Titans Air It Out, Fall to Earth : College football: UNLV halts ground game, forcing Cal State Fullerton to try its passing offense. Rebels win easily, 25-3.

Cal State Fullerton fans--the few, the proud--were getting restless. Growing tired of the Titans’ ultra-conservative, lifeless offense and their apparent aversion to the forward pass, they let Fullerton coaches know how they felt with a few rounds of boos in the second quarter of Saturday’s game against Nevada Las Vegas.

It was passing they wanted. So Titan Coach Gene Murphy gave them passing.

Maybe now they won’t boo so much.

The Rebels shut down Fullerton’s usually potent ground game and then shot down Titan attempts at a passing game en route to a 25-3 Big West Conference victory in front of 3,012 in Santa Ana Stadium.

UNLV quarterback Derek Stott completed nine of 21 passes for 209 yards and a touchdown, and running back Derek Black, who signed with Fullerton two years ago but changed his mind and went to Las Vegas, added 128 yards rushing and a touchdown to lead the Rebels (3-3, 1-1 conference).

Fullerton (1-5, 0-2) scored first, on Phil Nevin’s 52-yard field goal in the first quarter, but UNLV came back with 12 points in the second, three in the third and 10 in the fourth to pull away. The Rebels won despite missing two field goals, two extra points and losing two fumbles.

The Titans were held to their lowest rushing output of the season--64 yards, 151 below their average. Of their 15 offensive possessions, nine ended with punts, two with lost fumbles, one with an interception and one with a blocked field-goal attempt.

When Fullerton went to the passing game in the second half, it only proved why the Titans have relied so much on their running backs this season.

Chad May, a redshirt freshman, completed 13 of 34 passes for 99 yards, including 11 of 26 in the second half, and sophomore reliever Terry Payne wasn’t much better, completing two of six attempts for 22 yards.

May, who had improved in his past two starts and appeared to be gaining confidence, regressed Saturday. He resembled a point guard, throwing bounce pass after bounce pass. He overthrew some receivers and threw behind others.

“If we have to throw the football, we’re in trouble,” Murphy said. “We’re only as good passing as our running game permits us to be. If we have to go back and throw, we’re not a good team.”

But at least they’re a more imaginative team. Fullerton’s offense was simply monotonous in the first half. The Titans didn’t throw once on first down, and all of their running plays went up the middle. There were almost as many Titan punts (six) as pass attempts (eight).

One play in particular seemed to infuriate some Fullerton fans. Kerry Reed had blocked a Rebel punt and recovered at the UNLV 19-yard line with 2:58 left in the second quarter, and Arthur Davis ran nine yards on first down.

With the ball on the right hash mark, Fullerton attempted an option play to the right side, where there was little running room. May, who will never be compared to option whiz Jamelle Holieway, floated down the line of scrimmage and pitched to Davis, who had virtually no running room and stepped out of bounds at the 14.

A third-down pass fell incomplete, and Nevin’s 32-yard field goal attempt was blocked. Stott then threw a 52-yard touchdown pass to a wide-open Henry Bailey for a 12-3 lead.

The half ended with Titan senior Reggie Yarbrough’s two-yard run, which elicited more boos.

“I’m not here to please the fans--I’m here to win football games,” Murphy said. “I appreciate their interest. I just wish they would come by and visit me and we could explain a few things to them. The best way for us to win at this point with the players we have is to run the football.”

But the Titans couldn’t run Saturday. Yarbrough, who entered with a 135-yards-per-game average, was limited to 49 yards in 16 carries, and Davis, who averaged 110 yards per game, finished with 31 yards in 15 carries.

“They did a good job filling the gaps, stepping up and reading the plays,” Yarbrough said. “There were seams, but their linebackers would be a yard deep in the hole.”

Despite its lackluster offense, Fullerton managed to stay in the game through three quarters and received a shot in the arm when Payne replaced May and threw a 20-yard pass to Frank Davis late in the third quarter.

Trailing, 15-3, the Titans drove to the UNLV 36-yard line, but delay-of-game, illegal procedure and holding penalties wiped out what momentum Fullerton had gained. The drive ended with a punt.

The Titans got another break when Darrius Watson intercepted a Stott pass at the Fullerton 47-yard line. But two plays later, Payne scrambled, was hit and fumbled. Chuck Reed recovered for UNLV to set up Jabbar Thomas’ 30-yard touchdown that made it 22-3 with 8 minutes 17 seconds remaining.