Titans’ Unforced Errors Are Limiting Murphy’s Option

Cal State Fullerton football Coach Gene Murphy made his offense, and he’s going to lie in it, even though the Titans are wallowing in it.

Ball security was Murphy’s biggest concern when he switched from a single-back, pro offensive set to the option this season, and 33 fumbles in four games--15 that were lost--certainly confirmed his fears. Fullerton had only 22 fumbles and lost 10 the entire 1991 season.

After failing to reach the end zone for the second consecutive game in Saturday’s 29-3 loss to Division II Cal State Sacramento, Murphy indicated he might re-evaluate the offense.

“We’ll have to take a good look at it,” Murphy said. “We might change something, but I don’t know what we’d do.”

Upon further review, Murphy said he won’t do much tinkering. He’ll continue to attempt to beef up the passing game--the Titans threw 13 times Saturday but had more than 20 pass plays called--and he might call fewer triple-option plays, which entail more decisions by the quarterback and more risks. But the general approach will remain the same.

“The triple option is (difficult to defend against) when you get it down, but we’ve made too many unforced errors,” Murphy said. “We could just hand the ball to a running back, but we’ve fumbled doing that, too. We’re going to stay with the option. You could say I’m stubborn, but that’s fine. You have to have patience, and if it’s like this through 11 games, it is.”

In Murphy’s defense, the option hasn’t been the only culprit. Fullerton has fumbled almost every way imaginable this season--on center snaps, routine handoffs, kickoff returns, quarterback sacks, at the end of decent runs. . . .

Several errant pitchouts have resulted in fumbles, and all of the mistakes--not just the ones on option plays--have had a cumulative effect on the offense, making it more skittish when it should be gaining confidence.

“When you make so many mistakes you play cautious,” Murphy said. “The fumbling has become contagious, for crying out loud. Hopefully it will come to a screeching halt.”

Unhappy campers: Fullerton has had such little fan support in recent years that you don’t envision Titan followers as the types who would get too irate about losing or write letters to newspapers demanding that an unsuccessful coach be fired.

But there are a vociferous few, and Murphy heard from them during Saturday night’s loss.

“I was told how to assemble my resume,” Murphy said.

By whom?

“By some of the fighting Titan fans who probably went to the car wash and got free tickets.”

Crowd control: Saturday’s turnout of 4,154 fans, about half the size of the Titan Sports Complex opening-night crowd of 8,279 Sept. 5, wasn’t a complete disappointment for Fullerton Athletic Director Bill Shumard.

“We were optimistically hoping for 5,000, so 4,154 wasn’t bad,” Shumard said. “What was disturbing to me was there were people leaving early. My question was: Are they first-time buyers, and are we going to be able to bring them back? I hope the effects of that game are minimal.”

Shumard will know soon enough. The Titans play host to Nevada Saturday in their homecoming game and Big West Conference opener.

No diving: A variety of homecoming activities are planned for this week, including a parade Thursday night and a pregame tailgate party Saturday. But don’t expect a sky diver to deliver the game ball before kickoff.

The last time Fullerton played Nevada, in the 1986 season opener at Reno, a sky diver landing in Mackay Stadium descended too rapidly and broke both legs upon impact, as fans and players watched in horror.

The game was delayed some 45 minutes while paramedics attended to the sky diver. Lew Cryer, the Big West Commissioner at the time, enacted a conference rule banning sky divers from pregame shows because of the potential problems and delays.

“Both teams were shellshocked, and our guys never recovered,” said Murphy, whose Titans lost, 49-3, that day. “Our kids were on the sidelines blessing themselves. They were just thankful to be alive after watching that.”

Special of the day: Murphy has developed such a liking for David Breuninger, a reserve defensive lineman who has 15 tackles and has excelled on special teams, that he named him special teams captain Monday.

“If you strip him down, you’d think he just rode in on a Harley and was on his way to Las Vegas to catch a freight train,” Murphy said of Breuninger, a long-haired, scruffy-looking walk-on from Cal State Long Beach.

“But he epitomizes college football. He’s a walk-on who’s having fun, but he plays so damn hard. He was on crutches Thursday because of an ankle injury, but he played Saturday and played hard.”

All in the family: The Titan family grew Saturday morning when Fullerton outside linebacker Mike Simmons’ wife gave birth to a girl, bringing to 24 the number of children fathered by current Titan players.

“He didn’t sleep at all Friday night,” Murphy said of Simmons, who had eight tackles and two pass breakups against Sacramento. “He played over 70 snaps and had one of his best games ever.”

Titan Notes

Lost amid Saturday’s loss to Sacramento State was an outstanding performance by Titan inside linebacker Lorenzo Hailey, who was credited with 11 tackles, including one sack and two tackles for losses, and one fumble recovery. But after reviewing a tape of the game, defensive coordinator Kirk Harmon said Hailey actually had 17 tackles, 10 of them solo and seven assisted. . . . Fullerton cornerback B.B. Hudson, who was sorely missed in the secondary Saturday, is expected to return from an ankle injury this week. . . . Special teams player Jason Stanley suffered a knee injury against Sacramento State and will be out three to five weeks. . . . Nevada center Ryan O’Donnell is a Fountain Valley High School graduate whose father, Pat, shoots photos for Titan game programs. . . . The Titan soccer team, coming off impressive victories over UC Irvine (4-0) and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo (5-1) last week, opens Mountain Pacific Soccer Federation play on Sunday at Irvine. Game time is 2 p.m. . . . Former Titan basketball standout Richard Morton, a three-year Continental Basketball Assn. veteran with a 20.9-point scoring average, has been traded from the Albany Patroons to the Rapid City Thrillers.