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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 8, 1973)
I Freshman Edition i The Battalion Section Two 1 1 — - College Station, Texas Wednesday, August 8, 1973 Youth Dominates A&M Football By TED BORISKIE ■ Using a new offense, A&M will field one of the youngest, if not Re youngest, football teams in the nation this season. ■ Emory Bellard, architect of the ■ishbone, unveiled a new forma- Bon in spring training that, hope fully, could have the same suc- Rss as the Wishbone that has Rnt the University of Texas to Re Cotton Bowl for five straight Rears. A cross between the Wish- jbone and the straight “T,” the lew formation has been labelled the “T-Bone." I Running this formation will be I team so young as to have only Re senior two-year letterman on the entire squad. This promises to be an exciting, if unpredictable, season. The 2-year letterman is Larry Ellis (6-0, 173), a safety from Troup. Joining him at right safe ty position will be James Daniels (6-2, 180), junior college transfer. At cornerbacks will be another JC transfer, Tim Gray (6-1, 190), and sophomore Pat Thomas (5-10, 180). Quarterback is the big question mark for the season with last year’s starters graduated or transferred. Tim Trimmier (6-4, 210) is back from last year’s squad and Jim Hartman (5-11, 190) quarterbacked last year’s freshman team. However, A&M is looking to one of its newcom ers to fill the position. Of these, Mike Jay (5-11, 180) looks to be the favorite. Jay was all-confer ence, all-state and all-America while in high school at Torring- ton, Wyoming, and has spent the last couple of years quarterback ing the Quantico Marines team. Expected to challenge Jay for the position are incoming fresh men David Shipman (6-1, 200) and David Walker (6-0, 185). Shipman made all-state at Odessa Permian playing both quarter back and halfback. Walker made all-state in Louisiana and was vot ed the outstanding offensive play er in the state. A dark horse in the race is Carl Menger (6-0, 188) who made all-state as a junior at Houston Westchester two years ago. At halfback, A&M has three experienced sophomores who ro tated in the halfback spots last year as freshmen. Bubba Bean (6-0, 195) made all-state his jun ior year in high school and all- state and all-America his senior year. He played hurt last season but this year he may fulfill his potential. Ronald Hubby (5-10, 195) was the top running back on the freshman team last year until he was promoted to the varsity in mid-season. Skip Walker (5-10, 185) is the top returning rusher from last year’s varsity with a 4.0 average. Sophomores Alvin Bowers (6-0, 212) and Bucky Sams (6-0, 202) will fight it out for fullback. Bowers lettered as a freshman last year with a 4.6 average while Sams was the sensation of the freshman team running 638 yards in five games for an incredible 7.1 average. Carl Roaches (5-8, 165) will re turn at split end. He scored four touchdowns but only one from a pass. The other three came from two punt returns and a kickoff return as he led the conference in punt returns and was second in bringing back kickoffs. Richard Osborne (6-5, 225), was A&M’s leading receiver and sixth in the conference last year when he alternated with Roaches at split end. He is a two-lime high school all-America and was named the outstanding player in Texas in 1971. This year he has been moved to tight end where his major competition will prob ably be David Green (6-0, 204). The interior of the offensive line was decimated by graduation with only one letterman return ing. He is Ricky Seeker (6-3, 240), a junior who made the all-SWC sophomore team as a tackle last year. He is moved to center this year, a position he played on the ’71 freshman team. At the tackles will be senior Mike Bruton (6-1, 205) and sophomore Dennis Smel- ser (6-4, 240), who made both offensive and defensive all-state teams and was selected all-Ameri ca as a high school senior in 1971. Sophomore Bruce Welch (6-4, 245) and senior Bud Trammell (6-2, 250) will fill in the guard slots. The defensive line was not as unfortunate as the offense, as it returns three lettermen, all ends. Juniors Paul Hulin (6-1, 215) and Don Long (6-3, 235) and sopho more Blake Schwartz (6-2, 220) all return to give A&M some de gree of experience at the ends. Juniors Ted Lamp (6-2, 225) and Warran Trahan (6-4, 245) have been posted at tackles. Talent abounds in the lineback ing corps with sophomore Ed Simonini (6-0, 205) leading the way. One of the brightest spots of last season, Simonini was nam ed outstanding defensive fresh man in the SWC last year. Play boy Magazine has picked him as the sixth top sophomore in the nation this year and if he has a season as good as last year’s, he could pop up on a couple of all- America lists at the end of the year. Joining him in the other two slots are junior Ken Stratton (5-10, 195) and Garth Ten Napel (6-2, 202). One of the top re serves in JC transfer John Mc- Crumbly (6-2, 245) who comes to A&M with an impressive list of credentials. McCrumbly made all district three straight years and all-America once while in high school. At Tyler Junior College he was all-conference both years and JC all-America last year. Mark Stanley (6-2, 195) and Lee White (6-0, 195) are both kicker-punters off of last year’s freshman team where neither missed a PAT attempt and both had identical averages of 41.8 for punts. Randy Haddox (6-5, 240) returns as kickoff specialist. A&M will not field a freshman team this year, possibly the only major college in the U.S. not to do so. The 35 newcomers will join the team later this month and will, in the words of Coach Bel lard, “ . . . play just as high as they’re man enough.’’ It is almost impossible to pick which freshman will play or even what position they will play. Bel lard had probably the best re cruiting season in the SWC last year, so we are bound to see sev eral freshmen on the team this fall. Del Leatherwood (6-1, 190) is the top recruit for split end as he made all-district, all-state and all-America at Houston St. Thom as last year. Robert Verde (6-1, 170) was named his district’s most valuable player at split end while Gary Haack (6-1, 195) made hon orable mention all-state as a tight end. The offensive line is the weak est spot but there are several fine recruits that could help plug up the holes left by graduation. Tackles George Burger, (6-4, 250) Brad Burnett (6-2, 220) and Den nis Swilley (6-4, 225) all made all- state. Burnett played at Port Neches where he ran interference for one of the top high schools backs in the nation last year, Jeff Bergeron. Guards Billy Lemons (6-5, 280) and Craig Glendenning and center Matt Freeman (5-11, 212) all made all-state, Glenden ning two years. Also, Lemons made the prestigious blue chip list (top 12 players in the state.) Top Defensive linemen include all-America Jimmy Dean (6-5, 250), super all-stater Anderson Harrison (6-4, 258) and speedster Lester Hayes (6-2, 189). To bolster the already tough linebacking squad are Phil Graw- under (6-0, 210) and Grady Wilk- erson (6-3, 215). Both made all- state and Wilkerson is also a blue chipper. A&M also picked up all-state defensive backs Mike Floyd (5-10, 165), Bill Dawkins (6-1, 203) and Reggie Williams, (6-3, 185). Wil liams is a super all-stater and a blue chipper. So it looks like A&M will be young and largely inexperienced this year. It will probably take a few games to jell, so the team will be more polished the second half than the first. But as a wise man once said, “Sometimes young players don’t know when they’re supposed to lose.” A&M’S LARRY ELLIS stops Nebraska’s superstar Johnny Rodgers in last year’s 37-7 oss to the then defending national champions. Ellis is the only senior letterman on this 'ear’s squad. I ' , A&M HEAD COACH EMORY BELLARD caught in a moment of frustration. UNIVERSITY CYCLES "HOME OF THE OLD GRAY FOX" Save Gas, Get Around Campus Easily, And Have The Machine To Hit The Open Road On The Weekend . . . Only With A Motorcycle. YAMAHA-PENTON CHECK OUR END OF MODEL CLEARANCE PRICES 105 Boyett College Station Across From The University 846-3979 The Small Shop That’s Big On Parts & Service