Titans Fumble Away Any Hopes for Upset : Nonconference: No. 19 Georgia takes advantage of five of Fullerton’s 13 fumbles to win, 56-0.

If Cal State Fullerton was to have any chance of upsetting, or for that matter, merely being competitive with No. 19 Georgia here Saturday, the Titans had to play error-free football.

Well, Fullerton (1-2) fumbled 13 times and lost five of them, which helped set up three Georgia touchdowns and the Bulldogs routed the Titans, 56-0.

Quarterback Trendell Williams, the main cog in the Titans’ triple option offense, did his share, losing three fumbles.

“It was disappointing,” he said. “We blew our chance here.”

The Titans blew any chance they had because their option offense was in complete disarray. They fumbled eight times in the first half as Georgia built a 35-0 lead. The Titans, who rely on their running game for offense and ball control, managed only 2.7 yards per play.

It was the third-worst loss for Fullerton, which was beaten, 70-0, by Southern Mississippi in 1975 and 65-0 by Florida in 1987.

“It was just pathetic,” Fullerton Coach Gene Murphy said.

Georgia had such an edge in talent, it hardly mattered that Murphy held starting halfback Arthur Davis out of the game until the third quarter for disciplinary reasons. Davis, wide receiver Frank Davis and reserve lineman Abe Elliott missed the team’s flight Friday morning and arrived late Friday night.

“I knew it was my fault,” Arthur Davis said. “If I was the coach I wouldn’t have even played me. I’m thinking about even giving up being a captain of the team because I let everyone down.”

The game was a letdown for the Titans because they couldn’t duplicate what the 1991 team did--play competitively against the Bulldogs. Last year’s team took heavily favored Georgia down to the wire here before losing, 27-14.

“That team played with some guts, we didn’t,” Williams said. “We took a giant step back because we got complacent this week in practice. We thought we had gotten so much better that we thought we could let up.”

Georgia didn’t let up once Fullerton provided an opening with an early turnover.

With 9 1/2 minutes to play in the first quarter, Williams broke outside for a 13-yard gain. But when hit at his 43, he fumbled. The ball bounced to the ground and then into the hands of Georgia cornerback Chris Wilson, who ran down the sideline for a touchdown.

Georgia followed with four more touchdowns in the first half and the Titans were out of contention. With its running game virtually nonexistent, Fullerton didn’t have a passing game to fall back on. The Titans didn’t complete a pass in five attempts and had only 176 yards in total offense.

“The thing they did was put pressure on me,” said Williams, who had food poisoning last week and only practiced once. “They really pressured the quarterback with one man all the time and he was on you quick. The weather was a factor with the rain, but they didn’t fumble. I think it was just I hadn’t seen that kind of pressure. That was the big reason we had trouble.”

Georgia, meanwhile, applied pressure with tailback Garrison Hearst, who rushed 19 times for 164 yards and scored four touchdowns. Quarterback Eric Zeier completed nine of 18 passes for 153 yards and a touchdown.

“If you compare last year to this year, I feel a whole lot better after this game (against Fullerton),” Georgia Coach Ray Goff said. “Last year after we played these guys, I wasn’t feeling very spiffy.”

The Titans had at least two things to feel good about besides the large payday for playing a major college opponent (about $250,000, according to a Fullerton official).

Punter Noel Prefontaine averaged 45.8 yards on 10 punts. In addition, cornerback B.B. Hudson, who was helped off the field with a foot injury, should be able to play next week, according to Murphy. Hudson injured his ankle and Achilles’ heel.

Fullerton plays Sacramento State on Saturday at Titan Sports Complex.