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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 25, 1976)
* «y- — iiii_ i_j/“v i i /-\i_i\^ih WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 25, 1976 9 Lettermen return to team, coaches optimistic Outlook for Aggie football squad is bright Although 24 lettermen departed both at the Southwest Conference have some good, young talent on our fter last year’s 10-2 season, Texas and national levels. squad and we were pleased with the &M still figures to field a 1976 foot- “I know you don’t replace All- way they filled the holes during all team that will be competitive Americas with all-Americas but we spring training,” said Head Coach It all began 82 years ago at Texas A&M College. Fourteen men, coached by F. D. Perkins, formed the first football team. The team played two games, winning the first by defeating Ball high school, 14-6, and losing the second to Texas, 38-0. The team consisted of: 1. California Morse (Collie), 2. A. P. Watts, 3. Atwood Bittle, 4. Bill Mathews, 5. Frank M. Houston, 6. Harry Martin, 7. A. W. (Mike) Bloor, 8. Milton Sims, 9. John Burney, 10. possibly E. J. Altgelt, 11. Dicky Peden, 12. W. G. Massenburg, 13. Hiram T. Coulter, 14. possibly J. F. Ellis. Unfortunately the 12th man wasn’t around then to help this squad, but they probably would have rather had a 15th man anyway. Emory Bellard. The Aggies return 29 lettermen, including five offensive and six de fensive starters. Of the 29 lettermen, 18 are seniors, 5 juniors and 6 sophomores. Also, 14 are on offense, 14 are on defense and one is a kicking specialist. THE OFFENSIVE UNIT — Among the 14 offensive lettermen, the five returning starters include center Mark Dennard, right guard Dennis Swilley, right tackle Frank Myers, quarterback David Shipman and fullback George Woodard. The other returning lettermen in clude left guard Craig Glendenning, left tackle Billy Lemons, tight end Gary Haack, split end Mike Floyd, halfback Adger Armstrong, center Matt Freeman, left tackle George Burger, fullback Eddie Hardin and quarterback Keith Baker. At the close of spring drills, the first unit had Haack at tight end. Lemons and Myers at the tackles, Glendenning and Swilley at the guards, Dennard at center, Floyd and junior college transfer Randall Teate sharing split end, Shipman and Baker working at quarterback, Woodard at fullback, Armstrong and sophomore Darrell Smith at the halves. The second unit had Russell Mikeska at tight end, George Burger and Cody Risien at the tackles, Mark Burger and Curtis Jennings at the guards,and Kenny Kirk at center. Hardin, who broke a collarbone a week or so before the end of spring drills, is the No. 2 fullback while transfer Bobby Mitchell and sopho more Gary Young are the halfbacks. Others who may play include tackle Ronnie Smith, tight end Chuck Carr, fullback Chet Chandler and halfbacks Holly Wilson and Paul Thompson. There is an excellent group of freshmen this fall also. At the close of spring drills, Bel lard said: “The offensive line, from tackle to tackle, is a good, sound, solid unit. Tackle Frank Myers is ex cellent. The other tackle, Billy Le mons, is totally committed. Craig Glendenning and Dennis Swilley are two good guards and Mark De nnard is a solid center . . .Gary Haack is not real big at tight end but he is a thoroughbred fighter. . . Mike Floyd and Randall Teate at split ends are good receivers . . . “Shipman has regained his quick ness after last year’s injuries. He’s very poised and very confident. Baker needs exposure and playing time. He has very exceptional quickness and an excellent arm. We’re going into this fall ready to play both at quarterback,” Bellard said. “Fullback is by far the best shape since we’ve been here. George Woodard is exceptional and Eddie Hardin came on strong before he broke a collar bone this spring,” Bel lard added. He said, “Adger Armstrong and Darrell Smith are disciplined halfbacks with ability. They are very solid. Gary Young and Bobby Mitchell made progress. They have ability but need more discipline. “Our freshman squad is balanced at all positions and it will provide depth,” Bellard said. The Aggies will run out of the Wishbone formation. They’ll likely pass more this fall. They’ll break the Wishbone at times and they’ll employ motion on occasions, accord ing to Sports Information Director, Spec Gammon. THE DEFENSIVE UNIT — Among the 14 returning lettermen, the six returning starters include left end Tank Marshall, left tackle Edgar Fields, right tackle Jimmy Dean, middle linebacker Robert Jackson, right cornerback William Thompson and safety Lester Hayes. The other returning lettermen are end Stacy Breihan, tackle Steve Spitzenberger, linebackers Jesse Hunnicutt, Grady Wilkerson and Kevin Monk, cornerbacks Charles Bell and Mike Williams and safety Reggie Williams. At the close of spring drills the starters were Marshall and transfer Eugene Sanders at the ends, Fields and Dean at the tackles, Hunnicutt and Monk at the outside linebackers, Jackson at middle linebacker with Wilkerson ready for both spots, Thompson and Mike Williams at the corners and Hayes and Reggie Wil liams at the safeties. The second unit had Breihan and Phil Bennett at the ends, Spitzen berger and Garry Milligan at the tackles, Wilkerson, Jimmy Kocurek and Gary Tate at the linebackers. Bell and JC transfer Wadine Miles at the corners and Carl Grulich and Larry Johnson at the safeties. Others who may play include ends Eddie Heath and Jerry Shannon, tackles Johnnie Donahue and Ron nie Walker, linebackers Steve Flynn, Roderick Reed and Phil Grawunder, cornerbacks Gregory Clark and Scott Baldwin and safeties Ralph Barrett, Carl McCormack, John Baber and Greg Sokora. After spring training Bellard said: “Defensively, we may not have the impressive statistics that we had last year but we ll have a solid, sound, aggressive defense. “We re solid at defensive tackle. Returning starters Edgar Fields and Jimmy Dean are as good a pair as there is in the country. And, we have good depth there with Steve Spit zenberger, Johnnie Donahue and Garry Milligan,” he said. “Middle linebacker is solid. Robert Jackson is very outstanding. Grady Wilkerson is also quality but he worked most of the spring at out side linebacker. Jesse Hunnicutt and Kevin Monk both had good springs as outside linebackers. Hunnicutt is very aggressive and is 100 per cent. I’ve never seen him any other way, Bellard said. “The ends are in good hands. Mar shall is proven quality. Sanders, who played at the University of Washington as a freshman and who has been here a year establishing eligibility, has talent. So does Stacy Breihan who lettered last year as a freshman,” he added. “William Thompson is a returning starter at one corner and Mike Wil liams had a good spring at the other corner. Lester Hayes is a quality player at one safety. Both Reggio Williams and Carl Grulich came on strong in the spring.” THE KICKING GAME — Sophomore Tony Franklin is back to kick placements and should be im proved. Punting is a point of con cern. Mark Stanley completed his eligibility last fall. Bellard said: “If we can’t develop one from our pre sent squad, we ll go to a freshman Some of them have good backgrounds in kicking.” SUMMARY — Continual im provement has been the story of Bel- lard’s teams at Aggieland. The first one was 3-8, followed by 5-6, 8-3, and 10-2. The 1976 team may prove to be the best yet. 1976 Texas A&M Schedule DATE OPPONENT SITE & TIME Sept. 11 Virginia Tech College Station 4 p.m. Sept. 18 Kansas State College Station 4 p.m. /T Sept. 25 Houston Rice Stadium, Houston 7:30 p.m. m i>. vN, Oct. 2 Illinois Champaign, Ill. 1:30 p.m. ™ r ■: • % Oct. 9 Texas Tech College Station, 1:30 p.m. Oct. 16 Baylor College Station 1:30 p.m. Oct. 23 Rice College Station 1:30 p.m. master-N'e Oct. 30 SMU Dallas 1:30 p.m. Nov. 6 Open Nov. 13 Arkansas Little Rock 3:20 p.m. Nov. 20 TCU College Station 1:30 p.m. Nov. 25 Texas Austin 7:30 p.m. vV Your ONE * Stop Bookstore The Corps of Cadets Shop at University Bookstore. . . Day Students Shop at University Book Store . . NEW AND USED BOOKS GIFTS • MILITARY SUPPLIES CALCULATORS • ENGINEERING AND ARCHITECTURE SUPPLIES DESIGN YOUR OWN T-SHIRTS FREE rr cf3 UNIVERSITY BOOKSTORE l I ! Name .Major Address The football team shops at University Book Store . Phone Number YOU NEED NOT BE PRESENT TO WIN! TEXTBOOKS One set of Freshman Textbooks Will Be Given Away to Some Lucky Freshman August 29 3:00 P.M. The Band shops at University Book Store . . . UNIVERSITY BOOK STORE ItMBOOKS cfttaiuMfORs SCHSOt SUPPtitS GIFTS sguvt iwms m BP®? mmtm j SS I |P' UNIVERSITY BOOK STORE “At the North Gate” 409 UNIVERSITY DRIVE 846-4818 TEXT BOOKS CALCULATORS SCHOOL SUPPLIES AGGIE GIFTS & SOUVENIRS