Titans Hope to Fight Off Aggie Ambush : New Mexico State Seeking First PCAA Victory Against Fullerton

Never mind that New Mexico State has yet to win a Pacific Coast Athletic Assn. game in 13 tries, or that the Aggies entered the 1986 season with an eight-game losing streak. First-year Coach Mike Knoll has been busily prescribing “Aggie Attitude Adjusters” and believes his players will enjoy some enchanted evenings in the Land of Enchantment.

Knoll has even gone on record that New Mexico State will get its first-ever PCAA victory tonight in Aggie Memorial Stadium when the Aggies meet Cal State Fullerton. In a preseason assessment of his team’s fortunes, Knoll guaranteed it.

“When we line up Sept. 6 against Cal State Fullerton, we’re going to win our first PCAA game of the season,” Knoll told the Las Cruces Sun-News. “I believe in our players and our football team. Our players wish we were playing tomorrow.”

Knoll went on to predict that the Iggies would be 2-0 going into their game against nearby Texas El Paso on Sept. 13. He’s already assured of being wrong. New Mexico State opened last Saturday with a 20-14 loss to Angelo State, an FCAA Division II team from San Angelo, Tex.

When asked Friday if he still felt confident about the Aggies getting their first conference victory tonight, Knoll said: “That’s our first conference game, so you’ve got to approach it that way.”

Copies of the article containing Knoll’s comments--with some of the less flattering words neatly underlined--have circulated through Titans Football House this week. Said Fullerton Coach Gene Murphy: “Yeah, we threw some of those things up on the walls.”

But based on what transpired last Saturday in Reno, the Titans are in no position to get too indignant about the apparent lack of respect from Knoll. A 49-3 loss to Nevada Reno has given Murphy little or no ammunition for a war of words. The margin of defeat was the second-largest in Fullerton’s history and largest in Murphy’s six-plus seasons at Fullerton. “We lost with a capital ‘L’,” Murphy said.

So, while he has obviously taken note of Knoll’s comments, Murphy has other things on his mind--such as a Titan secondary that gave up 404 yards and five touchdowns passing against Reno, and a running game that generated all of 62 yards. “(New Mexico State) will show up and block and tackle and do the things all teams do,” he said. “Our main concern is that we do things right.”

Murphy tried to take much of the blame for the Reno defeat, claiming that he and his staff “over-coached,” and that some of his less-experienced players were too concerned with missing assignments. “We had some people playing very tentative,” Murphy said, “and they hadn’t done that in practice.”

Murphy said the game plan this week has been simplified. It calls for less thinking and more action. “We’re just gonna put big people on big people and play football,” he said.

Aggie quarterback Jim Miller, who Knoll hopes will generate some big numbers, got off to a slow start against Angelo State. Miller, who passed for 2,024 yards in 1985, completed just 5 of 14 passes for 31 yards.

It was apparent even before the Angelo State game that the Aggies would have trouble fulfilling Knoll’s prophecies. During a pregame passing drill, the Aggies lost senior cornerback Calvin Henry for the season when he suffered torn knee ligaments after linebacker Darryl Ford fell on him.

It was that kind of Saturday for both these teams. And today, both are hoping to start a new trend.

Titan Notes The Titans arrived at Ontario Airport from Reno last Sunday to discover that the buses that were supposed to take them back to Fullerton were waiting for them at LAX. The bus company was notified and the buses were sent to meet their weary passengers. Said Coach Gene Murphy: “It was a miserable way to end a miserable weekend.” . . . Murphy, noting that the Titans lack the big-play personnel they’ve had the past few seasons, said that senior running back Rick Calhoun may return punts Saturday. . . . Aggie Coach Mike Knoll is understandably concerned about Fullerton’s special teams. The Titans returned eight kickoffs for a total of 238 yards against Reno, an average of 29.8 yards per return. . . . Quarterback committee update: Murphy is still having trouble deciding which two quarterbacks will back up sophomore starter Tony Dill. Junior Ronnie Barber and redshirt freshman Carlos Siragusa will make the New Mexico trip, leaving junior transfer Rich Sherrif behind. The situation is expected to be re-evaluated each week. . . . Starting wide receiver John Gibbs suffered a rib injury and backup offensive tackle Mike Oliver a bruised knee against Reno, but both are expected to play tonight. . . . Former Sunny Hills High School quarterback Lance Smith is a reserve linebacker for the Aggies. Starting free safety Todd Parker and back-up wide receiver Gene Egan, both Golden West College transfers, are the only other New Mexico State players with Orange County roots.