Bruin Fans See That It’s Not All That Easy

If you boycotted it, you missed it:

First quarter--Cal State Fullerton, 42-point underdog, holds UCLA, 16th-ranked team in the nation, to no touchdowns and two field goals. Score at the break: UCLA 6, Fullerton 0.

Second quarter--Cal State Fullerton’s backup quarterback, Quincy Guy, dances on the “U” in BRUINS, in front of the blue-and-gold “UCLA”-embossed goal-post pad, holding the football aloft and celebrating a 16-yard touchdown run. Score at the break: UCLA 20, Fullerton 7.

Third quarter--UCLA publicist Steve Rourke announces in the press box that Bruin starting quarterback Wayne Cook is in street clothes and will not return for the remainder of the game. Cook sprained his right knee on a sack by Fullerton defensive tackle Randy Strickland, one of three Titans to knock Bruins out of the game in the first 30 minutes. Score at the break: UCLA 23, Fullerton 7.

Fourth quarter--Fullerton quarterback Trendell Williams launches his first pass of the game--and the second for Fullerton--and the ball unexpectedly winds up in the arms of Titan split end Frank Davis. UCLA cornerback Teddy Lawrence slips. Davis outruns the rest of the Bruin secondary to the goal line to complete a 73-yard play. Touchdown, Titans.

Score with 14 minutes left: UCLA 30, Fullerton 14.

These sights, these sounds were not supposed to be included with the price of admission.

Fullerton, in the 1990s, has had the worst or next-to-worst Division I-A football team in the country three years running. In 1990, the Titans were dead last, No. 107, after losing 11 in a row. In 1991, they were No. 106 before No. 107, Cal State Long Beach, decided to drop football days after it lost to Fullerton. And in 1992, the Titans were spared the wrath of Sports Illustrated’s preseason “Worst Team” honors when the magazine inexplicably chose to focus on New Mexico State instead.

New Mexico State has beaten Fullerton in their last two meetings, 43-9 and 35-12.

Knowing all this, UCLA fans viewed Saturday’s mismatch at the Rose Bowl with so much scorn and derision that a disturbed few attempted to organize a boycott of the game.

Underlying message: Fullerton wasn’t worthy of Bruin perspiration.

And another: You deserve better, season-ticket holders. Turn up your nose and throw this minnow back into the water.

Well, Fullerton didn’t waste UCLA’s time. The Titans most assuredly lost, but the final score--37-14--was 19 points shy of the spread. Halftime statistics showed Fullerton outrushing UCLA, 101-72. Bruin fans were heard muttering above the trumpets and trombones that if UCLA couldn’t stop these guys , what in the world were the Bruins going to do against San Diego State’s Marshall Faulk in two weeks?

At the same time, Fullerton Athletic Director Bill Shumard was virtually beaming in the Rose Bowl press box. He, like many in the Titan entourage, had feared the worst, especially when UCLA got the ball back with 4:42 left in the first half with a 20-0 lead.

“I thought they would go down again and score, and it was going to be 50-0,” Shumard said.

Instead, four minutes later, Guy is being swarmed by navy-and-orange-clad teammates in the UCLA end zone, a snapshot for the ages, if not the 1993 media guide cover.

“I was glad to see a Titan in any end zone after what happened last year,” Shumard said.

More than that, the Titans scored again, on the fifth-longest pass play by any UCLA opponent anywhere, and had Bruin Coach Terry Donahue nervously rocking on his heels in the fourth quarter, with Fullerton driving for more before Williams fumbled at the UCLA 32 with 4:08 to play.

“We gave them something they didn’t expect,” said Titan linebacker Lorenzo Hailey. “We’re still not satisfied with the loss, but we competed with them.

“They have the big name, and we have the small name, but we kept the score down a bit. . . . The 42-point spread? That was a piece of crap.”

Gene Murphy, the Fullerton coach who agreed to this engagement at the urging of Donahue, was pleased to report that “We were not intimidated.

“The physical abilities were different, no question about that, but the heart light was the same on both sidelines.”

As at Georgia last year--when Fullerton was within a field goal at halftime--the Titans hung in there much longer than they had any reason to expect. In fact, the Bruins were the ones who entered the tunnel the worse for wear. Cook, the much-anticipated successor to Tommy Maddox, was on crutches by game’s end and two other UCLA players, tailback Ricky Davis and kicker Louis Perez, had to be helped off the field after absorbing Titan hits.

“Fullerton has a physical, tough football team,” Donahue had to admit. He seemed stunned by the tackle that knocked Cook out of the game. He seemed stunned by the final score.

“The wishbone will do that to you--and for you,” Donahue said. “It gives a lesser talented team than you a chance to win.”

The Titans never had much of a chance to win, but Fullerton was enough of a nuisance to give Donahue pause.

Will there be a rematch?

Given a choice, Donahue might be inclined to boycott.