Titans Can’t Find a Way to Stay With San Jose

With San Jose State’s 44-6 victory over Cal State Fullerton Saturday night, the Spartans appear well on their way to a Nov. 17 showdown against Fresno State to determine the Big West Conference championship.

That same day, the Titans (1-9) might be involved in another showdown of sorts--a game against New Mexico State to determine the worst Division I-A football team in the country.

Fullerton, which lost its ninth in a row Saturday night, is ranked 105th out of 106 Division I-A teams by The National, an all-sports publication. New Mexico State is 106th.

It’s predicted the Aggies will lose to San Jose State next week. Ditto for the Titans against Utah State.

Barring any upsets, Fullerton would play New Mexico State in Las Cruces on Nov. 17--for none of the marbles.

Like any good coach, Fullerton’s Gene Murphy refuses to look ahead to a possible national un-championship game.

“I’ll talk about New Mexico State next week,” he said. “We’re looking forward to playing Utah State.”

That sure beats looking back at Saturday night’s game. The Titans were manhandled by a superior San Jose State team, which improved to 6-2-1, 5-0 in conference.

The Spartans, behind the passing of Ralph Martini and the running of Sheldon Canley, racked up 670 yards, including 473 during a first half in which they took a 37-0 lead. That matched the worst halftime deficit in Murphy’s 11-year tenure. The Titans trailed Florida, 37-0, at halftime in 1987.

Martini, with plenty of protection and so many wide-open receivers he probably had trouble deciding whom to throw to, completed 29 of 39 passes for 443 yards and two touchdowns.

Canley, a tailback who leads the nation in all-purpose yards, carried 21 times for 119 yards and three touchdowns and caught six passes for 58 yards.

David Blakes caught seven passes for 95 yards, and Bobby Blackmon caught four passes for 109 yards and a touchdown.

“Pass defense has definitely not been our strong suit this season,” Murphy said.

It didn’t help that Murphy’s defensive line was without injured starters Dave Dorf, Jamal Jones and J.C. Farrow, that starting linebacker Stan Breland didn’t make the trip because of an injury, and that several defensive backs played out of their natural positions.

The Titans put almost no pressure on Martini, save for Clarence Siler’s sack of the Spartan quarterback in the second quarter.

“They have good receivers and have so many different plays and formations, it’s hard to know where they’re going to to,” Siler said.

San Jose State put the game away in the first half by scoring on six of nine possessions. Twenty first-half offensive plays went for 10 yards or more. The Spartans finished with 29 first downs, compared to Fullerton’s 13, and 504 yards passing.

It was an impressive, all-around performance by San Jose, but Spartan Coach Terry Shea’s first order of business afterward was to lash out at the San Jose community for what he perceives as a lack of support. A season-low 11,256 were in Spartan Stadium to watch Saturday’s game. San Jose has averaged 13,577 in four 1990 home games.

“It’s unfortunate that the community doesn’t understand how good a team we have,” the first-year coach said. “We have, without a doubt, the second-best team on the West Coast, and I’m not so sure they appreciate that.

“There’s that old cry, that we’re just playing Cal State Fullerton, but why not come out and watch San Jose play? This is an exciting team with tremendous class and intensity, and this community refuses to understand that.”

Murphy understands the part about San Jose being an exciting, intense team. That was clearly evident Saturday night. But he’s not so sure about the class part of Shea’s claim.

With 1:44 left in the first half and a 31-0 lead, San Jose State put together an impressive, 79-yard, no-huddle drive that ended with Canley’s 5-yard touchdown run to make it 37-0 with 38 seconds remaining.

The fact that Shea deemed it necessary to race up the field for a score with a 31-0 lead seemed odd enough. Then came the extra-point attempt.

The Spartans lined up for an apparent kick but put on a fake. Holder Mike Jordan’s pass attempt for a two-point conversion failed, and San Jose had to settle for a 37-point halftime lead.

Asked if he was upset by an apparent attempt to run up the score, an obviously agitated Murphy refused to comment.

Asked why he faked the extra point, Shea claimed that his field-goal team has had problems this season, and he wanted to show that he could fake an extra point, perhaps relieving future opponents’ rush on the kicker.

“I’m trying to get teams to back off our field-goal unit,” Shea said.

Shea’s reasoning doesn’t jibe, though. Granted, former Spartan kicker Raul De la Flor had his problems, but since David Bowen replaced De la Flor three weeks ago, Bowen is 4 for 4 in field goals and 14 for 14 in extra points.

Asked again to comment on Shea’s motivation, Murphy said, “No comment.”

Titan Notes

Fullerton’s lone score came on Reggie Yarbrough’s 2-yard touchdown run with 6:15 remaining. That capped a nine-play, 59-yard drive engineered by reserve quarterback Terry Payne, who replaced starter Paul Schulte in the second quarter. Schulte left the game with bruised ribs and didn’t return, but the injury is not considered serious. . . . Titan receiver Kerry Reed caught nine passes for 77 yards. . . . For the third time this season, Titan kicker Phil Nevin missed a 32-yard field-goal attempt, this one coming on the final play of the third quarter. It’s the shortest distance Nevin has missed from in his college career.

San Jose State rover Anthony Washington had 2 1/2 quarterback sacks.