Titans Go Nowhere in Defeat : Football: Fullerton fumbles eight times, losing four, and gains just 126 yards in 29-3 loss to Division II Cal State Sacramento.

FULLERTON — About half the fans who attended the grand opening of Cal State Fullerton’s Titan Sports Complex on Sept. 5 didn’t return for Fullerton’s game against Cal State Sacramento Saturday night.

The Titans should be glad. Those who weren’t among the 4,154 who witnessed Fullerton’s 29-3 loss to the Hornets were the lucky ones--they were spared from a defeat that was embarrassing by even the Titans’ recent dismal standards.

Sacramento is a good Division II team--they’re ranked 12th in the nation and rated first in total and rushing defense--but few expected the Hornets to handle the Division I Titans as easily as they did.

Of course, the way Fullerton handled the ball, they would have had trouble defeating an NAIA team Saturday.

The Titans, who fumbled 20 times in the past two games against UCLA and Georgia, fumbled eight more times against Sacramento, losing four. Two led directly to Hornet touchdowns.

Fullerton dropped three passes, one by usually dependable receiver Frank Davis, who had his defender beat on a bomb in the third quarter but couldn’t catch what would have been a sure touchdown.

Two Fullerton players collided while fielding a kickoff in the second quarter--a real clash of Titans--and neither could make the catch.

The Titans managed only 126 total yards, including 69 rushing in 44 carries, while yielding 360 yards, 349 of them coming through the air.

Fullerton had the ball on the Sacramento nine-yard line on one possession and six on another possession in the second half and couldn’t score.

One of Fullerton’s biggest gains was on a fluke kickoff return to start the second half. Arthur Davis fumbled after a 24-yard runback, teammate Robert Bedford inadvertently kicked the ball and Jermaine Hill picked it up and raced 24 more yards to the Hornet 24.

Of course, the Titans (1-3) couldn’t score from there.

“They’re a good team, but we made them look better than they were,” said Jason Wells, Fullerton’s third-year nose guard. “This is the worst loss I’ve experienced, because we’ve never lost to a Division II team since I’ve been here, and this is the best team we’ve had since I’ve been here.”

It was Fullerton’s first loss to a Division II team in Coach Gene Murphy’s 12 years at the school. The Titans last lost to a Division II team in 1978, 42-27 at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.

The schedule doesn’t get any easier. Next week, the Titans play host to a strong Nevada team in the Big West Conference opener, and they travel to conference favorite San Jose State the following week.

“We’re going to check the character of this team,” Wells said. “We’ll find out what kind of team we are by how we bounce back from this. Everyone here wants to win--we just haven’t found out how to do it yet.”

Sacramento certainly has. The Hornets, 8-2 last season, are off to a 3-0 start and have four consecutive victories over Division I teams, three of them on the road.

Sacramento has two solid quarterbacks, Bobby Fresques and Aaron Garcia, who combined to complete 21 of 34 attempts for 349 yards and two touchdowns Saturday.

And the Hornets have two excellent receivers in Clint Primm, who caught seven passes for 117 yards, including a 62-yard touchdown in the third quarter, and Michael Parker, who caught six passes for 144 yards, including a 19-yard touchdown in the second.

Tailback Pedro Lewis had a subpar game, rushing for only 35 yards, but he scored on runs of one yard (first quarter) and nine (second quarter). Sacramento built a 22-3 halftime lead and was never threatened in the second half.

But the jewel of the Hornet team is its defensive line, which features two NFL prospects, 6-foot-5, 330-pound tackle Jon Kirksey and 6-3, 290-pound tackle Val Laolagi. Both had six tackles, and middle linebacker Sean Chandler added eight.

They got excellent support from ends Cory Baugh, Rolinzo Flowers and Robert Miller, who contained the Titan option and constantly harassed quarterback Trendell Williams, who fumbled five times.

“We moved the ball better against UCLA and Georgia,” Murphy said. “How do you explain that? You’ve got me. It was both their defense and our offense. We knew their defensive line would be as good as any we’ll face. They put an extreme amount of pressure on us.