Fullerton Is at Home to Idaho State

Cal State Fullerton will take a break from its normal routine tonight.

The Titans, among college football’s most frequent flyers, will play a home game. Idaho State will be in for a 6 p.m. nonconference game at Santa Ana Stadium.

Fullerton Coach Gene Murphy is hoping that the change of scenery will help snap his team out of its early season visitors’ blues.

“It’ll be neat to get an orange jersey this week,” Murphy said. “We only get them three times.”

Things will get back to normal next week when the Titans play at Idaho. But first, Murphy will see if a new starting quarterback and a few personnel changes on defense will have any effect on a team in danger of starting 1986 the way it started 1985--with an 0-3 record.

Fullerton’s season-opening 49-3 loss at Nevada Reno was followed by last Saturday’s 24-21 defeat at New Mexico State.

Junior Ronnie Barber will replace sophomore Tony Dill as the Titans’ starting quarterback. Dill had earned the right to start this season after helping the Titans finish last season with four straight wins. But in his first two games of 1986, Dill completed only 7 of 24 passes for 124 yards.

Barber, who rejected a scholarship offer from Fullerton three years ago to attend UCLA as a walk-on, finally became a Titan after dropping out of UCLA, then rebuilding his athletic and academic fortunes at El Camino College.

He was the Pac-9 Conference player of the year last season at El Camino. As a backup to Dill, he has completed 7 of 17 passes for 96 yards.

Idaho State quarterback Gino Mariani completed 17 of 34 passes for 334 yards and a touchdown last week in a 43-17 victory over Chico State. He throws to wide receiver Shawn Beals, flanker Todd Jones and tailback Butch Caston, who combined for 11 receptions against Cal State Chico.