Titans Hope to Start With Change of Pace in Football Opener

KALB, Ill. — Chris Wright can point to the spot, and so can Northern Illinois Coach Jerry Pettibone.

Right down there in the south end zone. Left sideline. Inside the one-yard line. Call it the one-foot line.

That was where Wright gave Cal State Fullerton a victory here two years ago, when he forced Keith Hurley out of bounds on a two-point conversion attempt after Northern Illinois had scored with no time left. That was how Fullerton won, 21-20, en route to a 6-6 season.

The Titans are back at Huskie Stadium today, this time to open their season. Another clean slate, waiting to be marked.

This time, Wright isn’t an inexperienced sophomore, but a senior, a starting outside linebacker and one of only three returning starters on the Titan defense.

Fullerton will be trying to break a couple of trends today. One is a string of three years without a winning season. The other is a little problem with openers. The Titans haven’t won an opening game since 1984, losing their past four openers to Montana, Nevada Reno, Hawaii and Southwestern Louisiana, all on the road.

Fullerton Coach Gene Murphy has been saddled with a difficult nonconference schedule in recent years. Grant that much. But the degree of difficulty of those openers is not very high. And not only has Fullerton lost to some mediocre teams, but the Titans have been beaten badly, losing to Nevada Reno by 46 points, to Hawaii by 44 and to Southwest Louisiana by 15.

Murphy would rather “just try to play and win,” than ponder what troubles the Titans in openers.

“We haven’t brought it up,” Murphy said. “What are we supposed to do, tell them how long it’s been since they’ve been able to win one?”

For the record, the most-recent opening victory was in 1984, 27-25 over Boise State.

In Northern Illinois, Fullerton meets a team that Pettibone thinks “turned the corner” last season with a 7-4 season that included a victory over Wisconsin, the school’s first victory over a Big Ten team.

The Huskies have a large part of that team back, including linebacker Ron DeLisi, who had 171 tackles last season, fifth among Division I players.

The major concern has been quarterback, where Stacey Robinson has replaced Marshall Taylor as director of the Huskies’ wishbone offense.

“He’s done real well,” Pettibone said, “but he doesn’t have a lot of experience yet.”

Playing Northern Illinois has been a sign of good times in the past for Fullerton. There was the victory last time, and there was a 20-13 loss in 1983. But that loss came in the California Bowl, when the Huskies were members of the Mid-American Conference. The Cal Bowl, loss or no loss, is a pleasant memory for Fullerton.

As is the victory here last time.

Not so much so for Pettibone.

“I’ll never forget that,” Pettibone said. “We went like 61 yards in I think 49 seconds for the touchdown. Then we lined up and went for the two. We didn’t make it. I can see the option play, see Marshall Taylor pitch the ball to Keith Hurley, see him go right over the pylon. It was close.”

Wright remembers, too.

“They sent the lead back to cut me, take me low. I took him on and stood up to him. The only way for (the ballcarrier) to get in was through me, and through (safety Mike Schaffel). I got a piece of him, and he didn’t get in. It was really close.”

Titan Notes

Receiver Tony Dill, who has been bothered by a hamstring injury, made the trip. He is not expected to start, but Coach Gene Murphy said he will play. . . . Murphy said kicker/punter Phil Nevin is “fine,” despite a partially torn tendon in his kicking foot that kept him from practicing for about six days.