Titan Rush Hour: Pringle Runs Over Pacific in Victory

Mike Pringle could hardly get his pads straightened and his chin strap tightened Saturday before Cal State Fullerton gave him the ball time and again.

A week ago, Fullerton’s offensive line didn’t open many holes, and Pringle didn’t find many of the ones they did open in a loss to Utah State.

But against the University of the Pacific Saturday, the holes were plentiful and Pringle didn’t let many go to waste. The Titans gave him the ball 42 times and he finished with a career-high 242 yards rushing in Fullerton’s 35-26 Big West Conference victory in front of 7,127 at Amos Alonzo Stagg Memorial Stadium.

By halftime, Pringle had 124 yards and a school record for touchdowns in a game (four). He added one more touchdown--this one receiving--in the second half.

Five touchdowns in the game for Fullerton, five for Pringle.

By game’s end, Pringle was exhausted. But with Pacific closing in, he was still in the game.

“I’d just take a deep breath and run,” he said.

Before Saturday, no Titan had carried the ball more than 36 times in a game, and no one had run for 200 yards since Rick Calhoun in 1986.

“Not too bad,” Pringle said when he heard he had 200 yards. “Our line blocked excellent.”

Pringle, the national leader in all-purpose running, has five 100-yard rushing games this season.

Fullerton would have been happy to see the game end sooner than it did.

After building a 35-7 lead in the third quarter, the Titans let Pacific come back.

“We don’t make anything easy,” Fullerton Coach Gene Murphy said. “Thirty-five to seven, and here we go again.”

Murphy’s halftime talk was a warning against the dangers of complacency--and a reminder of Pacific’s past comebacks and Fullerton’s past folds. It didn’t seem to make much of an impression.

The lead was still 21 points when the fourth quarter began, but Pacific cut it to 35-20 with nine minutes left after a 77-yard touchdown drive that began with Louis Greggs’ interception of a pass by Dan Speltz, who completed 17 of 22 passes for 228 yards and a touchdown.

The interception was Speltz’s first in his past 133 attempts over four games.

Pacific got another chance when the Tigers recovered Pringle’s fumble with 7:51 left.

But the Tigers took six minutes to drive 82 yards for a touchdown, scoring with 1:40 remaining. The Tigers failed on a two-point conversion attempt for the second time in the game, leaving the score 35-26.

Fullerton safely fielded an onside kick and ran out the clock.

“The win was good for the record, and that was it,” Murphy said.

The game began with back-to-back touchdown drives. With only seven minutes gone, the score was already 7-7.

“I thought it was going to be a 39-38 game like a couple of years ago,” Murphy said. “Whoever has the ball last wins.”

But Pacific’s offense, led by Troy Kopp, the freshman from Mission Viejo High School, didn’t score again in the half.

Kopp completed 13 of 20 passes for 173 yards with a touchdown and an interception.

David Henigan, a freshman from Fountain Valley who started at quarterback in Pacific’s first two games, got his chance on the Tigers’ third possession, but Pacific was forced to punt after three plays.

Andrew Thomas led Pacific’s running attack with 114 yards in 16 carries.

Fullerton’s defense, which held the Tigers to a touchdown in the first half, finally faltered.

“We gave up big plays,” linebacker Russ Oleyer said. “Big plays on third and long . . . The defense wasn’t wrapping things up. We’d make a hit and nobody would wrap it up.

“If they’d had any more time, we’d have been scared.”

Going into the game, Fullerton was worried about its running attack. With a back as good as Pringle, Fullerton somehow was held to 29 yards rushing last week--a statistic reminiscent of the Titans’ loss to Northern Illinois in the season opener, when Fullerton had only five yards rushing.

“After last week, the question was whether we’d be able to run the football,” Murphy said.

Fullerton adjusted by turning to Tim Byrnes, a fullback who is out of a job in the Titans’ one-back offense. But with Byrnes in the game at tight end or receiver, Fullerton essentially had an extra back to block.

“We beefed up our front a little bit,” Speltz said. “Byrnes was in motion a lot and doing a lot of lead blocking.”

The Titan offense started much like it did against Nevada Las Vegas two weeks ago, with a high-scoring first half.

But Speltz, always with an eye for shortcomings, saw the down side.

“It would have been nice to score 28 in the second half, too,” he said.

But even he couldn’t complain much.

“We just ran our offense,” Speltz said. “The coaches did a great job of keeping things balanced. It seemed like everything they called was open.”

With the victory, Fullerton moved to 3-3-1, 2-1 in the Big West. Pacific is 1-6, 1-4.

The Titans head into the biggest conference game of the season next week, against Big West favorite Fresno State in Fresno.

“Our backs were up against the wall,” Pringle said. “We had to win this one going into Fresno.”

Titan Notes

Fullerton kicker Phil Nevin missed his only field-goal attempt, a 48-yarder in the second quarter. . . . Pacific’s Greg Koperek, a former Edison High School player, returned to action despite breaking his arm three weeks ago. He had four tackles.

PRINGLE’S SEASON The game-by-game rushing and receiving totals for, and school records set by, Cal State Fullerton running back Mike Pringle:

Rushing

Opponent Att Yards TD Northern Illinois 10 14 0 Cal State Northridge 28 164 3 Colorado State 25 137 0 San Diego State 25 158 2 Nevada Las Vegas 30 117 0 Utah State 15 35 2 Pacific 42 242 4 Totals 175 867 11

Receiving

Opponent Rec Yards TD Northern Illinois 3 6 0 Cal State Northridge 1 4 0 Colorado State 0 0 0 San Diego State 6 34 1 Nevada Las Vegas 4 74 1 Utah State 8 57 0 Pacific 1 12 1 Totals 23 187 3

Records

* 14 touchdowns in a season (old record, 12 by Rick Calhoun, 1986)

* 42 rushing attempts in a game (old record, 36 by Calhoun, 1986, and Terry McLean, 1970)

* 5 touchdowns in a game (old record, 3, by nine players)