Titans Fumble Away Any Hopes for Upset : Nonconference: No. 19 Georgia takes advantage of five of Fullerton’s 13 fumbles to win, 56-0.

ATHENS, Ga. —  If Cal State Fullerton was to have any chance of staying close to No. 19 Georgia here Saturday, the Titans had to play error-free football.

Fullerton fumbled 13 times and lost five, which helped set up three touchdowns, and the Bulldogs routed the Titans, 56-0.

Quarterback Trendell Williams, the key man in the Titans’ triple-option offense, certainly did his share, losing three fumbles.

“It was disappointing,” he said. “We blew our chance here.”

The Titans (1-2) blew any chance they had because their option game was in complete disarray. They fumbled eight times in the first half as Georgia built a 35-0 lead. The Titans, who rely on their running game for offense, managed only 2.7 yards per play.

It was the third worst loss ever for Fullerton, which was beaten 70-0 by Southern Mississippi in 1975 and 65-0 by Florida in 1987.

“It was just pathetic,” said Fullerton Coach Gene Murphy.

Georgia had such an edge in talent, it hardly mattered that Murphy held starting halfback Arthur Davis out of the game until the third quarter for disciplinary reasons. Davis, wide receiver Frank Davis, and reserve lineman Abe Elliott missed the team’s flight Friday morning and arrived late Friday night

“I knew it was my fault,” Arthur Davis said. “If I was the coach I wouldn’t have even played me. I’m thinking about even giving up being a captain of the team because I let everyone down.”

The game was a letdown for the Titans because they couldn’t duplicate what the 1991 team did--play competitively against the Bulldogs. Last year’s team carried heavily favored Georgia down to the wire here before losing, 27-14.

“That team played with some guts, we didn’t,” Williams said. “We took a giant step back because we got complacent this week in practice. We thought we had gotten so much better that we thought we could let up.”

Georgia didn’t let up once Fullerton provided an opening with an early turnover.

With 9 1/2 minutes to play in the first quarter, Williams broke outside for a 13-yard gain. But when hit at his 43, he fumbled. The ball bounced into the hands of cornerback Chris Wilson, who raced down the sideline for a touchdown.

Georgia followed with four more scores in the first half and the Titans were out of contention. Fullerton didn’t complete a pass and managed to gain only 176 yards.

“If you compare last year to this year, I feel a whole lot better after this game (against Fullerton),” Georgia Coach Ray Goff said. “Last year after we played these guys, I wasn’t feeling very spiffy.”