Fullerton to Take It Easy Before Football Opener

Two weeks from his team’s regular season opener at Nevada Reno, Cal State Fullerton Coach Gene Murphy has decided he has seen his players knock each other around enough.

“This is it,” Murphy said after the Titans’ intrasquad scrimmage Saturday at Fullerton. “We’re not gonna hit anymore. We can’t afford to hit anymore.”

Fullerton players will still be slamming pads the next two weeks, but Murphy, fearful of attrition, said there will be no more “live” hitting during the remainder of the team’s preseason camp.

Murphy, whose team donned full pads for the first time last Wednesday, was generally pleased with Saturday’s scrimmage.

“Missed assignments were kept to a minimum,” he said. “The defense was all over the field. Defensively, our team speed is as good as we’ve ever had here.”

Offensively, junior college transfer Ronnie Barber continued to impress the coaching staff. Barber, who passed for 2,441 yards for El Camino College last season, appears to have worked his way up to No. 2 quarterback behind sophomore Tony Dill.

Senior running back Rick Calhoun, the Titans’ leading rusher last season, has been excused from practice sessions thus far and did not participate in Saturday’s scrimmage. Calhoun, a father of four, has been working during the day and attending team meetings at night. “Ricky’s on a working man’s sabbatical,” Murphy said.

Titan Notes Injury report: Tight end has been the position hit hardest by injuries thus far. Junior Jim Thornton, the projected starter, missed most of last week’s practice sessions with a virus and sat out the scrimmage with a hip pointer. Sophomore John Smith is sidelined with a torn bursa sack in his arm, freshman Bill Brennan is recovering from a shoulder separation, and freshman Rory Ewing is out for the season with a dislocated shoulder that may require surgery. Thornton and Brennan are expected to be able to practice by the middle of next week. Junior cornerback Tony Williams, a transfer from the College of the Desert, is out for the season with a knee injury. . . . Wade Aschbrenner, a sophomore outside linebacker, showed up for the first day of preseason practice, then left camp. Said Murphy: “The door’s open if he wants to come back.” . . . Freshman nose guard Harold Jones, who caught Murphy’s attention in the scrimmage, is the nephew of former Ram great David (Deacon) Jones.