CSUN Picks Off 5 Passes to Beat Kingsmen, 17-3

Somebody might as well admit it. Without All-American quarterback Tom Bonds, Cal Lutheran has a load of problems. Since the junior sprained his knee two weeks ago, his replacements--freshmen Jeff Chalmers and Shane Hawkins--have thrown 12 interceptions, five of which came in Saturday’s 17-3 loss to Cal State Northridge in a Western Football Conference game at Mount Clef Stadium.

There had been speculation that Bonds might play against the Matadors. As late as Thursday night, word was that his knee had made remarkable progress. But Saturday afternoon, with fans and the CSUN coaching staff looking on, Bonds walked out in shorts and a T-shirt, his knee in a brace.

That left CLU Coach Bob Shoup hoping his freshmen could generate some offense.

And they did. The Northridge offense.

Chalmers, who started in Bonds’ place, completed 5 of 15 passes for 36 yards and 3 interceptions. Hawkins, who entered the game after Shoup had seen Chalmers float one too many change-ups through the air, completed seven passes, two of those were to Matador defenders.

After seeing the fifth interception as the final seconds slid off the clock, Shoup had the following revelation. “I don’t think you can play freshmen at quarterback and expect them to do anything,” he said.

Except maybe lose the game.

With the offense in a mess, the Cal Lutheran defense had perhaps its best effort of the season. The Kingsmen held the Matadors to 154 yards rushing and just 87 yards passing.

Said CSUN Coach Bob Burt: “Their defensive linemen are the best we’ve seen. They made it hard on us. They caused us a lot of headaches.

“It made a difference that Bonds couldn’t play and I was really sorry about that, but you know...”

Sure, sure, we know.

“But, the fact that it was even close was because of that defensive line,” he said.

Again and again, Burt called for running plays--draws, traps, quick counters, you name it--and more often than not, Mike Miller, John Hynes, Russell Patterson and Rueben Solorio were there for the stop.

No matter, Burt kept calling for running plays up the middle. In fact, the teams combined for 99 rushing attempts. This was football the way Knute Rockne liked it. Three yards and a cloud of dust. Raccoon-coat stuff.

When Burt was told he and Shoup looked more like Bo Schembechler and Woody Hayes on this day, he laughed and said: “We played conservatively, sure, but when you have only a seven-point lead and poor field position it’s tough to throw.”

In what had to be one of the more boring games in recent history, both offenses made it look hard to do much of anything.

After relentlessly pounding into CLU defense for short gains, Northridge running back Mike Kane finally broke free midway through the second quarter on a 39-yard touchdown run. As it turned out, that gave the Matadors all the scoring they would need.

“We stuck them every time,” Miller said, “except on that touchdown run and one other play later.”

The other play was another Kane burst with just more than seven minutes left in the game. The 5-10, 185-pound senior, who leads the Western Football Conference in rushing, hesitated behind his offensive line at the CSUN 40, then romped 34 yards to the Cal Lutheran 26.

That set up the only exciting play of the game. Quarterback Danny Fernandez lofted a rainbow pass into the left corner of the end zone that Richard Brown hauled in for the only other touchdown.

“They were keying on the run every time,” Brown said. “I just caught the ball, that’s all. I thought we should have passed more.”

Starting quarterback Chris Parker and backup Fernandez combined for only 11 passes, seven of which were completed for 87 yards. Kane rushed for 120 yards and gained 45 more receiving.

Afterward, he had few words for reporters, saying only, “If they want to give me the ball that much, it’s fine with me.”

That would seem to be a pretty good strategy considering Kane accounted for 165 of Northridge’s 241 total yards. He has rushed for more than 100 yards 12 times in his collegiate career, including four of the Matadors’ five games this season.

Though dull, it was the Matadors’ fourth win in a row over Cal Lutheran. Northridge now leads the series between the rivals, 7-3.

What has to be disturbing to Burt, however, is the Matadors’ revolving door situation at quarterback.

Northridge, 1-1 in the WFC, alternated quarterbacks in nonconference games, but Burt said he would stick with one--Parker--during conference games. His thinking apparently changed after watching Parker complete only 8 of 29 passes for 86 yards in a 49-20 loss to Southern Utah State last week. Parker started Saturday, but was replaced by Fernandez in the second quarter. Parker returned in the third period and Fernandez played the fourth.

Fernandez completed all four of his passes for 60 yards, including the touchdown to Brown. Parker was 4 of 7 for 27 yards.

On the bright side, the Matador defense returned to form after giving up 501 yards last week. Northridge improved on its conference-leading average of giving up only 250 yards a game. Cal Lutheran gained just 212.

Northridge defensive backs caught only two fewer passes than the Matador receivers. Dan Coleman had a school record-tying three interceptions, while Kip Dukes had two. It was the third time this season the defense didn’t allow a touchdown.

The Kingsmen, on the other hand, are reeling. They’ve lost three straight after starting the season with two wins. Those, of course, came with Bonds at the controls.