Aztecs’ Faulk Leaves a Mark on the Tigers : College football: Pacific coach impressed by SDSU freshman, although missed tackles were a concern.

The last time the University of Pacific football program saw something like San Diego State freshman Marshall Faulk, it was hit by a Mercury 24 years ago.

But Mercury Morris’ 264 yards rushing against Pacific, while he played at West Texas State, fell an incredible 122 yards of Faulk’s 386-yard, seven-touchdown performance Saturday night at San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium.

Pacific Coach Walt Harris said he still isn’t sure what hit his team.

“I heard hints about him, but we were pretty concerned with T.C. Wright,” Harris said. “I guess we know now he’s for real. I heard he was from Louisiana and that he ran a 10.3 or 10.4 hundred. I believe them now.”

Harris didn’t even find out Faulk broke the NCAA single-game rushing record until reporters asked him about it after the game.

“Did he break the national record?” Harris asked. “The last I heard he had the freshman record. Then, I didn’t pay much attention to it.”

Pacific linebacker Ron Papazian knew of Faulk’s accomplishment after the game, but he said it didn’t concern him during the game.

“We weren’t even aware of it,” he said. “Our goal was to go out and execute. We were still in the game.”

Papazian praised Faulk for his performance, but he said Faulk had a distinct advantage in the second half.

“He runs real hard, but we missed a lot of tackles at the end because we were tired,” he said. “We made him look a lot better than he was.”

Harris said Faulk looked pretty good to him.

“I’ll take him,” he said. “I think he’s a great football player. He’s the best freshman I’ve seen since Chuck Webb (of Tennessee).”

“He’s a real lateral runner. He’s not a real straight-ahead guy. But when he wants to go straight-ahead, he can do that too.”

Papazian said Faulk’s pet play was the counter.

“They had really good blocking on that play,” he said. “We had problems on the center. He would get to that hole and just cut off it.”

Papazian thought he would be trying to tackle Wright all night. But Wright brused his thigh in the first half and didn’t return.

“I didn’t even know T.C. Wright got hurt, to tell you the truth,” he said. “We came back in here at half trying to make some adjustment to stop (Wright).”

Despite Faulk’s record, Harris said his defense did about as well it could.

“I think we gave about as much as we could for as long as we could,” said Harris, whose team allowed 86 points last week against California. “We just gave out at the end.”

Harris said SDSU’s ball-control offense had a lot to do with that.

“I think the way we were scoring they tried to keep us off the field by controlling the ball,” he said. “If we wouldn’t have been so effective on offense, I doubt if they would have run up all those yards.”

But even though Faulk did run up all those yards, Harris wasn’t embarrassed by his team’s effort.

“We’re a young football team and we’re getting better,” Harris said. “Records are records. We’ve set a lot of records against people too.”

But it’s probably safe to say, they don’t compare to the one Marshall Faulk set against them.

Marshall Faulk in the Record Book

Top NCAA Single-Game Rushing Performances

Yds Player Team Opponent Year 386 Marshall Faulk San Diego State Pacific 1991 377 Anthony Thompson Indiana Wisconsin 1989 357 Mike Pringle Cal State Fullerton New Mexico State 1989 357 Reuben Mayes Washington State Oregon 1984 356 Eddie Lee Ivery Georgia Tech Air Force 1978 350 Eric Allen Michigan State Purdue 1971 349 Paul Palmer Temple East Carolina 1986 347 Ron Johnson Michigan Wisconsin 1968 343 Tony Jeffery Texas Christian Tulane 1985 342 Roosevelt Leaks Texas Southern Methodist 1973 342 Charlie Davis Colorado Oklahoma State 1971

San Diego State Single-Game Rushing

Yds Player Opponent Year Att 386 Marshall Faulk Pacific 1991 37 271 Jim Allison San Francisco State 1964 20 259 Paul Hewitt Air Force 1988 45 239 David Turner Arkansas State 1976 32 236 Kern Carson Fresno State 1962 NA 235 Chris Hardy Colorado State 1985 20 223 Chris Hardy Texas-El Paso 1985 19 215 Norm Nygaard UC Santa Barbara 1953 10 209 David Turner Bowling Green 1976 27 209 Gary Wilson Mexico Poly 1966 16 207 Ollie Brown Pacific 1976 35

San Diego State Single-Game Points

Pts Player Opponent Year 44 Marshall Faulk Pacific 1991 36 Tim Delaney New Mexico State 1969 33 Paul Mott Chapman 1927 32 Mario Mendez Cal Poly San Luis Obispo 1963 26 Ken Johnson Chapman 1927 24 11 players

TDs Player Opponent Year 7 Marshall Faulk Pacific 1969 6 Tim Delaney New Mexico State 1969 5 Paul Mott Chapman 1927 5 Mario Mendez Cal Poly San Luis Obispo 1963 4 Ken Johnson Chapman 1927