Fullerton Loses 13th in Row, 41-7, at Texas Tech

The nation’s longest Division I-A losing streak reached 13 Saturday night when Cal State Fullerton lost to Texas Tech, 41-7, at Lubbock, Tex.

And with each loss, the burden on Titan Coach Gene Murphy’s shoulders grows heavier.

“Yes, it’s tough,” Murphy said of the streak after Fullerton’s second lopsided loss of the season. “How would you feel if you wrote 13 (bad) stories in a row? If you’re a competitor, you feel bad. We didn’t give up tonight, but we semi-self-destructed.”

It’s getting to be an old story: Fullerton makes costly turnover deep in own territory. Opponent scores easy touchdown. Opponent goes on to easy victory.

It happened many times during last season’s 1-11 disaster and again last week in the Titans’ 47-3 loss to Mississippi State. It happened Saturday night in Jones Stadium, too.

One play after Texas Tech’s Lin Elliott kicked a 40-yard field goal with 9:38 left in the first quarter, Fullerton quarterback Terry Payne was sacked and fumbled the ball away on his one-yard line.

One play later, Red Raider quarterback Jamie Gill scored to give Texas Tech a 10-0 lead with 9:27 left. That’s 10 points in 11 seconds. The Red Raiders added another touchdown and a field goal in the first quarter to take a 20-0 lead.

Leading, 23-7, the Red Raiders scored 18 points in the fourth quarter. Elliott added field goals of 52, 40 and 49 yards.

Tech’s Jamie Gill completed 13 of 21 passes for 137 yards and two touchdowns, and tailback Anthony Lynn added 69 yards in 15 carries.

The Red Raiders rolled up 371 total yards, compared to Fullerton’s 204.

Trailing, 20-7, early in the second quarter, Fullerton had the ball on the Texas Tech 42-yard line after a punt.

Arthur Davis, who rushed for 128 yards, ran 11 yards to the 31, but two more running plays netted one yard, a delay-of-game penalty pushed Fullerton back to the 35, and an incomplete pass created a fourth down. Phil Nevin’s 52-yard field-goal attempt was wide right.

“We put our defense in horrible field position most of the night,” Murphy said. “We’re certainly not that awesome a team, but I thought we had a chance when it was 20-7, we stopped them and had the ball around the 50. But we didn’t take advantage, and that really hurt.”