QBs Top Draw as Long Beach, Fullerton Play

Meanwhile, back in Orange County, while UCLA and USC stage The Big Game on the floor of a sold-out Coliseum, two other Southland football rivals get together today for their annual head-bashing bash.

Cal State Long Beach vs. Cal State Fullerton. The Little Big Game, right?

Well, not exactly. Long Beach (4-2 in conference and 6-5 overall)) played its big game last week, a 33-31 loss to Fresno State that gave the Bulldogs the Pacific Coast Athletic Assn. title. And Fullerton (4-5, 3-2) hasn’t had a big game since last year and isn’t due for another until, at the earliest, 1986.

So, then it’s the renewal of the long and bitter rivalry between the 49ers and Titans, which may lack publicity but not intensity?

Well, that’s not exactly right, either.

“It’s probably more of a rivalry in basketball,” said Gene Murphy, the Fullerton football coach. “Personally, I can’t see it.” So, what’s the angle on today’s 14th meeting between Long Beach and Fullerton, scheduled for a 1 p.m. kickoff at Santa Ana Stadium?

Well, maybe the quarterbacks. It is, as they say, a natural.

Long Beach has The Veteran, NCAA record-threatening Doug Gaynor. Gaynor, who has passed for 3,262 yards and 18 touchdowns in 11 games, is trying to break the NCAA single-season completion percentage mark of .713, owned by BYU’s Steve Young. Gaynor (415 attempts, 296 completed) is currently tied.

Against him, Fullerton is throwing The Kid, freshman Tony Dill. Last week, in his second major-college start, Dill threw for three touchdowns. An interesting statistic, considering that another Titan quarterback named Damon Allen didn’t have a three-touchdown passing day until his senior year.