Pringle Runs for 352 Yards : Fullerton: Titan running back pulled before he can set NCAA mark in 45-10 victory over New Mexico State.

Those in the crowd who knew yelled at Gene Murphy, uncertain if he knew. Finally, some jeered at him.

They chanted Mike Pringle’s name. They wanted him back in the game. He had 352 yards rushing, five yards short of the NCAA single-game record, and he was on the sidelines.

He stayed there.

Cal State Fullerton Coach Murphy was well aware of how far away Pringle was from the record. And with a minute left in Fullerton’s 45-10 victory over New Mexico State Saturday at Santa Ana Stadium, he sent in the reserve running backs for the final plays.

Murphy had kept Pringle in a runaway game well into the fourth quarter, trying to let him get the school record of 301 yards.

But when Pringle finally broke the record, he complicated the matter. Needing seven yards to break Obie Graves’ school-record, Pringle took a pitch to the wide side of the field and raced 67 yards before he was pulled down five yards short of the goal line. By the oddest of coincidences, that left him five yards short of tying the NCAA record of 357 yards set by Washington State’s Rueben Mayes in a 1984 game against Oregon.

Murphy, saying he had stood on the sidelines apologizing to backup Deon Thomas, promising to put him in as soon as Pringle got the record, did that.

Given a rare chance for Fullerton to find a spot in the NCAA record book, Murphy turned his back.

“I don’t care about the history of Fullerton football,” he said. “I care more about the kids on the sidelines who practice all year and don’t get to play.”

On the sidelines, Pringle wasn’t sure if Murphy knew how close he was so he threw his arms into the air to encourage the crowd that was calling for him.

“I tried to coax them on to get a little louder,” he said. “I thought, ‘Listen, Coach Murphy.’ ”

It was a deaf ear.

Pringle wasn’t angry afterward, but he held out the possibility that falling just short will rankle him later.

“I may think about it a little later,” Pringle said. “It may hit me tomorrow.”

Pringle’s performance, which also set a Big West Conference record, came against an 0-9 team that is the owner of what may be the most deceptive statistic in the NCAA. The Aggies ranked 23rd in the nation in pass defense, giving up only 166 yards a game.

There is a catch. The Aggies’ rushing defense is so bad, giving up 290 yards a game, that nobody has needed to pass.

Mike Knoll, the New Mexico State coach, recognized some of the reasons Murphy might choose not to keep Pringle in the game--to avoid injury, to avoid insulting an opponent.

Would Knoll have sent him back in?

“Very definitely,” Knoll said.

Even Thomas, the beneficiary of Murphy’s decision, said he would have given up his few carries.

“I would have given Mike a chance to play to break the record,” Thomas said.

TOP RUSHERS A look at the top 10 single-game rushing performances in NCAA Division-IA history.

Player School Yds Rueben Mayes Washington St. 357 Eddie Lee Ivery Georgia Tech 356 Mike Pringle CS Fullerton 352 Eric Allen Michigan State 350 Paul Palmer Temple 349 Ricky Bell USC 347 Ron Johnson Michigan 347 Tony Jeffery Texas Christian 343 Roosevelt Leaks Texas 342 Charlie Davis Colorado 342

Source: NCAA Records