CAL STATE FULLERTON NOTEBOOK : Murphy Says It’s Better If Titans Do Not Want What They Have Not Got

Fresh off a weekend in Auburn’s football fantasyland, Cal State Fullerton Coach Gene Murphy was back in the real world Monday, amid very modest surroundings.

Murphy had seen the way the other half lives during the Titans’ 38-17 loss Saturday to Auburn, but the experience made him realize that perhaps his half wasn’t so bad after all.

Sure, Murphy was impressed by the opulence of Jordan-Hare Stadium, an 85,214-seat, on-campus facility that includes 26 air-conditioned luxury boxes, each of which is leased for about $60,000 a year. What Raiders owner Al Davis wouldn’t do for such digs.

And Murphy was amazed by the fans, who simply revere Tigers Coach Pat Dye and the Auburn players. Fans formed a human tunnel outside the stadium before the game and cheered as the Tigers walked to their locker room.

When Murphy was talking to Dye before the game, kids were screaming from the stands, begging for the Auburn coach’s autograph.

“He’s like the Pope there,” Murphy said.

Would Murphy trade places with Dye, even with all the pressures to win?

“In a New York minute,” he said.

But Murphy believes his players might be better off in the long run because they have to scratch and claw for respect and support.

“Until I go 10 toes up, I’ll still believe that our kids go through a lot more than kids at big-time programs,” Murphy said. “When we put our hands out for something, the only thing we get is another hand slapping it. But at Auburn, they’re treated like a professional team.

“Psychologists say the worst thing about big-time college football programs is that everything is done for a kid from the time he’s in college until he retires from pro ball. They have a tough time coping with reality. Our guys don’t.”

Add opulence: In addition to its football stadium, its on-campus basketball arena and baseball stadium, Auburn has a $12.5-million athletic support building that includes coaches’ offices, weight rooms, locker rooms and a television studio.

Fullerton’s entire Titan Sports Complex, which will include a 10,000-seat football/soccer stadium, a baseball field, tennis courts and a track, won’t cost that much.

Said Fullerton sports information director Mel Franks: “The first thing I saw when I walked in was a classroom with a sign that said, ‘Outside linebackers meeting room.’ And I thought, are you kidding me?”

Murphy wasn’t so sure that outscoring Auburn, 14-7, in the second half and losing to the third-ranked Tigers by a respectable score was cause for celebration.

“I figure we’ll have the San Francisco 49ers on the schedule next year if the guarantee is big enough,” said Murphy, whose school received $250,000 to play Auburn.

Murphy despises playing games he has virtually no chance of winning, even though it would be difficult to sustain the program without the money Fullerton receives from such games.

And he doesn’t want Titan Athletic Director Ed Carroll to think that just because Fullerton did OK against Auburn, they should go after Notre Dame and Miami.

“I’d rather play Cal State Northridge than Auburn, but what Ed Carroll says and what I say are diametrically opposite,” Murphy said. “I talked to Ed about this after the game. He understands how I feel, and he said we won’t play more than one top 10 team a year.”

Carroll seemed relieved after Saturday’s game. Fullerton, which lost to Louisiana State, 56-12, and Florida, 65-0, in 1987, has been heavily criticized for its scheduling philosophy.

But Carroll felt somewhat vindicated because the Titans weren’t blown out by Auburn, as many predicted they would be. Still, even if Auburn had won 73-0, Carroll said he would continue to schedule such games.

“I’ve been humiliated in competition before, and you learn from that,” Carroll said. “That might make me sound like an ogre, but life is tough and you grow from adversity. It’s how you respond to adversity that makes you a better person.”

Auburn freshman Otis Mounds was in the upper deck of Jordan-Hare Stadium watching Saturday’s game when he was paged by the public address announcer at halftime and asked to report to the Tigers’ locker room.

Mounds was going to redshirt this season, but first-half injuries to tailbacks Stacy Danley and Adrian Jackson forced Mounds into action. He rushed five times for 33 yards in the second half.

“At the time I heard the announcer call me to the dressing room, I was having a Coke,” Mounds said. “But I was conscious of the game and when I saw those two guys go down, I was ready to go.”

The quarterback competition that Fullerton coaches expected between senior Paul Schulte and redshirt freshman Terry Payne never materialized.

Schulte has played almost all of the first two games, with Payne seeing some last-minute action. Schulte completed 17 of 28 passes for 235 yards and two touchdowns against Auburn, bringing his two-game total to 459 yards on 37 of 69 attempts with four touchdowns and one interception.

Titan Notes

Because of a possible season-ending arm injury to safety Terry Tramble and an ankle injury to cornerback Nuygen Pendleton, who is probable for Saturday’s game against Mississippi State, Fullerton Coach Gene Murphy has decided to activate freshman defensive back Terry Sullivan, an all-league performer at St. Bernard High in Playa del Rey last season. Murphy was planning to redshirt Sullivan. . . . The estimated crowd of 77,500 Saturday was the largest ever to see Cal State Fullerton play football, surpassing the 73,452 at LSU and the 72,336 at Florida in 1987. Fourth on Fullerton’s attendance list is the 60,415 who saw the Titans play Grambling in the Los Angeles Coliseum in 1971. . . . Fullerton’s third-quarter touchdown against Auburn was its first touchdown in three games against Southeastern Conference opponents. . . . Quarterback Paul Schulte was named offensive player of the week, and Chad Lindsay was named special teams player of the week. Linebacker Lorenzo Hailey had 10 solo tackles and five assists, but Titan coaches elected not to choose a defensive player of the week. . . . Gutty Performance Dept.: Cornerback Lionel Denman, in relief of Pendleton, played despite throwing up several times on the sidelines. Murphy said Denman was hit in the stomach and was not feeling well. . . . Nickname Dept.: Mike Simmons, a 6-foot-7, 330-pound offensive lineman who transferred to Fullerton from Arizona State, is known as “Big City” Simmons. So Murphy calls his other Mike Simmons, the 6-1, 190-pound freshman quarterback, “Little Township.” . . . Freshman Becky Howlett was the only Titan on the J.M.N. Premiere Volleyball Tournament all-tournament team. She led Fullerton in kills for all six matches. The Titans went 3-3, losing to Cal State Long Beach in the consolation championship match.