Division II Too Tough for Titans

About half the fans who attended the grand opening of Cal State Fullerton’s Titan Sports Complex 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 a defeat that was embarrassing by even the Titans’ recent dismal standards.

Sacramento (3-0) is ranked 12th in the nation in Division II, but few expected the Hornets to handle the Division I Titans as easily as they did.

The Titans, who fumbled 20 times in their last two games against UCLA and Georgia, fumbled eight more times against Sacramento, losing three of them. Two led directly to touchdowns.

Fullerton (1-3) dropped three passes, one by usually dependable Frank Davis, who had his defender beat on a bomb in the third quarter.

The Titans managed only 126 total yards, including 69 rushing in 44 carries, while yielding 360 yards, 349 on passes.

Fullerton had the ball on the Sacramento nine-yard line and six-yard line in the second half and couldn’t score. Two Fullerton players collided trying to field a kickoff in the second quarter and neither could make the catch.

“They’re a good team, but we made them look better than they were,” Fullerton third-year nose guard Jason Wells said. “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.”

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