Fullerton Can’t Take Advantage of Nevada

For most of three quarters, it appeared Nevada was trying to wrap Saturday night’s football game, put a ribbon around it and present it to outgoing Cal State Fullerton Coach Gene Murphy as a retirement gift.

The heavily favored Wolf Pack turned the ball over six times in three quarters, giving Fullerton excellent field position on several possessions. But the Titans, unaccustomed to such handouts, didn’t know what to do with them.

So they gave them back.

Fullerton committed six turnovers of its own and extended its streak without a touchdown to three games, and reserve quarterback Fred Gatlin sparked Nevada with two second-half touchdown passes as the Wolf Pack beat the Titans, 19-0, in a Big West Conference game played before 4,680 in the Titan Sports Complex.

Gatlin, a senior from Carson High, replaced starter Chris Vargas in the third quarter and finished with 12 completions in 27 attempts for 142 yards.

Vargas went 19 of 36 for 236 yards, giving Nevada (3-2, 2-0 in conference) 378 passing yards. Bryan Reeves caught 16 passes for 184 yards, breaking the school single-game reception record of 15 set by Ross Ortega in a Division I-AA playoff game in 1990.

“Field position is what you do with it, and we didn’t capitalize,” said Murphy, who announced Thursday that he will retire after this season, his 13th with the Titans. “We certainly had the opportunities.”

So did the Wolf Pack, but for more than 40 minutes, all they could manage was a 3-0 lead. Then Gatlin drove Nevada 59 yards in 10 plays, hitting Tom Matter with an eight-yard touchdown pass with 2 minutes 35 seconds remaining in the third quarter to make it 9-0.

Steve Terelak, who kicked a 30-yard field goal in the second quarter, added a 17-yarder early in the fourth quarter to make it 12-0, and Gatlin closed the Wolf Pack scoring with a 17-yard touchdown pass to Reeves with 2:25 left.

It marked the first time since 1987 that Fullerton had been shut out twice in the same season.

The lack of an offensive punch overshadowed a solid defensive performance by the Titans (1-4, 0-1), who were led by linebackers Dan Godfrey (16 unassisted tackles) and Mike Gullo (13 unassisted tackles). Fullerton incurred a major loss, though, when inside linebacker Lorenzo Hailey, perhaps the team’s best defensive player, suffered a third-quarter knee injury that will sideline him indefinitely.

“Boy, if we could ever score some points, we’d be all right, because our defense played their butts off,” Fullerton quarterback Trendell Williams said. “It makes you feel bad, because they’re doing their job, and we’re not doing ours.”

Nevada rolled up 481 yards of total offense and had 21 first downs compared with Fullerton’s 188 and eight. Nevada converted on 12 of 24 third-down situations; the Titans were three for 17.

But the Wolf Pack turnovers, several of which occurred after routine hits, prevented Nevada from blowing Fullerton out.

Fullerton had lost 15 of 33 fumbles in four previous games, but those problems seemed to rub off on Nevada, which lost fumbles on three consecutive second-quarter possessions. The Wolf Pack had lost only three fumbles entering the game.

Nevada was only able to put together one decent first-half drive, which ended with Terelak’s 30-yard field goal with three seconds remaining.

After a Noel Prefontaine punt pinned Nevada back on its 10 with 55 seconds left, Vargas connected with Reeves on a wide-receiver screen play for 20 yards.

Three plays later, from the 39, Vargas lofted a bomb down the middle that Mike Senior ran under and caught for a 48-yard gain to the Titan 13 with 15 seconds left. Two passes fell incomplete, and Terelak salvaged the half with his field goal.

Fullerton’s only real scoring chance came on its first possession, when, after the opening kickoff, the Titans drove from their 27 to the Wolf Pack 20 in nine plays, including a run of 24 yards by Jamal Smith, who had not carried the ball in the first four games.

But Julio Ocana’s 37-yard field goal attempt fell short. Fullerton then punted on six of its remaining seven first-half possessions; the other ended with an interception.