PCAA Notebook : Bulldogs Have Lead, but Race Far From Over

Sean Foy dabbed at the blood oozing from his chin and shook his head slowly back and forth.

“We should’ve beat them,” the Cal State Fullerton defensive end said. “We were so close.”

The Titans’ injury-riddled defense performed beyond the call of duty in Saturday’s 10-6 loss to Nevada Las Vegas, but their punchless offense was unable to get in the end zone and Fullerton lost its eighth straight game to the Rebels.

It was a rare--and fleeting--moment of despair for the usually optimistic Foy, who quickly rebounded.

“Hey, we had to beat Fresno, anyway,” he said, forcing a smile. “This game didn’t really mean anything. It doesn’t make any difference.”

Nobody at Fullerton--from Coach Gene Murphy down to equipment manager Cliff Hatter--believes in their hearts that the annual Titan-Rebel grudge match was meaningless. But Foy’s assessment of the Pacific Coast Athletic Assn. race was true.

The battered Titans (2-1) get a welcome bye this week before their Nov. 2 showdown against Fresno State (3-0).

The Bulldogs, who travel to Utah State Saturday, are coming off a 48-21 win over New Mexico State, a team which has yet to win a conference game since joining the PCAA last season.

Fresno State’s 5-0-1 overall record and its better than 3-to-1 scoring ratio seem to indicate it is the class of the conference (every other PCAA team has at least three losses) but the Bulldogs aren’t quite a shoo-in for a Cal Bowl appearance in their own stadium Dec. 14.

Three teams--University of the Pacific (2-1), Cal State Long Beach (1-1) and Fullerton--have only one conference loss and all three have yet to play each other or the Bulldogs. So, the race is hardly over.

Saturday night, Pacific beat Hawaii, 24-15, a team the Bulldogs could only manage to tie at home. Long Beach, with hot-and-cold quarterback Doug Gaynor, can score quickly and the unpredictable Titans might do anything on a given Saturday.

So Fresno State Coach Jim Sweeney is a long way from calling off the ‘Dogs.

Injuries are part of football, but in the PCAA, that part is magnified. What sets this conference apart from the nation’s best is not so much talent as it is depth.

Last season, for example, Fresno State was 6-1 before losing its top four running backs. Relying on a tailback and a fullback who did not even make the traveling squad for the first game, the Bulldogs lost five straight.

This year has been a different. Fresno State’s running game has been grinding out yardage, grinding down opponents and opening the passing lanes for junior quarterback Kevin Sweeney.

The Bulldogs have gained more yards rushing in six games than they totaled in 12 in 1984. They also have scored 17 touchdowns rushing. Saturday, they gained 336 yards on the ground.

James Williams, who had 100-yard performances in Fresno’s first two games, appears to be fully recovered from a pinched nerve in his shoulder. He ran for 105 yards against New Mexico State.

“We’re still making some mistakes. . . . fumbles and penalties, but we always feel as if we can come back and score on the next play,” Jim Sweeney said.

“I’m glad we don’t have to play us. This is the most talented team I’ve ever coached.”

Sweeney, in his eighth year at Fresno State, has been a head college coach for 21 years, including stints at Montana State and Washington State.

We’ll assume he wasn’t including the Raiders and Cardinals, NFL teams he coached as an assistant in 1978 and 1979.

PCAA Notes Wishbone quarterbacks don’t usually get a lot of honors, but Pacific quarterback Hue Jackson was selected Offensive Player of the Week after he led the Tigers to their upset over Hawaii. Jackson had 84 yards rushing (including a 61-yard run) and was 6 of 9 passing for 117 yards (including a 64-yard touchdown pass play). . . . Fresno State defensive end Victor Burnett had eight tackles (two for a loss), a quarterback sack and an interception and was named Defensive Player of the Week. . . . Fresno State’s sophomore placekicker, Barry Belli, already has set a school career record with 28 field goals, having kicked at least one in each of his 13 games as a Bulldog. He also established a school mark with his 55-yarder against New Mexico State Saturday. . . . Bowling Green (5-0 and 7-0 overall) is running away with the Mid-American Conference race and if Fresno holds on to its conference lead, the Cal Bowl would be a rematch of the 1982 game. The Bulldogs, trailing 28-7 in the fourth quarter, rallied for a 29-28 win, scoring a touchdown with 11 seconds left to play. . . . Fullerton quarterback Kevin Jan, who completed just 10 of 30 passes for 138 yards with two interceptions against Las Vegas, had a tough day in more ways than one. Monday, he was on crutches because of a strained left knee. He also has a couple of cracked ribs and a bruised tailbone. “I’m proud of Kevin Jan,” Coach Gene Murphy said. “Throw away his stats, it’s what’s inside him that’s important.” Jan is expected to be ready for the Titans’ next game. . . . Fresno continues to lead the conference in both scoring offense (37.8 points per game) and scoring defense (12.8).