Lindsay’s Example Sets Tone for Titans’ Improved Defense : Football: Linebacker’s tenacity and attitude, in games and during practice, have boosted team’s confidence level.

Not that Chad Lindsay is some kind of masochist, but the Cal State Fullerton inside linebacker would rather play a tough Southeastern Conference team such as Georgia than the University of the Pacific, an 0-4 team in the Big West Conference.

Georgia was relatively easy to prepare for last weekend.

“They had a basic offense,” Lindsay said. “They say, ‘We’re gonna run the ball, you try to stop us.’ There wasn’t a lot of deception.”

Pacific is another story. The Tigers, with quarterback Troy Kopp leading their no-huddle, pass-happy attack, can turn a defense upside down and inside out. This, Fullerton knows.

Kopp riddled the Titans for 515 yards passing and seven touchdowns last season. Fullerton hopes to avenge that 67-37 loss when the Titans travel to Pacific Saturday, but Lindsay knows it won’t be easy.

“They’re a potential disaster for a defense--last year speaks for itself,” Lindsay said. “They pick you apart with passes, draw plays, misdirection plays. It’s a lot harder to prepare for them. I’d rather play those hard-nosed, run-right-at-you teams.”

Such as Georgia and Mississippi State. Lindsay had his two best games against these SEC teams, recording 16 tackles in a 47-3 loss at Mississippi State and 13 tackles in a 27-14 loss at Georgia.

But he might face a more difficult task this weekend, because in addition to Pacific’s sophisticated passing game, the Tigers have one of the nation’s leading rushers in Ryan Benjamin. Despite its record, Pacific is averaging 29.8 points a game.

As an inside linebacker, Lindsay will be responsible for containing the quarterback if he scrambles, covering receivers out of the backfield and stopping the run.

“As an inside linebacker, I should be involved in almost every play if I’m doing what I’m supposed to be doing,” the 6-foot-3, 240-pound senior said. “We blitz, we play the run and the pass, we get to do it all. And we will this weekend.”

Like the Titan defense, Lindsay seems better equipped for the task of playing Pacific this season. After spending most of 1990 on special teams and filling in at linebacker and defensive end, Lindsay, who played at Ventura High School and Ventura College, came into this season bigger, stronger and faster.

Fullerton Coach Gene Murphy felt so confident about Lindsay’s ability that he redshirted Lorenzo Hailey, the team’s leading tackler in 1990, to make room for Lindsay in the starting lineup.

Lindsay hasn’t disappointed. He leads the team with 43 tackles, 35 solo, and has been one of the driving forces on a defense that, despite two lopsided losses, has shown drastic improvement from last season.

Fullerton (1-3) ranked last among 106 Division I-A defenses in 1990, allowed an average of 506.8 yards last season, but has allowed an average of 346.8 yards in four games this season.

“He’s always around the ball-- always ,” Murphy said of Lindsay. “He has good instincts and he’s a good tackler. You name all the good things a linebacker should do, and Chad does them.”

Murphy also likes Lindsay’s tenacity and attitude.

“He’s one of those players like (former Titans) Mark Collins and Rick Calhoun--you watch them on Saturday and Wednesday and you can’t tell the difference,” Murphy said. “It’ll be 104 degrees out there and he’ll be busting his butt in practice. Very few people can push their own buttons. He does.”

Lindsay can’t afford to put it in cruise control. As the player who calls the defensive signals during games, he’s trying to set an example for a defense that had very few leaders last season.

“When you’re a leader, you can’t have an off-day,” Lindsay said. “Even if you don’t feel like practicing, you’ve got to look like you want to be there. If you screw around in practice, everyone else will screw around.”

Lindsay said last year’s team, which won its opener and finished with 11 consecutive losses, lacked unity and began to accept losing toward the end of the season. The team fragmented even further last winter, when some 20 players left the program after the school nearly dropped football.

Those who stayed have used that adversity as a rallying point. The Titans underwent a rigorous spring-training regimen and began fall practice with more team speed, strength and dedication, Lindsay said.

“I’d love nothing else more than to win and show those people who quit on us,” Lindsay said. “People who quit on you will quit in games, so we don’t need them. We’re out to prove them wrong.

“We’re only 1-3, but you can feel something that wasn’t here last year. You can sense good things are going to happen.”

Good things happened Saturday, as Fullerton nearly pulled off a major upset at Georgia. The Titans trailed by only six points in the fourth quarter and had the ball in Bulldog territory twice but couldn’t score the go-ahead touchdown.

The game was a confidence-booster for Fullerton players, who say they regained a measure of respect. Lindsay said the Titans are feeling pretty good about themselves, but not so good that they’re going to be overconfident going into Saturday’s game at Pacific.

“We got beat so bad by Pacific last year, that’s not going to happen,” Lindsay said. “That game is in the back of my head, and I know what could happen if we don’t prepare. It’s a motivating factor to have 67 points scored against you by a team that wasn’t Georgia.”