Another Payday, Not Heyday, for Titans : CS Fullerton: In Sherrill’s coaching debut for Mississippi State, the Bulldogs get their money’s worth and roll, 47-3.

The Jackie Sherrill Era began with a bang Saturday night as Mississippi State beat Cal State Fullerton, 47-3, before 30,307 at Starkville, Miss.

The Bulldogs, behind a strong running attack and a no-huddle offense that wore Fullerton down, broke open a close game with two touchdowns in the final 2 minutes 5 seconds of the first half and blew Fullerton out with four consecutive touchdowns in the second half.

It marked the fifth time in the past five years that Fullerton has ventured into Southeastern Conference country for a six-figure check, and the fifth time it has flown home with a loss. Four of those losses have been by lopsided scores.

The Titan athletic department has insisted that the large guaranteed checks help sustain the football program, but the games haven’t done much to sustain the egos of Fullerton players and coaches--the Titans have been outscored, 233-45, by SEC schools.

Nonetheless, Fullerton will make another SEC stop, Sept. 28 at Georgia. Georgia opened the season with a 48-0 victory over Western Carolina on Saturday.

About the only time the Titans have come close to competing with an SEC team was last season, when Fullerton took a 13-6 halftime lead over a weak Mississippi State team before losing, 27-13.

The Titans, coming off a 1-11 season, looked as if they might stick with the Bulldogs again Saturday when Phil Nevin’s 26-yard field goal pulled Fullerton to within 7-3 with 3:35 left in the second quarter.

But Mississippi State quarterback William Robinson, who rushed for a team-high 97 yards, passed to wide receiver Willie Harris on a 55-yard play that gave the Bulldogs a first down on the Fullerton one-yard line.

William Prince scored on the next play to make the score 14-3 with 2:05 to play in the half. Chris Gardner’s ensuing kickoff went five yards into the end zone, and Arthur Davis made the mistake of trying to run it out. He was tackled at the nine-yard line.

Then came an even bigger mistake. Fullerton quarterback Terry Payne fumbled attempting a handoff to Davis. Jerome Brown recovered for the Bulldogs at the Titan 11, and three plays later Robinson scored on a two-yard run that made the score 21-3 with 25 seconds left in the half.

“That’s a 14-point turnaround right there,” Fullerton Coach Gene Murphy said.

“We had been hanging in there until then. We just ran out of gas in the fourth quarter.”

Tony James’ 24-yard run on a reverse helped set up Prince’s three-yard touchdown run that made the score 28-3 at 10:48 of the third quarter, and the Bulldogs simply overpowered the Titans in the fourth quarter.

Michael Davis scored on a 19-yard run, Tony James’ 47-yard punt return set up Tay Galloway’s 17-yard touchdown run, and reserve quarterback Todd Jordan passed four yards to Chris Bosarge for a touchdown, closing out Mississippi State’s scoring.

“We were overrun,” Fullerton linebacker Terry Sullivan said. “There’s not much adjusting you can do for that. That quarterback is an excellent runner. He’s hard to hit.”