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COLLEGE STATION, TEXAS, THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 1956
Section 3
Aggie Offense Better, Defense Sound,
Must Play 110 Per Cent to Win
Krueger, Clendennon Only Lettermen
Books K O Powell
Right Tackle Thin
CHARLIE KRUEGER—A&M’s fine junior left tackle from
Caldwell is due to make way for plenty of yardage by Ca
det backs in 1956.
With last year’s first-string-
\ right tackle, Jack Powell, ineligible
for the 195(1 grid season, Coach
Paul Bryant’s tackle situation
looks sour.
Powell, 225-pound senior two-
year letterman, didn’t make the
necessary grades to keep him in
school during the summer session,
and, although he still was eligible
according to conference rules, can
not play because of A&M regula
tions. He’ll put his two-year serv
ice stint in as soon as possible and
try to be back to finish his final
year in 1958, but that won’t help
the Aggie line in ’56.
“We’ve got to have some
sophomores come through at
tackle observed Coach Bryant.
“Without some tackles we can’t
suit, up.”
Only Charlie Krueger and Bob
Clendennon, among the candidates,
'played much ball in 1955. Krue
ger, of course, was a regular on the
Pardee, Gay in Solid
As Afifeie Fullbacks
The Aggie’s fullback position is
the soundest on the 1956 squad
with potential All-American Jack
Pardee back for his final year and
brilliant Sophomore Richard Gay
behind him.
Pardee, sixth in the Southwest
Conference in rushing last year
with 452 yards gained, is head and
shoulders above any line crusher in
the league and rates among the
top four fullbacks in the nation.
Jack’s yai-dage came on 83 tries
for a fine 5.4 average, second be
hind TCU’s Jim Swink of those
V'ho gained over 400 yards in ’55.
“Pardee will be my fullback,”
said Aggie Coach Paul Bryant,
“I want him out on that field,
not sitting beside me. Besides
being a fine ball carrier, he’s
awfully good on pass defense.
The only thing he needs is a
quicker start.”
: A&
Gay, the Louisiana boy who
transferred from Tulane and could
n’t play freshmen ball as a result,
will be the number two fullback.
Gay will miss the first two games,
since the rules say in order to be
eligible a player must establish
residence for one full calendar year.
Gay enrolled on October 3, 1955,
and won’t be eligible in ’56 until
that date, missing the Yillanova
and LSU games.
“Gay is a good boy,” de
clared Coach Bryant. “He likes
contact and a very fine tackier.
We’re going to try to get him in
to the game with Pardee on de
fense somehow.”
George Gillar and Kenneth Hall
are running behind Pardee and
Gay, but both are leaming the
halfback positions should they be
needed there.
"// Last Title
But Ags Won
7.5 in History
Should A&M capture the cove
ted Southwest Conference football
crown in 1956, it will be the first
time since 1941 and the eighth Ag
gie ’ championship in the 41 years
the conference has been in opera
tion.
The Aggies won the title in 1917,
1919, 1921, 1925, 1927, 1939 and
1941 and tied with SMU for the
championship in 1940. The closest
the Cadets have come since World
War II was in 1955 when Coach
Paul Bryant led the team to run
ner-up spot with a 4-1-1 league
record.
Texas leads the conference in
total number of football crowns
won with 8%, followed by A&M
with 7y 2 , SMU with 6%, TCU with
6, Rice with 4, Baylor with 3 and
Arkansas with 214. On three oc
casions no champion was named.
left side last season and holds
down that position ag-ain this year.
“Ki-ueger played well last year,”
said Bryant, “Especially against
Texas. He’s bisr enough (6-4, 220),
but not as quick as we’d like him
to be.”
On the second team at the mo
ment, Bobby Lockett hopes to
crack the starting lineup some
where. A squadman last season,
the 195-pounder moves well and is
strong.
“LOCKETT LOOKED good in
the Spring, commented Bryant.
“He looks like a football player
and I still may move him to the
right side.”
Clendennon, a. junior - college
transfer from Tyler in 1955, played
second-team and looked good upon
occasion. He’s a 6-2, 220-pound lad
from Waco.
Behind Clendennon at the left
tackle spot is sophomore Ray Dou-
cet, a freshmen starter last season.
Light at 187, Doucet makes up in
spirit and aggressiveness what he
lacks in size.
“He’ll make a football player
sometime,” said Bryant speaking
of the Nederland boy, “But I
don’t know if he can help us this
year.”
Back to the vacant right tackle
as it stands now A. L. Simmons is
running on the .first team with
Louisiana Sophomore Kenneth
Beck a close second. Simmons was
a squadman in ’55 while Beck was
hui't early in the season and didn’t
play a down.
• Beck, who couldn’t move well in
the Spring due to his tremendous
260 pounds, has trimmed to a pow
erful 220 and hopes to get down to
around 210 as his playing weig’ht.
WITH A HOPEFUL look in his
eye Coach Bryant comments: “If
Beck comes through, it’ll be won-
dei-ful.”
Behind these two are sophomores
Leo Wotijlka, a Baytown product,
and Jerry Cramer, the Brecken-
ridge boy who took a look at every
school in the Southwest before
choosing A&M.
“Our offense will be better,”
voiced A&M Coach Paul (Bear)
Bryant speaking of his 1956 Aggie
football team, “but the opposition’s
defense will be better in direct
proportion.
“Both our running and our
throwing will be better in 1956,
but everbody else is better this
year, a lot better. Our biggest
problem will be to get our team
to play 110 per cent effort on
10 consecutive Saturdays, be
ginning September 22. Any game
we win, we’ve got to play better
than 100 per cent, because our
opposition will be tougher and
pointing for us,” pronounced
Bryant in evaluating the Aggies
and the rest of the Southwest
Conference. “I expect our op
ponents to play 100 per cent ball
against us.”
The Aggies, who surprised
everyone by finishing second in
the SWC last year with a 7-2-1
record, open on Kyle Field with the
Yillanova Wildcats September 22.
Coach Bryant and his team of as
sistants have been putting the
Cadets through two-a-day drills
since the opening of fall training on
September 1.
A&M’s mentor added that in his
opinion, the Aggies played five
Tired-up ball games last year—
LSU, TCU, Baylor, SMU and UH
—and that “some boys even played
well against Texas, but there
weren’t enough of ’em.”
Ten of Bryant’s men were with
1955 RESULTS
A&M
Opp.
0
UCLA
21
28
LSU
0
21
Houston
3
27
Nebraska
0
19
TCU
16
19
Baylor
7
7
Arkansas
7
13
SMU
2
20
Rice
12
6
Texas
21
160
89
1956 GAMES
Sept.
22-
-Yillanova
Station
at College
Sept.
29-
-LSU at Baton Rouge
Oct.
6-
-Texas Tech at Dallas
Oct.
13-
-Houston
at Houston
Oct.
20-
-TCU at College Station
Oct.
27-
-Baylor at
Waco
Nov.
3-
—Arkansas
Station
at College
Nov.
10-
-SMU at
Dallas
Nov.
17-
-Rice at College Station
Nov.
29-
-Texas at
Austin
him at Junction in 1954, his fii’st
year at A&M, and the Aggie head
coach says they’ve come farther
than he expected them to at that
time.
“There’s not a guy in that bunch
who’s not a good football player,”
adds the coach in reference to his
original group.
As to 1956 Bryant sees the Ag
gies throwing more than in the
past, especially 1 more of the non-
optional type of pass, rather than
the pass-or-run situation.
“It’s not how much you pass,
it’s how well you make it pay
off,” commented Bryant. “Last
year we completed passes for
scores eight times and had only
seven of our tosses intercepted
while picking off 19 of our
opposition’s.
“I’d like, of course, to have two
units, but right now we don’t have
two teams good enough to play in
the SWC. If we don’t have five or
six sophomores come through and
play some good ball for us, we’re
in trouble. I’m not worried about
those boys who played good ball for
us last year, because I know they
can do it again. I’m expecting those
seniors to r’eally play some ball,
but everybody’s got to be a lot
better if we’re going to win some
games.
“Our defense is sound—we won’t
be giving away much,” spoke the
Aggie head man. “Our first group
is sound on pass defense, but we
need help in our second unit sec
ondary.
“We’re not quick enough nor
heavy enough in the line and we
lose three good tackles is Darrell
Brown, Henry Clark and more re
cently Jack Powell, so we must
get some help there.”
THE CHRISTOVAL CHRUSHER, JACK PARDEE—lead
ing- Aggie ground gainer last year and first choice for all
conference honors in 1956 is one of the nation’s finest full
backs and will be near the top in. the all-American bidding.
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