Long Beach Finally Has a Breather, 38-17

The opponent was a last-place team and the stands were mostly empty, but Cal State Long Beach got up for a football game anyway Saturday night.

The 49ers defeated New Mexico State, 38-17, as quarterback Doug Gaynor threw five touchdown passes.

“We knew we could do what we wanted to,” said Gaynor, who completed 31 of 40 passes for 398 yards.

The 49ers’ plan was to score early--something they haven’t done this season, and also play with emotion--which they lacked in a loss to Eastern Washington last week.

“We asked them for intensity from the beginning and I think we got it,” said Long Beach Coach Mike Sheppard.

Still, the 49ers, playing in front of only 5,369 fans at Veterans Stadium, fell behind, 7-0, as the Aggies kept the ball the first seven minutes.

But Gaynor threw two touchdown passes--23 and 14 yards--to split end Charles Lockett in the second quarter and the 49ers never gave up the lead.

A five-yard run by Joe Rowley early in the third quarter cut the Long Beach lead to 17-14.

But freshmen Michael Roberts caught a screen pass from Gaynor, ran 53 yards down the left sideline and dived into the end zone to make it 24-14 with 5:11 left in the third.

And then, for only the second time this season, the 49ers played a fourth quarter in which the outcome of the game wasn’t in doubt.

They won going away when Lockett caught his third TD pass, of 23-yards, and Gaynor followed that with a 25-yard scoring pass to Troy Ory.

The 49ers, who had only 29 total yards in the first quarter, finished with 483.

“Even early, when we had time to doubt ourselves, our guys rose to the occasion,” said Sheppard, who had put his team through four hard practices last week in an effort to regain intensity.

End Chuck Meierbachtol had eight tackles to lead the 49ers’ defense, which had been allowing 27 points a game.

The victory improved the 49ers’ Pacific Coast Athletic Assn. record to 2-1. They are 4-4 overall.

New Mexico State dropped to 0-4 and 1-6.