of 50 percent of the time.
 
Last week against Dayton, the number was eight times in 13 possessions.
 
The Hatters have already recorded 28 tackles for loss this year, with those spread out among 16 players. The team also has nine sacks – shared by 10 players – to go with four interceptions, which equals the total from last year, 18 pass breakups and 21 QB hurries.
 
For the Hatters to join the elite company of teams who own wins over San Diego over the last seven seasons – the offense, defense and special teams will all have to perform at their highest levels. Do that, and the rest of the PFL, and the entire FCS, will sit up and take notice.
 
About Stetson University Athletics: Stetson University's Athletics Program has a vision of developing a culture of champions athletically, academically and within the community. This vision is accomplished through a mission of recruiting and developing student-athletes, coaches and staff, creating a culture of champions, within and outside of competition. The department operates with five core values: Championship Culture, Integrity, Excellence, Pride/Tradition and Leadership. To learn more about the Vision, Mission and Core Values for Stetson Athletics, visit GoHatters.com and click on Mission Statement under the Inside Athletics tab.