Titans ‘Atrocious’ in 49-3 Loss : Football: San Jose State scores six touchdowns in the first half. Cal State Fullerton loses five fumbles and has zero yards passing.

SAN JOSE —  Several Cal State Fullerton football players will meet with university president Milton A. Gordon Monday to discuss the future of Titan football, and one of their objectives will be to persuade Gordon to keep the program at the Division I-A level.

“Division I-A or nothing” seems to be Fullerton’s rallying cry.

But nothing would look mighty good after the sad display of “Division I” football the Titans put on Saturday night in a 49-3 Big West Conference loss to San Jose State in front of 13,407 in Spartan Stadium.

Fullerton (1-5, 0-2) was simply blown away by San Jose State (4-2, 1-0), which scored 42 points before the halftime homecoming show. The Spartans took advantage of numerous Titan blunders that led to scoring drives--if you can call them drives--of 14, 25, 30 and 19 yards in the first half.

How ugly was it?

--San Jose State pulled starting quarterback Jeff Garcia midway through the second quarter and had its second-string defense in the game before halftime. Garcia played one series in the second half just to get some work.

--One Titan fumble was returned 24 yards for a touchdown by San Jose State’s Anthony Washington in the first quarter and another led directly to Garcia’s two-yard touchdown run in the second.

--Two mishandled snaps by Fullerton punter Noel Prefontaine led directly to Spartan touchdowns, Nathan Dupree’s four-yard run in the first quarter and his 18-yard run in the second.

--The Spartans scored four touchdowns in a span of 8 minutes 21 seconds in the first half.

--On one kickoff return, Fullerton’s Jarrod Bible was tackled by teammate Arthur Davis.

--The Titans fumbled six times and lost five, bringing their season total for lost fumbles to 24, two shy of the school record of 26 set in 1978.

--The Titans had zero yards passing. Yes, that’s a school record, too.

It was so ugly that Titan Coach Gene Murphy’s first post-game remark was to thank San Jose State first-year Coach Ron Turner--for not making it worse .

“He belongs in the highest level of class,” Murphy said. “He could have run it up and scored a bunch of touchdowns in the second half and he didn’t. His maturity belies his youth. We were atrocious tonight in every aspect, and he knew it. I appreciate that he didn’t take advantage of the situation.”

Fullerton Athletic Director Bill Shumard spent most of the evening in the press box with his chin in his hands and a blank look on his face. His wife broke out her cross-stitching project in the second quarter.

Can you blame her? It had to be more entertaining than what was transpiring on the field, where Fullerton extended its streak without a touchdown to four games. The Titans have been outscored, 153-6, in that span.

The Titans actually had an excellent chance to reach the end zone when runs of 33 and 21 yards by reserve quarterback Jamal Smith helped give Fullerton a first and goal on the Spartan four-yard line in the fourth quarter.

But on second and goal from the one, Smith fumbled an exchange with a running back and Anthony Lewis recovered for San Jose State with 10:50 left.

“I feel we can play with the best, but for some reason, we just don’t get the breaks,” Davis said.

In Fullerton’s defense, the Titans were short-handed. Their best player, inside linebacker Lorenzo Hailey, was out because of a knee injury, and cornerbacks Darrius Watson and B.B. Hudson were slowed because of ankle injuries. Starting quarterback Trendell Williams didn’t play because of back spasms.

But healthy Division I programs--ones with more than the 33 scholarships Fullerton offers--can usually absorb injuries to a few starters. When your depth chart is stocked with walk-ons, the talent drops considerably from starters to reserves.

Healthy Division I teams also don’t miss a day of practice the week of a game to discuss whether they should boycott a game because they’re unhappy about the program. The Titans did Wednesday, and Murphy also called off Sunday’s practice because the Titans were so beat up from the Nevada game.

“I don’t feel our minds were in the game tonight,” Davis said. “We’re going through a lot of controversy back at school. We weren’t here to play a game.”

Murphy didn’t feel that was a valid excuse, though.

“I’d like to say the distractions were a factor, but even if we had a perfect week of preparation, we would have had to play a perfect game to even compete with this team,” he said.

The news wasn’t all bad for Fullerton, however. The game ended around 9 p.m., giving the Titans plenty of time to make their 11:15 p.m. flight home.

“At least something went right,” Shumard said.