USD’s latest comeback bid falls short

This time, the Cardiac Kids ran out of miracles. The University of San Diego, which staged stunning comeback wins the past two weeks, watched its offense stumble and struggle time and time again Saturday afternoon, losing to Marist 19-14 at Tenney Stadium in Poughkeepsie, N.Y.

USD averaged 36 points the previous two games, but against Marist, the offense was inept. Four telling stats:

• The Toreros punted on 11 their 17 drives;

• Eight times, the Toreros went three-and-out;

• The team’s average time of possession per drive was 1 minute, 33 seconds;

•  USD was 2-of-17 on third-down conversions and 1-of-4 on fourth down.

“I think it sums it up that we punted 11 times,” coach Brandon Moore said by phone. “We couldn’t convert.”

An injury played a pivotal factor in USD’s offensive struggles. Running back Adam Criter left the game in the first half with a shoulder injury and watched the second half from the sideline without shoulder pads and a helmet. Criter gained 300 yards on 65 touches and scored four touchdowns the previous two games.

Taking the bulk of carries in Criter’s place was James Scott, who came into the game with three carries. He carried 14 times for 45 yards.

Asked how much it hurt losing Criter, Moore said: “Exponentially. It was very difficult to operate the game without him.”

Two weeks ago, USD came from 21 points down on three occasions to beat Princeton. Last week, the Toreros came from 17 points behind to beat St. Thomas.

Despite struggling offensively, USD (3-3, 1-1 Pioneer Football League) nearly pulled off another comeback against the Red Foxes (3-2, 1-1).

With 4:43 to play, Marist scored on a 1-yard run to take a 19-7 lead.

Barely two minutes later, Dom Nankil hit a wide-open Cole Monach with a 30-yard touchdown, pulling USD to within 19-14.

USD not only stopped Marist on its next drive, but the Red Foxes used up just 14 seconds of the clock. With 2:16 to play and one timeout, USD took over on its 40. Four plays later, USD faced a second-and-1 on the Marist 27. The Toreros would get no closer to the end zone.

The game ended in frustrating fashion for USD, Nankil getting sacked on three straight plays.

“I don’t fault the offensive line,” said Moore. “I don’t fault anybody for it. Ultimately, that’s three negative plays when we’re trying to give our team a chance to win. Three sacks in that situation, that’s not acceptable. That sucks.”

For the third straight game, USD used both Nankil and Tyler Voss at quarterback. Nankil engineered USD’s two scoring drives. He completed 12 of 25 passes for 127 yards and two TDs. Voss was 4 of 13 for 22 yards. Neither suffered an interception.

It’s only the second time in 18 meetings that Marist has defeated USD. The other came two years ago in New York.