CAL STATE FULLERTON NOTEBOOK : Breland, Used to Delivering, Was on the Receiving End of Big Hit

Linebackers inflict their share of punishment on receivers and quarterbacks, but little Nevada Las Vegas receiver Hunkie Cooper exacted a measure of revenge Saturday with a vicious hit on Fullerton linebacker Stan Breland.

Rebel quarterback Derek Stott had scrambled toward the left sideline early in the fourth quarter of UNLV’s 25-3 victory, and Breland was giving chase. Cooper, who ran a short pattern on the left side, abandoned his route and came back to block.

Everyone in Santa Ana Stadium--except Breland--saw what was coming. With Breland, a 6-foot-4, 225-pounder, running full speed, Cooper, a 5-9, 175-pounder who also plays quarterback, applied a blind-side block into Breland’s chest, flattening the Titan instantly.

Breland remained on the ground for several minutes before finally getting up and jogging off the field. He claimed afterward that he only had the wind knocked out of him, but UNLV Coach Jim Strong, a former Notre Dame assistant, thought Cooper inflicted a little more damage.

“I’ve been in some big stadiums and seen some big hits by big-time players, but that’s one of the biggest hits I’ve ever seen,” Strong said. “For a 175-pound guy on a 225-pound guy . . . he knocked him out. He was out cold.”

Fullerton Coach Gene Murphy went out to check on Breland and corroborated Strong’s story.

“He was out,” Murphy said. “His eyes were open but they were glazed. He got up muttering some obscenities, something about getting hit by a quarterback.”

Could be worse: With Fresno State, San Jose State and Utah State--the Big West Conference’s top teams--and improved New Mexico State remaining on Fullerton’s schedule, a 1-10 season seems very likely for the Titans.

The only other game Fullerton appears to have a shot at winning is the season finale Nov. 23 against Cal State Long Beach. But as poor as the Titans’ record is, things still don’t seem as bad as last season’s 1-11 slide, according to Fullerton running back Reggie Yarbrough.

“We’re hurt, but we’re not down and out and in the gutter,” Yarbrough said. “It’s a young team, not like last year when we had a lot of seniors. These guys know they’re going to make mistakes, but the coaches have done a good job making sure they don’t get too down on themselves.”

Good catch: Former Titan receiver Allen Pitts, in his second year with the Calgary Stampeders of the Canadian Football League, has set a team record with 100 catches, good for 1,549 yards and 14 touchdowns this season. He leads the CFL in all three categories.

Pitts, who attended Fullerton from 1981-85, broke Terry Evanshen’s team record of 96 receptions, set in 1967, and has three games to break the CFL single-season record of 116, set by Winnipeg’s James Murphy in 1986.

Pitts went up against a former Titan teammate Sunday when the Stampeders played Ottawa, which is quarterbacked by former Fullerton standout Damon Allen. Pitts caught five passes for 118 yards and a touchdown to help Calgary win, 44-24.

On-time delivery: The Titan Sports Complex is expected to be completed about two months ahead of schedule, Fullerton Athletic Director Bill Shumard said. The Taylor Woodrow construction company, primary contractor for the project, is expected to turn over keys to the facility to the school Nov. 1. Their original completion date was January, 1992.

“That’s one upshot of the drought,” Shumard said.

Sod has been installed on the baseball and football fields, and construction workers are putting the finishing touches on the football press box. The Titan baseball team will play its home games there beginning with the home-opener in February.

Baffled: Fullerton soccer Coach Al Mistri said he was up all night Sunday, trying to figure how his team could defeat seventh-ranked Fresno State, 2-0, Friday night and lose to last-place San Jose State, 4-2, Sunday.

“I’m still trying to figure it out,” Mistri said Monday. “It was certainly a Dr. Jekyll, Mr. Hyde type of weekend.”

Titan Notes

The Fullerton basketball team, which has three starters back from last year’s 14-14 squad, begins practice today. Guard Joe Small, who led the Titans in scoring with a 21.8 average, and forward Agee Ward, who averaged 12.6 points and a team-leading 8.1 rebounds, lead the returners. Also back are Bruce Bowen (9.8 points, 6.0 rebounds) and J.D. Green (7.1 points, 4.1 rebounds), who shared the small-forward position in 1990-91. Fullerton lost two starters off last year’s team when center Aaron Wilhite transferred to North Carolina Charlotte and point guard Wayne Williams was ruled academically ineligible. Williams has since enrolled at Cal State San Bernardino, a Division II school. . . . Fullerton solved its goal-post problem in Santa Ana Stadium Saturday, erecting two plastic pipes inside each of the existing goal posts to conform with the NCAA’s new rule, which states goal posts must be 18-foot 6-inches in width. The Titans had played their home opener against Cal State Northridge in violation of NCAA rules because it used the existing, 23-feet, 4-inch goal posts. Steve DiTolla, Fullerton’s senior associate athletic director, said any penalty levied by the NCAA would likely be very minor. . . . Although redshirt freshman quarterback Chad May struggled Saturday against UNLV, Titan Coach Gene Murphy said he will start Saturday’s game at Utah State. . . . Two Utah State starters, linebacker Del Lyles and receiver Rod Moore, were injured in an automobile accident early Sunday and might not be able to play against Fullerton. Four Aggies spent the weekend in California, but the rear axle broke on their rental car broke on the return trip, and the vehicle rolled three times near Snowville, Utah. Reserve running back Floyd Foreman required 50-60 stitches to his forearm to repair a cut incurred in the accident. Utah State’s top receiver, Tracey Jenkins, missed the Aggies’ last game against Brigham Young because of injuries suffered in a motorcycle-pedestrian accident.