Moore Takes It Easy Off the Field, Makes It Look Easy On the Field

It will never be mistaken for the creed of running backs the world over, but Cal State Fullerton’s Michael Moore has a philosophy to which he is devoted.

It is approximately this: Cruise, kick back and go with the flow.

Moore’s laid-back attitude is occasionally exasperating to those who coach him. When he lines up during practices, he might find himself thinking about anything but football.

“Sometimes my mind wanders off to weird places--home, vacation, anywhere,” he said. “But mostly, I just think about cruising.”

Fullerton Coach Gene Murphy puts it another way: “Sometimes he just goes off to Lovetron,” he said, alluding to Darryl Dawkins, the former National Basketball Assn. player whose talk of imaginary planets has given him a singular reputation.

Moore, a 5-foot 9-inch, 175-pound senior, might be one of the few Division I football players who rarely works with weights during the summer, despite the suggestions of his coaches.

“They’d tell me, ‘Why don’t you lift weights?’ And I’d say, ‘No, I don’t like to lift. I like to kick around. I enjoy that,” Moore said.

Still, Moore’s laid-back approach apparently doesn’t prevent him from playing well. In his debut as Fullerton’s starting tailback last week, Moore scored the Titans’ only touchdown, rushed for 65 yards, caught 3 passes for another 36 and returned kickoffs and punts.

Fullerton’s ground attack last season was led by Eric Franklin, a senior who rushed for 905 yards.

Moore, who was California’s junior college offensive player of the year in 1986 after rushing for 1,425 yards at Riverside City College, was Franklin’s backup, rushing for 242 yards in 45 carries.

This season, Fullerton will rely on Moore.

“He’s going to have to be a big-play guy for us,” said Jim Chaney, who coaches the running backs.

Moore’s performance will be all the more important because of Fullerton’s lack of offensive threats.

“Our big-play capabilities are somewhat limited,” Chaney said. “If anyone can do it for us, it’s going to be Michael Moore and (wide receiver) John Gibbs.”

Moore showed that big-play capability with a 93-yard kickoff return against Fresno State in a 21-17 loss last season. He also has the ability to break to the sidelines for long gains--his 27-yard run in the Titans’ 24-9 season-opening loss to Southwestern Louisiana last week was the longest in the game.

Those cuts to the sideline are another trademark for Moore.

“I always ran like that, even in high school,” he said. “I guess it turned into a habit.”

At times, a bad habit. Against Southwestern Louisiana, he missed some holes cleared by the offensive line and headed toward the sidelines instead.

“I made a lot of bad reads or I’d have had a lot more yards,” he said. “I was too worried about getting to the outside. From here on, I’m going to try to go upfield five yards before I look for the sideline.”

Under new offensive coordinator Mike Heimerdinger, Fullerton will also throw the ball to Moore out of a slot-back or wide receiver’s spot.

Moore caught only one pass last season, and Franklin caught only 10, but Chaney said he would like to see Moore catch 40 this year.

Moore has other goals. He said he’d like to rush for 1,400 or 1,500 yards and return three kickoffs for touchdowns.

“I have to be more serious to do well,” he said. “When I get to practice, I try to get serious. . . . And when I’m not, the coaches yell at me. They’re doing a good job with me.”

Chaney, one of those who must do the yelling, said that Moore is doing a good job in practice, “on the whole.”

“His personality is to be relaxed and cool at all times,” Chaney said. “But he plays as hard as he can on the football field.”

Titan Notes

When Fullerton travels to Morgantown, W.Va., for a game against 12th-ranked West Virginia this weekend, it will be a quick trip. The Titans are scheduled to leave early Friday morning, play the Mountaineers at 10 a.m. Pacfic Time Saturday, and return after the game, arriving shortly after midnight Saturday. The Titans are expected to get a $100,000 guarantee for that game. . . . Fullerton has agreed to two more games against Southwestern Louisiana in Lafayette, La., Athletic Director Ed Carroll said. The Titans will play the Ragin’ Cajuns Sept. 14, 1991 and Sept. 12, 1992. Carroll also said Mississippi State has been scheduled as the opening-day opponent for the 1991 season. That game is expected to be the inaugural game in Fullerton’s proposed on-campus athletic facility. Construction on the 10,000-seat facility is expected to begin February 1989. Fullerton will play at Mississippi State in 1990 and 1992, Carroll said.