Titans Fall Again, 45-21, at Hawaii

Cal State Fullerton Coach Gene Murphy found extra pain in the Titans’ 45-21 loss at Hawaii late Saturday night.

“This was one of the weakest Hawaii teams we’ve ever played,” said Murphy, whose teams have lost six of seven games in Honolulu since 1980. “And we still got beat by 24 points.”

The Titans, who have lost seven in a row since a season-opening victory over Sonoma State, were simply no match for the Rainbows (3-3). Hawaii scored 21 first-quarter points and extended the lead to 38-7 by the end of the third quarter.

A crowd of 28,170 in Aloha Stadium watched Hawaii sack quarterback Paul Schulte six times for 40 yards and limit the Titans to nine net yards rushing in 28 attempts.

The Rainbows’ spread offense had its way with a Fullerton defense that was spread thin because of injuries, rolling up 552 yards, 343 on the ground.

The Titans played without injured defensive starters Jamal Jones (end), Stan Breland (outside linebacker) and Nuygen Pendleton (cornerback).

Then, on Hawaii’s third offensive play of the game, Fullerton linebacker Clarence Siler, who spent the past two weeks rehabilitating an injured ankle, hurt the same ankle again and limped off. Siler was unable to return and is questionable for Saturday’s game against Cal State Long Beach.

“We didn’t defend the option very well,” Murphy said. “We haven’t been good at stopping quarterbacks all year.

“They just had better athletes. Even though this is a real down year for them, they always have a good defense.”