The Cal State Fullerton Titans football program represented
California State University, Fullerton
California State University, Fullerton (CSUF or Cal State Fullerton) is a public research university in Fullerton, California, United States. With a total enrollment of more than 41,000, it has the largest student body of the California State ...
from the
1970
Events
January
* January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC.
* January 5 – The 7.1 1970 Tonghai earthquake, Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli ...
through
1992
1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations.
Events January
* January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General.
* January 6
** The Republ ...
seasons. The Titans originally competed as a member of the
California Collegiate Athletic Association
The California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) is a List of NCAA conferences, college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the NCAA Division II, Division II level. All of its current m ...
from 1970 to 1973 before moving to the
Pacific Coast Athletic Association (now the Big West) in 1974 where they remained through the
1991 season. The Titans would compete in their final year as an
I-A Independent prior to the program being disbanded. Fullerton played its home games at multiple stadiums throughout their history with the most recent being
Titan Stadium, in
Fullerton,
California
California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
.
History
Early history and success (1969–1984)
The
CSUF Titans football team traces its roots to 1969 when in May, former
USC USC may refer to:
Education
United States
* Universidad del Sagrado Corazón, Santurce, Puerto Rico
* University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina
** University of South Carolina System, a state university system of South Carolina
* ...
assistant coach
Dick Coury was hired as the program's first head coach.
The team would win their inaugural game against
Cal Poly Pomona by a score of 31–0 on September 19, 1970, and play to a 0–0 tie in their inaugural home game against
Cal Lutheran at
Anaheim Stadium.
Following moderate success in the inaugural 1970 season with a record of 6–4–1, the 1971 season opened with a home game at
Santa Ana Stadium versus
Southern Utah State with the rest of their home games played at Anaheim Stadium except for a matchup against the
Grambling State University Tigers played before their largest ever home crowd of 60,415 at the
Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum (also known as the Los Angeles Coliseum or L.A. Coliseum) is a multi-purpose stadium in the Exposition Park, Los Angeles, Exposition Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, United States. Conceived as a hal ...
.
Just two weeks prior to the Grambling game, tragedy struck the program when a plane crash on November 13, 1971, resulted in the deaths of three Titan assistant coaches: Joe O'Hara, Dallas Moon and Bill Hannah.
Entering the 1972 season,
Pete Yoder started the season as the program's second all-time head coach and the team moved all home games from Anaheim Stadium to
Santa Ana Stadium. After completing a pair of 7–4 seasons, the Titans would suffer their first losing season following a 4–7 campaign in the 1974 season.
It was during this year that Fullerton would make the move from the
California Collegiate Athletic Association
The California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) is a List of NCAA conferences, college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the NCAA Division II, Division II level. All of its current m ...
into the
Pacific Coast Athletic Association (now the Big West).
For the 1975 season, Fullerton would hire former
Pacific
The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is bounded by the cont ...
assistant coach
Jim Colletto, as the third head coach in program history and the following season in 1976, the team moved their home games to
Falcon Stadium
Falcon Stadium is an outdoor football stadium in the western United States, on the campus of the U.S. Air Force Academy near Colorado Springs, Colorado. It is the home field of the Air Force Falcons football and lacrosse teams of the Mountai ...
at
Cerritos College. During the Colletto era, the Titans would not have a winning season, with the lone bright spot of his tenure coming in 1978 with
Obie Graves rushing for 1,789 total yards including 291-yards in a 34–9 upset of
Long Beach State.
Colletto would resign from his position following the 1979 season with
Gene Murphy being announced as the program's fourth all-time head coach on December 16, 1979.
Entering Murphy's first season in 1980, the Titans would move their home games to an on-campus stadium,
Titan Field, and continue to not see success on the field with losing seasons from the 1980 through the 1982 seasons.
For the 1983 season, Fullerton split their home games between
Anaheim Stadium and
Glover Stadium, while the team played in the 1983
California Bowl after winning their first conference championship.
The Titans would build upon their successes in finishing the 1984 season again as conference champion with a record of 11–1, while moving home games back to
Santa Ana Stadium. Following the season, Murphy was named UPI West Coast Coach of the Year and the Titans would finish in the final top 20 UPI poll.
Decline and cancellation (1985–1992)
The Titans would never again reach the highs of the 1984 season and would embark on a steady decline through the late 1980s and into the early 1990s.
By the late 1980s, the program was in financial trouble. The team played the 1992 season at on-campus
Titan Stadium, but during that year, the Fullerton Academic Senate voted 24–7 to recommend disbanding the program. That decision was halted by then-university president Milton A. Gordon on December 7, 1992 and Fullerton announced that it would suspend the program effective immediately for one year, with the intention of returning to play at the
Division I-AA level for the 1994 season.
However, citing budget restraints, Cal State Fullerton decided in February 1994 against bringing back football.
Efforts to reinstate football
By 1995, the notion of resurrecting the program began to take shape. In fall 1995, the Fullerton Students Athletic Advisory Committee asked the student body in an election if they supported Titan football. At that time, 89 percent of respondents voted favorably for the reinstatement of football.
Cal State Fullerton alumni established the organization Bring Back Titan Football in 2007 to advocate the return of the football program. In 2008, Cal State Fullerton established a task force exploring the feasibility of bringing back football.
NCAA records
Although the Titans have not played a game since 1992, Fullerton is still the NCAA record holder in several categories. These records include: both most fumbles and most fumbles lost for a single season with 73 and 41 respectively during the 1992 season;
[Fumbles](_blank)
"Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) Records," NCAA, July 2008. p. 27. Accessed 2008-12-11 the most kickoff returns per game with an average of 7.3 per game for the 1990 season;
[Kickoff Returns](_blank)
"Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) Records," NCAA, July 2008. p. 27. Accessed 2008-12-11 the 10th highest number of rushing yards in a single game with 357 by Mike Pringle on November 4, 1989, against New Mexico State;
[Rushing – Single Game Yards](_blank)
"Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) Records," NCAA, July 2008. p. 34. Accessed 2008-12-11 and being part of the fourth highest combined score in a tied game with their 41–41 contest against
San Diego State
San Diego State University (SDSU) is a public research university in San Diego, California, United States. Founded in 1897, it is the third-oldest university and southernmost in the 23-member California State University (CSU) system. SDSU is ...
on September 23, 1989.
[Highest-Scoring Tie Games](_blank)
"Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) Records," NCAA, July 2008. p. 128. Accessed 2008-12-11
Conference championships
Cal State Fullerton won two conference championships during its tenure as a football program. Both of these seasons saw the record amended due to violations from
UNLV
The University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) is a public land-grant research university in Paradise, Nevada, United States. The campus is about east of the Las Vegas Strip. It was formerly part of the University of Nevada from 1957 to 1969. ...
that resulted in Cal State Fullerton gaining a win for both the 1983 and 1984 seasons. Due to this, the team went undefeated in conference play for both seasons.
Head coaches
Cal State Fullerton had four head coaches during their 23 seasons as a college football program.
Records
Seasons
Bowl games
Cal State Fullerton participated in two bowl games. They had a bowl record of 1–1, although only the first counted under NCAA standards.
All-Americans
Titans in the Pros
In the NFL
California State University, Fullerton has 22 alumni that have played in the
National Football League
The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...
.
In the CFL
In addition to the players that competed in the NFL, there have been several former Titans that have had significant careers in the
Canadian Football League
The Canadian Football League (CFL; , LCF) is a Professional gridiron football, professional Canadian football league in Canada. It comprises nine teams divided into two divisions, with four teams in the East Division (CFL), East Division and f ...
. The three players of note include:
Mike Pringle who is the league's all-time leading rusher,
Damon Allen, the league's second all-time leading passer and former
all-time pro football passing leader with 72,381 passing yards,
and
Allen Pitts, the league's all-time leading receiver until 2008 when he was surpassed by
Milt Stegall.
Amazingly, during the period between 2006 and 2008, the CFL all-time leaders in passing, rushing and receiving yardage were simultaneously former Cal State Fullerton Titans.
In the Arena Football League
*
Quinton Knight, three time First Team
All-Arena selection
Stadiums
*
Anaheim Stadium (1970–1971, 1983)
*
Santa Ana Stadium (1971–1975, 1984–1991)
*
Falcon Stadium
Falcon Stadium is an outdoor football stadium in the western United States, on the campus of the U.S. Air Force Academy near Colorado Springs, Colorado. It is the home field of the Air Force Falcons football and lacrosse teams of the Mountai ...
(1976–1979)
*
Titan Field (1980–1982)
*
Glover Stadium (1983)
*
Titan Stadium (1992)
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cal State Fullerton Titans Football
American football teams established in 1970
American football teams disestablished in 1992
1970 establishments in California
1992 disestablishments in California