AZUSA, Calif. – It’s one thing to have power. It’s another to be a powerful force.

San Diego understands the difference after the NAIA’s No. 12-ranked Azusa Pacific manhandled and muscled its way to a 24-14 victory over the Toreros in both teams’ 2003 season opener.

Other than a pair of late fourth-quarter Torero scores, Azusa Pacific dictated every aspect of the game, running out to 24-0 lead before settling for the 10-point victory

Led by a bone-jarring defense and the bruising attack of running back Ben Buys, who picked up the fifth 100-yard rushing game of his brief 10-game career, Azusa Pacific managed its fifth win in the past 6 meetings with San Diego, which came into the game ranked No. 9 in the Sports Network NCAA Division I-AA Mid-Major Poll.

Throughout the first 3 quarters, Azusa Pacific continually stuffed the USD offense, holding the Toreros to just 138 yards of total offense on 48 plays (2.9 avg.) and a mere 6 first downs. Seven of the Toreros first 12 drives were done by the third play and none of the other five drives got past the sixth play. In fact, USD never got the ball across the Azusa Pacific 44-yard line until 7 minutes left in the game.

“Our defense played extremely well,” said fifth-year Cougar coach Peter Shinnick, who won his fourth season opener. “It had USD wondering which was up. I’m pretty excited about this defense. It’s going to be fun to watch these guys get better because there is room to improve.”

Offensively, the Cougars were hardly a juggernaut, but the defense’s play allowed the offense time to settle into a routine and take advantage of some short field situations. Buys established the ground game by the second drive and eventually rushed for 133 yards on 32 carries (4.2 avg.). He scored a pair of touchdowns, both on 7-yard runs, and midway through the second quarter Azusa Pacific was up 14-0. Buys continually bounced off of USD defenders and stiff-armed others to tally 90 yards in the first half. His second touchdown capped a 10-play 75-yard drive that was highlighted by a 44-yard catch-and-run by Grady Thomas.

“I got a couple of great blocks off the edge and I just followed (Dave) Wilford’s back,” said Buys. “It was a fun run. I didn’t get to play in the 2 scrimmages so I was a little slow on the reads tonight, but I’m pretty healthy now, and I feel good.”

Buys’ rushing and the defense’s suffocating swarm created a comfortable shelter for sophomore quarterback Sean Davis, who was making his first collegiate start. Davis engineered a conservative aerial attack, completing 9-of-21 Passes for 159 yards and 1 touchdown, and thanks to the defense, was able to direct a couple of short-field situations that resulted in scores. Buys’ initial touchdown capped a 46-yard drive, and Davis’ first career touchdown strike, a 14-yard slant to Jon Miller, finished off a 4-play, 18-yard drive that was set up by a Peder Moore interception at the line of scrimmage.

“Sean got a little anxious on a couple of passes,” said Shinnick, “but other than that I thought he played well and put us in a good positions.”

Meanwhile the Cougar defense made a loud statement with 3 quarterback sacks, 1 forced fumble, 1 interception, 7 deflected passes and 5 tackles behind the line of scrimmage. Senior end Anthony Diggs finished with 5 tackles, including a sack, and deflected the pass that Moore picked off. Sophomore linebacker Steve Holte recorded a team-high 10 tackles.

“What we as a defense did in the first half was great for Sean because it took a lot of pressure off him and he didn’t have to win the game for us,” said Diggs. “This is the greatest defense I’ve ever played with. I guess on a scale of 1 to 10, this would be a 10 for the first 3 quarters.

USD finally got on the board with a 72-yard scoring drive with 6:21 left in the game and then added another 7 points with 63 seconds remaining in the game.

“I like the attitude of our team right now because they walk off disappointed that they didn’t do much in the second half and let them score 14 points,” said Shinnick.

Azusa Pacific will get a chance to show any possible improvement next week when it hosts NCAA Division III power Pacific Lutheran on Saturday (Sept. 13) in Azusa. Kickoff is set for 6 p.m. at Cougar Stadium. Veteran Pacific Lutheran coach Frosty Westering heads into the Azusa Pacific game attempting to become only the ninth collegiate coach ever to win 300 games, joining the likes of Joe Paterno and Bobby Bowden.

A year ago in Washington, the 2 teams played a classic triple-overtime thriller with Azusa Pacific finally prevailing, 44-42.