defense does its share
make
great.
.1.29
.1.29
N.29
Woodard-led offense kills Rice
By PAUL McGRATH
Battalion Sports Editor
although visions of upset danced
lieir heads, the hopes of the Rice
pis vanished in a fashion similar to
rather “flushed conclusion of
(MOB.
ailing the handle on the Owls
s a tenacious fullback disquised as
|ank by the name of George
odard, a cool, steady quarter-
named Mike Jay and a deter-
bed defense which maintained its
A WINNING COMBINATION
poise despite two early Rice scores.
Recollections of past upsets at the
hands of the Owls caused a minor
panic among the Aggie faithful, but
three second half touchdowns
erased all doubt as to who com
manded the contest, A&M coming
away with a 33-14 win.
The Texas A&M offense, much
maligned in the early part of the
season, played perhaps its best
game of the year. The offensive
front wall blasted gap after gap in
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the Rice defense, allowing the Aggie
backs to garnish 378 yards rushing.
“The offensive line did a great
job. This was definitely their best
game,” said offensive co-ordinator
Tom Wilson. “Our lineman did a
good job blocking on the inside
gaps, allowing Woodard to hit the
crease. It was a physical football
game and they responded well.”
Woodard hit the crease for 167
yards in 32 totes, the most carries by
an Aggie back since Emory Bellard
took charge in 1972. The 249 lb.
freshman rambled over and through
the Owls, partly due to the fact that
he outweighed every member of the
Owl defense.
Woodard rushed for 48 yards in
both the first and fourth quarters
and had 74 steps in the turnaround
third period. He missed the entire
second quarter with slight injuries.
“Of course George has a tre
mendous future ahead of him,” said
Wilson. “He’s added a lot to our of
fense. Everybody is tickled to death
with him.” The Aggie first year
man, without a flowery nickname as
has his Texas counterpart, has
played in four games, accumulating
over 100 yards in each contest.
Jay filled the shoes of injured
David Shipman more than
adequately. The ex-Marine, starting
his first game in two years, gained
83 yards in 15 carries. He and
Woodard combined for 250 of the
378 A&M rushing yards.
Jay scored two of A&M’s
touchdowns, including the go-ahead
points in the third quarter. Wilson
said concerning Jay’s performance,
“We feel he did an excellent job.
Mike did a good job of faking and
handled the option well. He showed
a lot of quickness. We re real
pleased with him.”
The entire offense can take a good
deal of the credit for A&M dominat
ing the game after the first minutes.
Gaining 25 first downs and running
off 88 plays (to Rice’s 59), the Aggie
attack was awesome to behold. On
first down plays, an important statis
tic for A&M’s ball control offense,
the Ags averaged 5.3 yards. Overall,
A&M averaged 4.7 per rush and 4.5
per play.
The consistency of the Aggie as
sault was aided by the fine field pos
ition given them by the defense.
A&M’s average starting point was
their own 40. This, along with the
fact that the Aggies managed about
30 yards a possession, put them in
striking distance throughout the
game.
It was Rice that did the prelimi
nary striking, however. Rice quar
terback Tommy Kramer hit running
back John Coleman on two scoring
passes in the first half, making it
only the second and third times the
third ranked Aggies have been be
hind all season.
The first Owl score was set up by
a 35-yard pass and run when
Kramer caught A&M in a safety
blitz. “We had a safety blitz on. The
pass was just there,” said Melvin
Robertson, the man behind the na
tion’s top defensive team. “I didn’t
give them enough credit. They just
caught me.”
On the second touchdown,’’Garth
Ten Napel was covering Coleman
and Kramer started to leave the
pocket. Garth came off to cover the
run and Kramer threw it. Garth
should have stayed with him. It was
just one of those things,” said
Robertson.
While Rice was having its big
plays, the defense managed a few of
its own, particularly by safetyman
Lester Hayes. Hayes played a part
in each of the three A&M
touchdowns in the second half. He
disrupted a Rice punt, putting the
offense in great shape at the Owl 12.
Hayes later recovered an Owl fum
ble also at the 12 and in the fourth
period, intercepted a Kramer pass
and returned it 43 yards, although
his yardage was wiped out by a pen
alty.
After the early scare, the Aggie
defense settled down and dictated
the terms to the Owls. Aground,
Rice collected 32 yards in 33 at
tempts with a total of minus eight in
the second half. Rice went without a
first down from the second quarter
to four minutes remaining in the
game, over 33 minutes.
Last year, getting behind early
seemed to have strange effects on
the Aggies. Now, the experience of
three seasons creates that intangible
element called poise. “We’ve got a
bunch of seniors playing and that
poise ought to come out,”
Robertson said.
This marked the first time this,
year the A&M defensive 11 has sur
rendered two touchdowns in a
single game. Although their ranking
in scoring defense may fall, their
position as number one overall
should not be affected.
A key factor to the Rice game was
the foot of Tony Franklin. Only a
freshman, Franklin booted a new
A&M field goal record with a 59
yarder in the closing seconds of the
first half. He was two of five for the
afternoon, while playing with a
slightly sprained ankle.
He and the rest of the Aggie
wounded should be ready for the
showdown with Texas November
28. According to Wilson and
Robertson, all starters will be able
to suit up.
The Aggies now move to 9-0, the
only Southwest Conference school
still undefeated. However, the most
difficult part of the schedule is com
ing up. Thus, there is good reason to
say that the season is just beginning.
THE BATTALION
TUESDAY. NOV. 18, 1975
Page 7
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Fern Water poloists
take tournament title
By CAROLYN BLOSSER
Battalion Sports Writer
Texas A&M proved to be an un
gracious host as the Aggies’ “A”
team downed the Clear Creek
Water Polo Club 5-3 to win the
Women’s Southwest Water Polo
Championships. It was a reversal of
last year’s championship when Clear
Creek won 3-2.
Both A&M teams “A” and “B”
advanced to the championship
round. In semi-final action. Clear
Creek beat Clear Lake 10-7 while
A&M bested their team “B” by a
score of 8-1. Clear Lake over
whelmed team “B” 21-9 to take
third place honors.
In preliminary games, the Aggie
offense was led by Barbara German
who scored nine goals. Vicki Brown
was A&M’s second highest scorer
with seven goals. In the champion
ship game, Brown scored two goals
while George Ann Collins, Jean Col
lins, and Nina Gauntt each scored
one.
Jean Collins says, “I think defense
was our strongest point. Our goalie,
Debbie Starr, made a big difference
in the game.” Starr adds, “We found
the weak point in their offense and
our defense took care of it.”
Clear Creek came into the tour
nament boasting a 35-game winning
streak, which the Aggies abruptly
ended in the final game. The
women all agree that this is one the
finest games they have ever played.
German says, “We really had to
work hard for the title. Determina
tion had a lot to do with it.” Brown
says, “We finally put it all together
when we needed to.”
Six Aggies were selected to the
All-Tournament Team. German and
Starr made the first team and Jean
Collins, Patty Shannon, K.K.
Kueteman, and Jeannie Buckles
made the second team.
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According to Dennis Fosdick, the
caliber of play throughout the tour
nament was greatly improved over
that of the first year—1974. The en
tries doubled and are expected to
increase again in 1976.
If you have a question or com
plaint regarding news coverage
please contact our Ombuds-
man’s office between 6 and 11 (
p.m., Monday through Thurs- *
day. We established the office ^
to help you with problems re
quiring the attention of any top
editorial personnel of The Bat- ^
talion. Call
845-2611
write Ombudsman, The
Battalion, Texas A&M Univer
sity, College Station, Texas,
77843.
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