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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 24, 1976)
WreO-i Robert; alfeelii o ' the fact i westCoi GERARD O’DONOVAN COMMENTARY Some years ago the Arkansas zorbacks came to town on the ist of the waves. The Aggies had t all their preseason games but re still alive in the Southwest nference. They had to beat Ar- >man, lisas to stay in the race. Before a play am| lacity crowd at Kyle Field, then ich smaller than now, the Razor- ks nursed a 5 point lead into the ning minutes of the fourth stanza. M less than three minutes to play inever-say-die Aggies began their al drive. If tbeie'i ise maij( sr team ad igb an expl», n" an sa| re way It bacldir le’llf the way, 'lays t obertsoi icking tit er rjatqui- Couj idle, lit untesli inc re'sagiij ookfora diumad ugar (aii 21. isa. lit ■thing b witfioul TheHo!! ;et victm higkligk iy7. :xas Still team Ft) theta y 10. a, ha, k ech HeJ bM offense to sparkle in packed Rice Stadium THE BATTALION FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 1976 Page 7 Ninth ranked Aggies meet hungry Cougars tstalled a little and the screaming fheywert e that. .t| i spot out zs his 4 “’I* Sb of the Old Army didnotiike atthey saw. The Hogs jumped up Idown as they threw the Aggie irterback for a big loss. It was rdand Iwo Jima — suddenly from , , ,, , mi( kRe of the worried Corps of If ° ^f ts ’. aloud whistle was heard and jubilant Razorbacks, thinking it the final whistle, triumphantly the field. The Ags maintained 'Session, remained on the field for i final two minutes and twelve »nds and seven plays later, took it for the touchdown! ith two rugged games behind i, the Aggies are entrenched in op ten in both polls. However have no illusions about their f Ver -T-?° n ^ erence 8 ame with „. uston. The Cougars had a rough 10 m Florida last weekend and they are licking their wounds. It will take a full sixty minute effort by Army to assure victory. The game is in Houston where many Aggies live so let us give them a real treat by playing hard-nosed copy book foot ball. Good teams have been upset with regularity this season and many pre season hopefuls must wait until next year to be 2-0 at this time. The Cougars are a different kettle-of-fish at home (if Rice Stadium can be called home, for anyone) than on the road so there can be no let-down. We will be favored but so were Arizona State, Nebraska, Alabama, Texas, Baylor, and USC in their openers and none is 2-0. To the surprise of many, the Ag gies are throwing the football. When David Shipman hit Gary Haack with a 35 yard pass over the top last week, hyperventilation almost wiped out the entire reserved section beneath the Press Box. The Kansas State coaching staff did not feel too good either. Though Shipman did not have an even rea sonable day, that pass opened things up for David Walker, who became the reticent hero. It takes at least two good quarterbacks to play successful college ball; we now enjoy that lux ury and more. Lest any readers forget, remember Memphis! One can not say too much of the offensive line. I saw one photo of the George Woodard “fumble” in the end zone where Craig Glendenning actually had to come backwards to retrieve the ball. No Kansas State player was yet in the picture. Chalk one up for Glendenning, Myers, Lemons and Swilley, along with cen ter Dennard. Haack, small as tight ends go, looked great and Floyd so far has been the better of the two messenger split ends. With luck, Teate should have had two touchdown grabs but his time will come, when his timing does. The offensive diversity is a thing of beauty. Shipman is not generally ex pected to pass, yet his screens and two long ones to Haack have elec trified the crowds. Walker can run and I particularly liked it when David came in for the first time against KSU for third and plenty. Though the play did not net a first down, and most people expected a pass, the correct call was made, a hand off. When Walker plans a pass he becomes the pocket quarterback and he generally takes five strides diagonally backwards. Walker pre fers to throw to his right and does so extremely well. Shipman is faster than he looks but he is a notoriously slow starter. He takes ten minutes to get warmed up and then he gener ally improves as the game goes on. The offense has spluttered a little, but winning by an average of 19 and one half points we can live with. The running backs are all young and like Calvin Hill some years ago George Woodard can fall for five yards any time. The locals too love to watch Curtis Dickey who glides between would-be tacklers and being a track star, he has a phenomenal turn of foot when he sweeps to his right. This is expected, of course, since all tracks are built counter-clockwise. Thus, he cuts hard with his left foot on the inside, his right near the sideline. He works especially well with David Walker, who though left-handed, can pitch-on-the run with his right, without moving his head. Trailing alongside is Dickey ever ready for the kill. As most people expected, the Aggie defense has performed well. They are back on top of the heap in yards allowed per game at 134, the best in the land. There are two items personified in the 1976 Texas Aggie football team that deserve notice. If someone says something often enough for a number of years it evolves into a “fact.” The fact I have in mind con cerns the three things that can hap pen to a thrown football. It can be caught (good), it can be incomplete (bad) and it can be intercepted (bad). When a team prefers to run the ball and disdains the pass, success is limited. For non-wishbone teams wRo threw on less than 10 of their offensive plays success never ex ceeded 50 per cent or a 5-5 season. On wishbone teams that threw on less than 10 per cent of their downs initial success (76 per cent) has de creased to 44 per cent in the past six seasons. On the other hand the wish-bone with 25 per cent passing has a success figure of79-82 per cent, higher than the indefensible super-wishbone. By 1974, the pass had become an integral part of any worthwhile option offense and pe rennial winners such as Alabama prove this point rather well. At Texas, where all this began, are there any figures hidden among those piles of statistics? Are there any hidden figures among the Aggie stats of the last two years when we were highly respectable? I found two, that I have never seen elsewhere. The number of fumbles per offen sive down is very much higher than average for all wishbone teams, every game, every year. The number of fumbles exceeds, by a fac tor of three, the number of inter- BUSINESS COLLEGE Inquire About Our Term Starting September 28 Phone 822-6423 or 822-2368 cepted passes, calculated on a basis of 50 per cent passes and 50 per cent running plays. The moral of the statistics is, “Pass.” The second statistic I found con cerns the kicking game. Wishbone teams attempt 21 more punts per 10 game season than do the non wishbone or option teams. The one startling disappointment that be came clear to me regarding our 10-0 team through November last year was that we had to punt far more than any top rated contender. The statistics tell the story — we had no offense that compared with Texas, Arkansas, Alabama, USC, UCLA, Ohio State, and nine others. We had the best defense in the country. Yet, our defense spent more time on the field than any of the other top twenty teams last year. Though we scored plenty, many of our scores came on long gallops and used up little of the clock. We had to punt too often (62 times), more than any other top twenty team and of For Battalion Classified Call 845-2611 SWC teams, only Rice (67) and TCU (60) came close. Erxleben (UT) punted 49 times and Cheyne (Arkan sas) punted 37 times. This year we have punted five times, in two games, for a 2.5 average per game. The point to be made is crystal clear: the offense is more potent be cause a powerful running game is complemented by carefully placed passes. The defense is again back where it belongs at number one. Let us keep it up against the Cougars in Houston Saturday night. ATTENTION DECEMBER GRADUATES! Orders for Graduation An nouncements will be taken be ginning September 6 thru Oc tober 1 at the Student Finance Center Office, Room 217, Memorial Student Center, Monday thru Friday, from 8:00 to 4:00. t's onward to Houston By PAUL ARNETT Battalion Sports Editor Along awaited grudge match will Wthe Aggies’ SWC ampaign fiey ride the cool breezes of au- im into the fast paced town of uston. The setting is Rice dium, the players are the Aggies l Cougars, and before the final rtainfalls some 60,000 fans should one fine play called college foot- inyone who knows the Cougars of laston and the Aggies of College lion find out very quickly that >n Mam Ie l s no ^ ove ^ ost between the two the« i 0ok The rivalr y is a bitter one lone which is quite close. The 9 es lead the series 6-5-1. Toitimj' Ike Aggies played a solid football lastweek. They bgat a tough f Charlii nsas State team by a score of lj The offense looked sharp, yet defense had a few mental lapses can not happen this weekend. Houston, after winning its opener at Baylor, found out Florida plays football. The Coogs’ defense didn’t make the trip, and the offense had only third quarter success. The finale was 49-14. But don’t let that score fool you. Houston has a strong team, with an excellent offensive attack. They will be pumped up Saturday night, giv ing the Ag defense all it can handle. Speaking of defense, A&M has found the number one slot again. Giving up a meager 134.5 yards a game, defensive coach Melvin Robertson has found himself in an accustomed position. In the sixties he was the defensive coach of Hous ton. Robertson was not well known because of the offensive prowess the Cougars had established. This game is a little special to him, and no doubt he wants his defense to perform well. Head coach Bill Yeomen, has added a mysterious atmosphere to the game this week. His team is working behind closed doors in preparation of the wishbone attack. Florida was a wishbone team, and Yeomen wants his team to play it a bit better than it was played last week. Yeomen has also been known to throw a few wrinkles into his Of fensive game plan, and Saturday should be no exception. Coach Emory Bellard approaches this game by switching half backs. Curtis Dickey and David Brothers will start in place of Adger Armstrong and Darrel Smith. Dickey has had an excellent season, gaining 93 yards on 13 carries. The game should prove quite in teresting. Houston is an outstanding offensive team, with a defense who can plsy if the mood strikes them. The rivalry is there, the ability is there, and for the fans who are there . . . one hell of a game. Southern Comfort tastes delicious right out of the bottle! that's why it makes Mixed Drinks taste so much better! great with: Cola* Bitter Lemon Tonioorange juice Squirt... even milk You know it's got to be good. . . when it's made with Southern Comfort SOUTHERN COMFORT CORPORATION, 100 PROOF LIQUEUR. ST. LOUIS. MO. 63132 kashiiti KASHIM IS CELEBRATING ITS NEW MENU OF SANDWICHES AND SALADS MONDAY-THURSDAY, SEPT. 27-OCT. 1 . . . AND YOU’RE INVITED! n nterci Shift 1 ' ays« ith tta« lam' kenil in’s I cord SPECIALS SEPT. 27-OCT. 1 11:00 a.m.-12:00 midnight Miller High Life Draft Beer Crt 15 oz. glass ° n ! y .OUC All Bar Drinks for Ladies $1.00 KASHIM MENU Sandwiches Includes Your Choice of Meat, Cheese, Bread & Spread, Chips & Kosher Slice * HAPPY HOUR 5-8 DAILY Lunch 11:00 a.m.-2 p.m. daily Meats ROAST BEEF (Prime Cut) TURKEY (Roasted Turkey Breast) HAM (Virginia Glazed) PASTRAMI (Eye of Round) CORNED BEEF (Eye of Round) Cheeses SWISS AMERICAN MOZZARELLA LUNCH SPECIAL $1.00 Bloody Mary • Martini • Margarita Spreads MUSTARD - MAYONNAISE HOT MUSTARD Breads LIGHT RYE - KAISER ROLL - SESAME ROLL - NATURAL GRAIN Cold Plate 1.50 FOR 1 - 2.75 FOR 2 here Along with the finest live entertainment, Kashim now provides the best in disco music for your listen ing and dancing pleasure. Come on out and check it out. By popular demand, “ONE DAY TOMORROW” is returning to Kashim October 7, 1976 for a two- week engagement. Salads Dressings TWO SIZES FOR BLEU CHEESE YOUR APPETITE .80/1.65 1000 ISLANDS (Seconds 50/1 00) FRENCH or SUPREME CHEF 2.65 OUR SPECIAL HOUSE DRESSING ETC. BASKET OF CHIPS - MEXICANA 1.25 CHEESE NACH0S 1.75 SAUCE - DIABLO COLORADO 65 SANDWICHES ARE AVAILABLE AT ALL TIMES —-db- Jt 1802 S. TEXAS AVENUE COLLEGE STATION 846-1053 HOURS • 11-12/MON.-FRI. • 11-1/SAT. • 5-12/SUN.