Bombs Corps Looks to New Field General : Titan Receivers Back in Force, but Who’ll Deliver the Football?

The cover of Cal State Fullerton’s spring football press guide features the pictures of the “Senior Bombs Corps,” a quartet of wide receivers who rotated in and out on every other play last season, giving secondaries fresh fits.

Without them, Damon Allen might not be preparing to sign a healthy contract with the Canadian Football League’s Edmonton Eskimos. The former Titan quarterback got a great deal of help setting an NCAA record for lowest interception ratio (.0091). These guys were wide open a lot.

Coach Gene Murphy intends to put all four--Wade Lockett, Corn Redick, James Pruitt and Allen Pitts--on the field at the same time this year.

“Two wide, one slot back and one at running back,” he said nonchalantly.

Teaching great receivers to run routes out of the backfield is one thing. Getting the ball to them is quite another.

Battling for the spot vacated by Allen are a pair of quarterbacks who each spent one of the last two years as a redshirt watching Allen and then one as a backup watching Allen.

Kevin Jan, who redshirted last season and was the reserve quarterback in 1983, got a little more playing time than Whit Brown did last year. But with Allen in there, it was mostly watching, anyway. Jan and Brown have combined to throw a total of 37 passes in two seasons.

“The quarterback position is a question mark in terms of actual game experience, there’s no doubt about that,” Murphy admited. “We’re talking about an 11-game schedule, hopefully more, and we’ve seen so little of both players. And it’s hard to judge on what we have seen because taking the first snap in the first quarter is a lot different than mopping up, whether you’re way ahead or way behind.”

If he had to play a game tomorrow, Murphy says he’d start Jan because the 6-foot 2-inch senior has proven to be a more assertive leader on the field . . . in practice, anyway.

And Jan shouldn’t be awed by the prospect of replacing Allen, either. As a sophomore at Granada Hills High School, he played his first game ever at quarterback, filling the position left open by the graduation of John Elway.

Brown is quick to point out, however, that there is plenty of time before opening day for Murphy to change his mind. There are also three freshmen--Rodney Gatlin (El Toro High School), Carlos Siragusa (Sweetwater High School, National City) and Tony Dill (Mt. McGill High School, San Diego)--coming in this fall who could have an impact on the program.

“One of those freshmen is going to have to travel,” Murphy said, “Hopefully, one will be able to help us in another way, maybe as a holder. Heck, Damon returned punts his first year.”

Allen also became an instinctive scrambler who evaded rushing linemen and slipped by linebackers with ease and grace, giving the Titan offense an important added dimension. It’s a dimension that will be missing this season with drop-back passers like Jan and Brown in the pocket.

Jan was running the 40-yard dash for a group of pro scouts at Fullerton recently while Murphy watched from the sidelines. As Jan came off the line and sprinted across the grass, Murphy smiled and good-naturedly whispered, “April . . . May . . . June . . . “

The Titan coach isn’t desperately searching for another skinny kid with moves like Gale Sayers, though. Starting over, he says, is the nature of college football.

“Damon’s gone and we’ve lost that advantage,” Murphy said. “Running is not Kevin’s or Whit’s forte. We’ve talked at length about this. Great football players leave and you just have to win with the next guy.”

The next guy in line appears to be Jan.

“Kevin’s strong suit is his leadership. He’s got above-average arm strength, and he does a lot of positive things. He’s also got the respect of the team ‘cause he’s a tough son of a buck.”

Jan thinks stepping in for Allen will be a snap compared to following Elway.

“There was a lot of pressure in high school,” he said. “I feel good now. As soon as last season ended, I started preparing for this year.”

Brown hasn’t conceded anything yet.

“I want to start,” said the senior Biology major. “I’m just gonna do my best job toward that goal, and if I don’t start, then I’ll stay prepared and wait for my chance.”

Murphy purposely juggled their redshirt years and he’s convinced that both players know the system and know what is expected of them. He doesn’t expect them to run like Damon Allen or even get close to Allen’s incredible record of three interceptions in 330 attempts, but he does expect them to make the right choices.

It’s the newest Murphy’s Law: “Don’t turn the ball over.” Every coach sings it’s praises, but after last year, Murphy is a crusader against turnovers. A number of the Titans’ opponents in ’84 proved that talent cannot always overcome mistakes.

“Our passing offense, like everyone else’s, is predicated on reads in the secondary and hitting the open man,” Murphy said. “If it’s third and 12 and we have to throw to a back and get eight yards, we’ll take the eight and punt because a 40-yard punt becomes a 48-yard punt.”

That may sound a bit conservative for a man who used to refer to his offense as a “squirrel derby.” But Murphy was winning about three games a year in those days. The Titans are 18-5 on the field in the last two seasons, however, and he now saves the trick plays for special occasions.

His new quarterback proteges have learned the doctrine well.

Brown: “The guy who consistently makes the right decisions, the one who doesn’t make mistakes, is the guy who’ll get the job permanently.”

Jan: “If you have to make a perfect pass, even if you make the perfect pass, you made the wrong decision. That’s been drilled into our heads by now.”

Jan, for one, is looking forward to throwing to the Titans’ talented wide receivers, and he thinks they’re going to help him make the “right” decisions.

“Everybody’s talking about the receivers . . . the press, the pro scouts. But I don’t think that’s added pressure,” he said. “They can make a bad pass look good. I’ll put it up, and they’ll go get it.”