Kopp Sets the Records Straight as Pacific Pounds Titans, 67-37

University of the Pacific quarterback Troy Kopp left Cal State Fullerton’s defense utterly defenseless Saturday, passing for 515 yards and seven touchdowns to lead the Tigers to a 67-37 victory in front of 2,013 in Santa Ana Stadium.

Kopp, a sophomore from Mission Viejo High School, completed 31 of 52 passes in a little more than three quarters and set single-game school records for passing yards, touchdown passes and total yards.

With 396 yards passing at halftime, Kopp was on course to break the NCAA single-game passing record of 631 yards, set in 1988 by Utah’s Scott Mitchell against Air Force.

But Pacific concentrated more on the running game in the second half, and when the Tigers built a 24-point lead early in the fourth quarter, Coach Walt Harris replaced Kopp with Kris King.

Kopp was two touchdown passes short of former San Diego State quarterback Dennis Shaw’s NCAA record of nine in a game, set in 1969 against New Mexico State. Pacific’s 747 total yards was a school record.

Fullerton, which trailed by two, 33-31, early in the third quarter, had 436 total yards, giving the teams a combined total of 1,183 yards. But that was well short of the NCAA total offense record of 1,436 yards, set in 1981 by Arizona State (743) and Stanford (693).

Titan quarterback Paul Schulte completed 20 of 37 passes for 296 yards and three touchdowns, all to J.J. Celestine, who caught nine passes for 177 yards. Running back Reggie Yarbrough rushed for 109 yards in 27 carries, the junior’s fifth 100-yard effort of the season.

But Fullerton (1-6, 0-3 in the Big West Conference) couldn’t keep pace with Pacific (2-4, 1-3). After the Titans cut Pacific’s lead to two in the third quarter, Kopp threw touchdown passes to Daryl Hobbs (nine yards) and Aaron Turner (12) to make it 47-31.

Yarbrough’s three-yard touchdown run on the last play of the third quarter made it 47-37, but Hobbs scored on an eight-yard shovel pass from Kopp and Pacific cornerback Troy Reeves intercepted a deflected pass and returned it 68 yards for a touchdown to make it 61-37 with 10:08 remaining.

Two of Kopp’s other touchdown passes went to former Orange Coast College receiver Melvin Johnson, and two went to Turner. Johnson caught eight passes for 92 yards, Turner caught six for 120 yards, former St. John Bosco standout Oscar Meza caught six for 97 yards, and Hobbs caught six for 54 yards.

Running back Steve Mehl, a 23-year-old freshman who played four seasons in the Chicago White Sox organization, caught six passes for 151 yards and a touchdown and added 127 yards rushing in 10 carries.

“To tell you the truth, the way our offense is, it could be like this every week,” said Kopp, who threw for 415 yards in the Tigers’ last game, a 37-28 loss to Nevada Las Vegas Sept. 29. “No matter what the coverage, we have plays to beat it.”

Harris, a former Tennessee offensive coordinator in his second season at Pacific, scrapped the wishbone offense for the no-huddle, pass-happy attack the Tigers now employ. Kopp calls all plays at the line of scrimmage.

Saturday, Pacific often split three receivers to one side of the field, and the Titans countered with five or six defensive backs in man-to-man coverage. Kopp took advantage by hitting Turner repeatedly on fade patterns, lofting the ball over cornerback Nuygen Pendleton and letting Turner run underneath the ball for the catch.

The Tigers used that play five times in the first half, and two went for touchdowns.

“Sometimes we knew what they were doing and they’d still complete the pass,” Pendleton said. “That got us down and the whole defense was frustrated.”

As Fullerton concentrated even more on the wide receivers in the second quarter, Kopp began throwing passes to Mehl, his running back, over the middle. On one play, Kopp dumped a five-yard pass to Mehl, who turned it into a 78-yard play to the Fullerton one-yard line. The Tigers also hurt the Titans with an occasional draw play.

“When you can’t stop them over and over again and you’ve tried everything, you feel pretty helpless,” Fullerton Coach Gene Murphy said. “I don’t know if there’s anything else we could have done.”

Kopp broke Paul Berner’s Pacific record of 446 yards passing in a game, set in 1984 against Fullerton. It marked Pacific’s fifth-highest point total in school history.

Pacific also set Cal State Fullerton opponent records for passing yards, total offense, pass completions and touchdown passes. The Titans have allowed more points only once, in a 70-0 loss at Southern Mississippi in 1975.

And when it seemed the season couldn’t get any worse for Fullerton, the Titans sank to new depths Saturday. The loss extended Fullerton’s losing streak to six, the Titans’ longest ever.

They entered the game ranked 103rd by USA Today (Pacific was 102nd), and they can’t go much lower--there are only 106 Division I-A teams.

With a trip to Hawaii next week, then games against Cal State Long Beach, San Jose State and Utah State, there are no sure victories for Fullerton. The Titans’ season finale against 106th-ranked New Mexico State could be for basement bragging rights.

And to compound matters, Murphy, whose defense was without starting linebacker Clarence Siler and linemen Dave Dorf and Jamal Jones, received a discouraging injury report after the game.

Offensive lineman John Cotti injured his knee and will miss one to three games; tight end Damond Hogan separated his shoulder and will miss one or two games; linebacker Stan Breland (knee), nose guard Gary Thornton (back), rover Dan Seymour (calf) and offensive tackle Mike Simmons (ankle) are questionable for next week’s game.

Kicker/punter Phil Nevin, who missed Saturday’s game because of pneumonia, will probably miss at least one more game.

“When it rains, it pours,” Murphy said.