WITH KANSAS STATE IN HONOLULU FOR CHRISTMAS, IT’S STILL . . . : May in December : Former Cal State Fullerton Quarterback’s Strong-Arm Tactics Have Brought Kansas State Into Aloha Bowl Today

Several moments had passed since Chad May heard the words that would change his life, and his only thought was, “Why now?”

A few days removed from his best football game for Cal State Fullerton in 1991, May, then a redshirt freshman quarterback, no longer had a job--or a team. Shortly after the season, Titan coaches told May they were scrapping their one-back offense in favor of a run-oriented option. And May wasn’t part of the plan.

As it turned out, lucky him.

Fullerton no longer plays football, but May does--well.

He has rebounded in a big way, and will lead Kansas State (9-2) against Boston College (6-4-1) today in the Aloha Bowl at Honolulu.

“Mentally, what happened back (at Fullerton) has really helped me,” said May, a senior. “I found out I have some type of will in me to win . . . to keep coming back.”

That and May’s powerful right arm are two reasons Kansas State’s football program has emerged from decades of darkness.

After sitting out 1992 under NCAA transfer guidelines, May has produced the best football show in long-suffering Manhattan, Kan. His two seasons have been the most successful in school history, producing an 18-4-1 record and consecutive bowl appearances.

With a victory today, the Wildcats will match the 1910 team’s record total. Kansas State, which was 22-86-1 in the 1980s, finished the regular season ranked No. 8 in the CNN/USA Today poll and No. 11 in the Associated Press poll, its highest rankings in both.

“It’s been like a dream,” offensive coordinator Del Miller said.

This season, May has completed 59% of his passes for 2,571 yards, 18 touchdowns and only six interceptions. He was selected first-team All-Big Eight for the second consecutive season.

He has improved in almost every category from his junior season, in which he completed 53% of his passes and set a school record with 2,682 yards. The Wildcats routed Wyoming, 52-17, in last season’s Copper Bowl. Although he has played in only 23 games, May has set 10 Big Eight passing records.

“May is the real deal,” Missouri Coach Larry Smith said. “From a pure arm-strength standpoint, he’s one of the best I’ve ever seen.”

May, 23, was a finalist this season for the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm and Davey O’Brien awards, which recognize the nation’s top quarterback. He finished 11th in the Heisman Trophy balloting.

“Some people might be surprised at what I’ve accomplished,” May said. “But I knew I had this in me.”

How did May go from the depths of the Big West to the top of the Big Eight?

It’s a matter of economics, according to former Titan coach Gene Murphy.

Fullerton’s financially strapped athletic department considered cutting football for several seasons before 1992, when the ax finally fell. The Titans were 1-11 in 1990, May’s redshirt season, and 2-9 when May started in 1991.

By the end of 1991, Murphy knew time was running out. So he implemented sweeping changes he hoped might save the program.

“We only had the equivalent of about 33 1/2 scholarships, so our plan that last year was to put the majority of the scholarship kids on the defensive side of the ball, go with a conservative offense and hope to win some games that way,” said Murphy, now the coach at Fullerton College. “We just didn’t have enough (talent) to stay with our offense.”

That was evident on Saturdays.

The Titan offensive line was horrible, Murphy said, and defenses battered May relentlessly.

In 11 games, May completed 42% of his passes for 1,066 yards. He passed for four touchdowns and nine interceptions.

But May impressed in other ways.

Kicker Phil Nevin, the top pick in baseball’s 1992 amateur draft by Houston, was a football teammate of May’s at Fullerton. He marveled at the quarterback’s pain threshold.

“He’s one of the toughest people I’ve ever been around on an athletic field,” said Nevin, a third baseman in the Astros’ organization. “When you’re the quarterback at Fullerton, you’re going to take some licks, but Chad kept coming back.”

Former Titan offensive lineman Brian Johnson agreed.

“Chad got his nose broken (in a 27-14 loss at Georgia) and came right back,” Johnson said. “He didn’t complain or anything. He never gave up.”

May’s best game at Fullerton was his last--a 37-36 victory over Long Beach State. He completed 16 of 23 passes for 213 yards and two touchdowns and guided the Titans 86 yards for the winning touchdown with 38 seconds left.

“I think everyone on our team knew that he was definitely a cut above Big West quarterbacks,” Nevin said. “If they had kept the program and Chad stayed all four years, he would have dominated that conference.”

Still, May needed a new home less than a week after the high point of his career at Fullerton.

“I was shocked,” May said of his meeting with Murphy and offensive coordinator Jim Chaney. “I just had a good game. I didn’t know what they were calling me in for, and then I get hit with that.

“I was upset for a while, but I knew I wasn’t going to change their minds.”

May said he didn’t think he would play football again. He had come to Fullerton from Damien High in La Verne because he thought he would stand out in the Big West. Then Fullerton changed its offense to get rid of him, he thought.

“He was depressed,” said May’s father, Jim. “I was really down too, but I tried not to show it.”

Murphy promised the May family he and his assistants would do all they could to help him find another school. Fullerton flooded programs from coast to coast with tapes of May in action.

“I really have to thank Gene Murphy and his staff for going to bat throughout the country for us,” Jim May said. “They backed up what they said they would do.”

May said he had trips scheduled to a few schools. After arriving in Manhattan on his first, though, he quickly canceled the rest.

“I liked Coach (Bill) Snyder and they threw the ball,” May said. “Also, Manhattan seemed real laid back. It just felt like a good fit.”

Chaney, now the recruiting coordinator at Wyoming, expected his former pupil to make it big.

“I predicted this,” Chaney said. “We knew he was a physically gifted kid. Us changing our offense was the best thing that ever happened to Chad.”

May hopes his next career move will work out as well. He’s dreaming of a career in the NFL, but not everyone is convinced he can play in that league.

He’s a little under 6 feet 2, 220 pounds and not especially swift. He is recognized for his arm strength, toughness and ability to read defenses, which he did lots of in the Wildcats’ pro-style offense.

“He’s probably a second-rounder,” said Joel Buchsbaum, draft analyst for Pro Football Weekly. “He’s short and he has a low release point, and his passes get batted down. He also tends to be a little streaky.”

May said it would be a mistake to bet against him.

“I’ve heard all that stuff before,” May said. “I proved myself when I came in here and I can prove myself again.”