The Colleges : CSUN’s Burt Needs One More Victory to Earn Place in the Sun

Cal State Northridge needs only one more victory this season to give football Coach Bob Burt a special place in school history.

Burt, midway through his third season at CSUN, would be the school’s first football coach with 3 consecutive winning seasons. In fact, he would be the first Northridge football coach with 3 winning seasons, period. And the Matadors have played football for only 7 coaches since 1962.

Jack Elway, now at Stanford, came closest with a 20-11-1 mark from 1976 through 1978. Elway went 8-3 and 7-3-1 but fell to 5-5 in his third and final season.

Burt, (20-9-0) would move into second place on the CSUN list if the Matadors win their next 4 games. He would pass Elway and Sam Winningham, who was 23-43-1 from 1962-68.

Tom Keele, Burt’s predecessor, was 30-43-1 from 1979-85.

Only the facts: Northridge will open its 1989 football season with games against Division I opponents Cal State Long Beach and Cal State Fullerton.

But asked if the schedule upgrade was an indication of the direction of CSUN’s football program, Burt was philosophical.

“Long Beach plays UCLA. Is that any indication of where they’re headed?” he said.

Long Beach is 1-5. Its only victory came last week, a 24-22 decision over Fullerton, which has a record of 2-5.

Quarterback shuffle: Look for sophomore Sherdrick Bonner to be given a substantial amount of playing time at quarterback in Northridge’s final 4 games, although Rob Huffman, a senior, will continue to start.

“Rob hasn’t played that bad,” Burt said. “Our losing two games wasn’t his fault. We’ve won 12 out of 18 games with Rob.”

Bonner, who played at least a quarter in CSUN’s first 3 games, gives Northridge a different look offensively. Bonner, who has a best of 6-10 in the high jump and is a former member of the Northridge basketball team, is a few steps quicker than Huffman, and he likes to scramble.

Huffman, more of a drop-back passer, has completed 62 of 117 passes for 921 yards and 11 touchdowns and has thrown 5 interceptions. He is the No. 3-rated passer in the Western Football Conference.

Bonner is 25 of 45 for 325 yards and a touchdown and an interception. He is third on the team in rushing with 69 yards and a touchdown.

In a rush: For the first time in his 1 1/2 years playing tailback for Northridge, Albert Fann has gone 3 games without rushing for at least 100 yards in one of them.

Fann had 57 yards in 23 carries in a 38-7 loss to San Luis Obispo; 62 yards in 23 carries in a 24-21 win over Cal Lutheran, and 63 yards in 15 carries in a 45-13 loss to Portland State last week. That’s 182 yards in 61 carries. In his previous 76 carries, Fann had 454 yards.

Fann’s setbacks have not been entirely his fault. Defenses have been stacked against him since it became apparent that Northridge lacked a deep passing threat. Keith Wright, a wide receiver who served that purpose last season for CSUN, has been sidelined because of ineligibility.

Another reason: The loss of Lance Harper, who had been alternating at tailback with Fann.

Harper suffered a knee injury against Idaho State and is probably lost for the season. Fann’s slump has coincided with Harper’s inactivity the past 3 games.

It seems odd that Fann would rush for fewer yards when getting the ball more, but the Northridge running game seemed to flourish using backs of contrasting styles. Fann was the bruiser with good open-field speed. Harper was a slasher, also capable of breaking a big play.

“We helped each other,” Fann said. “Things seemed to open up when he got in there, then when I’d come back, I’d bust it open.”

Lately, Northridge has tried to give Fann some running room by throwing him the ball. He is the team’s leading receiver with 17 catches for 192 yards and 2 touchdowns.

“We’re trying to get the ball in his hands and let him do damage anyway we can,” Burt said.

League laugher: Occidental’s 70-16 shellacking of Pomona in last Saturday’s Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference game was the most one-sided Tiger victory since a 75-0 thumping of Caltech in 1959. And Pomona Coach Motts Thomas says something was rotten in Eagle Rock.

“We didn’t expect that in the SCIAC,” said Thomas of the lopsided score. “Any time you take a drubbing like that you wonder if it’s totally necessary. If it’s for ranking, then so be it.”

Occidental Coach Dale Widolff disagrees.

“Comparative scores mean nothing in the playoff selection process,” said Widolff, adding that the Tigers only ran out of bounds twice in the fourth quarter, thereby running time off the clock. “Wins and losses mean something.”

Occidental, ranked sixth in the Division III Western region, only passed once in the second half--and that by second-string quarterback Mike Bonetto. Three Tiger running backs gained more than 100 yards.

Initially, however, Pomona’s no-huddle, option offense confused the Occidental defense. The Sagehens even scored on their first series.

“We rammed it down their throats for a while,” Thomas said.

A short while.

Sam Farmer and staff writer Mike Hiserman contributed to this notebook.