Lack of Execution Kills Titans : Football: Fullerton players were well prepared, but they still couldn’t stop Pacific, which rolled, 56-28.

Cal State Fullerton coaches burned the midnight oil this past week working on a game plan they thought would slow the University of the Pacific’s prolific offense.

It didn’t matter. Long hours in the office couldn’t prevent a long Saturday afternoon at Stagg Memorial Stadium, as the Tigers torched the Titans for a 56-28 Big West Conference victory in front of a crowd estimated at 8,000.

It wasn’t quite as bad as last season’s Titan Topple, when Fullerton allowed a school-record 747 yards in a 67-37 loss to the Tigers.

But it was bad.

Pacific (1-4) amassed 662 total yards, the third-highest the Titans have allowed in a game in 22 years.

Tiger running back Ryan Benjamin came within 29 yards of the NCAA single-game, all-purpose yardage record, accumulating 388 yards--150 of them rushing in 15 carries, 99 on seven receptions and 139 on two kickoff returns.

Quarterback Troy Kopp, the former Mission Viejo standout who was being pressed by former Fountain Valley standout Dave Henigan for playing time, solidified his job as starter by completing 24 of 32 passes for 346 yards and four touchdowns.

Pacific receiver Aaron Turner drew man coverage from cornerback Darrius Watson, who was named Big West defensive player of the week two weeks ago. But Turner reduced Watson to a player of the meek, catching 10 passes for 169 yards and two touchdowns.

“Our defensive staff put in more hours this past week than they ever have, and Pacific didn’t do anything we weren’t prepared for,” Fullerton Coach Gene Murphy said. “Like their shovel pass--we knew they would use it. But everyone knows Nolan Ryan throws a fastball and a curve, right?”

What was so frustrating for the Titans (1-4), they said, was that they knew what was coming but could do little to defense it.

“I’m still wondering why this happened,” said Chad Lindsay, whose move from linebacker to defensive end was one of the adjustments Fullerton hoped would work against Pacific’s run-and-shoot offense. “We looked great in practice all week but not in the game. They did what we thought they would do, but we didn’t execute.”

Case in point: The Tigers’ shovel pass. Pacific used the play five times, allowing Lindsay to come into the backfield untouched, then flipping a short pass to Benjamin up the middle. It looks a little like a draw, only the back runs past the quarterback before receiving the ball.

The Tigers accumulated 82 yards on the first four shovel passes before Lindsay quit biting the bait. He finally read the play correctly and intercepted Kopp’s fifth shovel pass late in the fourth quarter.

But by then it was too late. The Tigers had a 42-21 lead, which even their feeble defense could hold.

Fullerton had a good day offensively, amassing 445 total yards, including 231 rushing by Reggie Yarbrough and 100 rushing by Arthur Davis. Yarbrough, whose total was the sixth-best, single-game effort by a Titan, scored two touchdowns, one on an 80-yard run in the third quarter.

Freshman quarterback Chad May had his moments, completing 11 of 20 passes for 121 yards. But Fullerton, which was penalized 11 times for 90 yards, couldn’t keep its offense on the field and Pacific’s offense off it long enough. And the Titan defense, which appeared to be improved over last season, simply wasn’t up to the task.

“We didn’t execute anything,” Watson said. “I know I didn’t. I was looking in the backfield instead of watching my man. I’m in man-to-man coverage and I’m up on the line going for play-action fakes. I just wasn’t concentrating. I played horribly.”

Fullerton had allowed an average of 346.8 yards in four previous games, seemingly a drastic improvement over last season’s 506.8-yards-allowed average, but the Titans didn’t look improved Saturday.

“They seemed the same to me,” said Pacific receiver Daryl Hobbs, who caught touchdown passes of 10 and 16 yards. “They didn’t show me anything different. That No. 43 (Watson) covered me last year, and to make that move from safety to cornerback, well, you see what happens.”

Fullerton’s game plan worked well for one quarter. The Titans put together a long scoring drive, capped by Yarbrough’s seven-yard touchdown run, and were tied, 7-7, with the Tigers going into the second quarter.

But Pacific broke loose for 21 points in the second quarter. Kopp fooled the Titans with a play-action fake and threw a 65-yard touchdown pass to Turner. Benjamin, a 5-foot-7, 174-pound speedster, bounced off a defender on his way to a 72-yard touchdown run. But the killer drive of the first half was the Tigers’ last possession, which began on the Pacific 31 with 1 minute 38 seconds left.

The Tigers gained 28 yards in three plays, but two consecutive holding penalties pushed them back to their 30, where they faced first and 39.

Anthony Williams ran for seven yards, Kopp hit Jason Edwards with a 20-yard pass, and on third and 12 from the Titan 43, Kopp shoveled a pass to Benjamin, who sprinted up the middle for 24 yards and a first down at the 20 with 20 seconds to go.

Fullerton appeared to have sacked Kopp, but with defensive back Terry Sullivan draped around his knees, Kopp hit Turner with a 13-yard sideline pass. Kopp then connected with Turner on a seven-yard scoring pass, which gave Pacific a 28-7 lead eight seconds before halftime.

The Titans cut the deficit to 28-14 on Davis’ one-yard touchdown run early in the third quarter, but that was as close as Fullerton would come. The teams combined for three touchdowns in a 31-second span late in the third quarter--Kopp’s four-yard run, Yarbrough’s 80-yarder and Kopp’s 10-yard pass to Hobbs--which made it 42-21 with 3:14 left in the quarter.

“We kept it close for a while, but Kopp is like a time bomb,” Murphy said. “If he has time to throw, he’s going to give you trouble. Their skilled people against ours is a mismatch.”

Titan Notes

Pacific running back Ryan Benjamin’s 388 all-purpose yards were 29 short of the NCAA record of 417, set by Temple’s Paul Palmer against East Carolina in 1986 and Florida State’s Greg Allen against Western Carolina in 1981. Benjamin, who broke the school record of 344 and enjoyed his fifth consecutive game with more than 200 all-purpose yards, set up the Tigers’ sixth touchdown with an 83-yard kickoff return in the the third quarter. . . . Reggie Yarbrough’s 80-yard touchdown run was tied for the second-longest in Fullerton history. He had an 80-yarder against Sonoma State last year. The record is 83 yards, set by Dwayne Sims against Cal State Los Angeles in 1973. . . . Titan receiver Anthony Pack caught five passes for 50 yards and made a nice, leaping catch for a 21-yard gain late in the third quarter to set up a touchdown. . . . Pacific linebacker Matt Volpe, who is only 5 feet 9 and 206 pounds, made a game-high 16 tackles.