Matadors Caught Flat, 20-10 : College football: Northridge turns in an uninspired performance in loss to St. Mary’s.

Bob Burt, angry at his football team for just about everything imaginable, slammed his cola can to the ground outside the locker room, fizz spewing everywhere.

His Cal State Northridge players fizzled, too. They had no pop whatsoever. If they were soda, they’d have been diet. No caloric value whatsoever.

“We stunk,” Burt said. “They played their best game and we played our worst. We stunk in every facet except punting.”

And for that, he’s kicking himself.

The Matadors stumbled at both ends of the field and lost a nonconference game to St. Mary’s, 20-10, on Saturday before 3,070 at St. Mary’s Stadium.

Northridge (3-3) entered the game on a two-game winning streak and walked away wondering what went wrong. Actually, it would be easier to list what went right.

Not much.

The running game was held to 62 yards and quarterback J.J. O’Laughlin threw for only 196 yards and no touchdowns.

Burt was close to livid afterward, even though the Matadors had a late shot at winning despite themselves.

“We weren’t flat, we just didn’t give an effort,” he said. “We were ready to play; we had a good week of practice.

“I can’t explain it. If I could, I’d be a millionaire.”

This one was bust, almost from the beginning. The offense was held to a season low in yardage and was outgained, 359-258.

The Matadors hadn’t been held below 19 points in five games and three times had scored 40 or more.

“Every offense needs to find a rhythm,” said senior lineman Edvin Babayova, a team captain. “It didn’t happen today. We just never did find it. We had too many breakdowns.”

O’Laughlin was sacked four times and was banged around repeatedly by St. Mary’s defensive front.

“We had way too many three-and-outs,” O’Laughlin said. “We just weren’t clicking.”

And the clock was ticking. Somehow, Northridge managed to mount a threat in the second half, but it came up short.

Trailing, 20-10, Northridge sophomore Matt Ornelaz, who had kicked a career-long 44-yard field goal with 10:42 left in the second quarter, missed a 41-yard attempt with 6 minutes 12 seconds remaining.

The Matadors’ next possession stalled at the St. Mary’s 20 when O’Laughlin misfired on fourth and eight with 1:27 left. Northridge got the ball one more time--and O’Laughlin was sacked to end the game.

“The whole day we were off,” said O’Laughlin, who completed 19 of 40 passes and had one intercepted.

St. Mary’s (6-1) took a 17-3 lead with 9:23 left in the third quarter on a seven-yard run by freshman tailback Ed Williams, a 1994 Canyon High graduate who gained 116 yards in a school record 38 carries.

O’Laughlin scored on a one-yard sneak on fourth down with 3:36 left in the third to close to within 17-10, but it was as close as the Matadors would get.

Tom Antongiovanni kicked a 27-yard field goal with 8:53 remaining to extend St. Mary’s lead to 10 points.

Neither team burned up the field in the first half. Having failed in its attempt to beat down the front door, the St. Mary’s offense went through the side window with a gadget play that caught Northridge flat-footed.

Quarterback Coley Connelly, coming off a three-game suspension after an arrest on burglary charges, didn’t take long to find the groove--though there was a proviso.

With St. Mary’s on the Northridge 19-yard line, Connelly lined up at tailback on his first play of the game.

He took a pitch from freshman quarterback Sean Laird, then rolled right.

Laird, meanwhile, cruised toward the left sideline. Connelly lobbed a pass to Laird over cornerback Vinnie Johnson and the Matador secondary for an easy touchdown and a 7-3 lead with 4:42 left in the half.