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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 4, 1978)
THE BATTALION Page 15 WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 4, 1978 'oogs hard to figure Yeoman has surprises i United Press International Houston — To oddsmakers ■the years, the University of Iston football team under l coach Bill Yeoman has been fcnigma. The Cougars often L hard to figure that they ^ar to operate on a different biological circuit than most toman’s 1967 squad, for in beat No. 1 ranked Michi- |State 37-7 and then stum- to three losses that season. [l968 team inundated Tulsa U one week only to get hped 40-20 by Florida State Inext week. And in 1969 his ! lost its first two games be- Iwinning its next contest 74-0 [route to nine straight bries. Itason to season with the ears is not much steadier. As Ixample, in the fall following Iston’s 2-8 season in 1975, the •s ran over Texas 30-0 in won the Southwest Con- Ince title and the Cotton ]l thy the almost constant sur- s? ( don’t know,” said Yeoman. l’J hard to figure. I do know lour ups and downs were a liore common when we were “ndependent. In the South- | Conference the kids have ething to fight for each louston began playing for the K. football championship in an's 14th season as the ars’ head coach, 1976. is season, his troops did not long to surprise the makers as they upset ninth- ranked Florida State 27-21 in Tallah assee, Fla., following games in which they looked bad against Memphis State and only slightly better against Utah. “We did play a good bit har der,” said Yeoman, named UPJ’s coach of the week as a result of his latest upset. Could it be that Houston is af fected by motivational aspects of the game more than most teams? The Cougars often times play tougher games on the road than at home. “The ability to stay calm on the ■/on Foot’ expects kicking duel ecause mj -y similar™ Iding thel icnsion and aried atti Bill Yeoman road is something we brought along from our independent days,” he said. “Heck, these are kids we are working with. We sit them down and talk to them. We go over the contingencies should we fumble or make mistakes.” The Cougars were high step ping when they went on the field against the Seminoles. They scored touchdowns the first four times they had the ball and with 6:48 left in the second quarter they led 27-0. Said Seminoles coach Bobby Bowden, “Nobody runs the veer better than Houston does. They have a great offense and Bill is the master at it.” It was something Bowden said before the game, however, which may have been much more significant to the outcome. “Houston has the best team money can buy, but don't quote me on that,” Bowden jokingly told a local quarterback club meeting. He also spoke of Hous ton’s image as an “outlaw” team. The comments were brought to the attention of Yeoman be fore Saturday’s game and then printed last Friday in a Florida newspaper. “That all ended,” Yeoman said, “when we got in the Southwest Conference. It was like we didn’t have B.O. any more.” Houston, with the victory, displacing Florida State in the nation’s Top 20 while the second NCAA probation levied against Houston’s football program in 10 years expired. The Cougars are presently ranked seventeenth in the UPI coaches’ poll. Meanwhile, Yeoman Tuesday was doing his work with the media in preparation for Hous ton’s conference opener at Baylor Saturday. “It’s imperative we get a good week of work and get a whole lot better, because we are still not in any position to be competitive in the conference race,” he said. Writers covering the SWC tabbed Yeoman’s Cougars in a pre-season poll to run second on the heels of Arkansas. That pre diction already has been de valued and inflated twice in three games. UT-OU overshadows SWC games United Press International They will crank up the roller coaster and the cotton candy machine on the Texas State Fair grounds this week and if the thrill rides are running can Texas vs. Oklahoma be far behind? Of course not. It’s one of the most anticipated sporting events in the Southwest and a king-sized social gathering as well. People who are used to attending opera balls or making purchases at art auctions suddenly find them selves putting on their game face and going quietly mad at this time of the year — all because of what will take place next Saturday in the Cotton Bowl. It will be the 73rd meeting be tween the major state universities of Texas and Oklahoma and, as usual, the event will transcend the sport. Social calendars have long been filled. The hotels will start to bulge about Thursday. Finally, on Saturday, a quarter of a million people will take in the first big day of the nation’s largest annual fair and 72,000 of them will shove their way into the Cotton Bowl for the noon kickoff. "I don’t know much about Okla homa yet,” said Texas Coach Fred Akers after his sixth-ranked Long horns bumped off Texas Tech last Saturday, 24-7. “But I do know that Oklahoma has an outstanding foot ball team, that they are No. 1 and that they are piling up points. “But we ll be ready. I don’t know how we’re going to stop them, though. I don’t know of anyone who has shut down Oklahoma.” Oklahoma’s wishbone attack is clicking nicely, as demonstrated in a 45-23 win over Missouri last Satur day. But Coach Barry Switzer seems to still be a little itchy about his de fense. “The final exam hasn’t come for the defense yet, ” Switzer said. “That will come against Texas.” As it almost always does, the Texas-Oklahoma thing will over shadow the first busy week of league activity in the Southwest Confer ence. Texas A&M, ranked seventh, a 58-0 winner over Memphis State last Saturday and maybe the best team in the league right now, will open its conference season at home against Texas Tech, which suffered six turn overs in its loss to Texas. The Baylor Bears, who battled Ohio State hard before losing their third game in a row, 34-28, also will be at home against the seventeenth- ranked Houston Cougars, who gave themselves a boost by upsetting then ninth-ranked Florida State, 27-21. Baylor will be in a bind on offense with the loss of running back Greg Hawthorne for the year with a hip injury. And the fifth-ranked Arkansas Razorbacks, who had a mighty scare before edging Tulsa, 21-13, should have an easy time in Little Rock against TCU, which was bombed by Penn State, 58-0. Of more interest than the confer ence games could be SMU’s trip to Ohio State. The Buckeyes secondary has been considered one of the weak spots on the team this year and Mus tangs’ quarterback Mike Ford will be tlying to take advantage of that. The two most recent Texas- Oklahoma games have been fierce defensive struggles (the 1976 contest ending in a 6-6 tie and Texas winning last year, 13-6) and this one could be, too. Texas’ offense perked up a little against Texas Tech last Saturday and the Longhorns’ defense, although it did allow its first touchdown of the year, did set up three touchdowns with turnovers. Tech Coach Rex Dockery feels the Longhorns defense is better this year than it was last year even though Texas has lost two starters from that unit. “11 you decide to go out there and run over Texas you are going to have a bad night,” said Dockery. “We can’t do that. Maybe somebody can, but we can’t. “And their offense presents you with a great problem because of (Olympic sprinter Johnny) Lam Jones. You have to double cover him so much out there that it takes away from defense against the run and they are real good about seeing that coverage and changing their plays at the line. "Texas has so much quickness on defense, too, that they cause a lot of mistakes. But I know Oklahoma has a fine football team, too. “That game in Dallas should be a great football game.” Conference notes Baylor may use walk-on kicker WACO — Baylor coach Grant Teaff said Tuesday walk-on kicker Bill Manes would replace Robert Bledsoe as the Bears’ kicker Satur day against the 17th ranked Houston Cougars. Bledsoe has missed four field goals in as many attempts in the Bears’ first three losses. Bledsoe will remain the kicked on extra point attempts. “I have based my decision on Bill’s performance the last two days in practice,” Teafl said. “If he doesn t get the job done this week, I will try to find someone else.” AUSTIN — University of Texas coach Fred Akers said Tuesday the sixth ranked Longhorns were work ing out as best they could in prepara tion for Saturday’s game against No. 1 Oklahoma, even though many players had been sidelined with in juries. “The uncertainty of the injuries is what bothers me,” Akers said. “I’d rather see them working out. It wouldn’t be so bad if we weren’t playing a team that does things dif ferently than other teams we have played.” Listed as missing the workout were kicker Russell Erxleben and flanker Lam Jones, both out with the flu: safety Johnnie Johnson and de fensive tackle Steve McMichael, out with hamstring injuries; defensive tackle Bill Acker and defensive end Ron Bones, sprains; and cornerback Ricky Churchman with a hip injury. FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Slow progress in the Razorbacks kicking game and increasing consistency in the defense have left coach Lou Holtz worried mostly about the team’s offensive performance in its conference opener this weekend. "Right now I don’t know if we could score if the other team missed the bus,” Holtz said. “It seems the more we work on passing, the worse we get. We aren’t throwing the ball worth a dam.” The No. 5 ranked Razorbacks will meet TCU in Little Rock Saturday night. The kicking game was emphasized in Tuesday’s workout, and Holtz liked what he saw. “I think we are improving some areas. ” he said. "Our kicking game is gaining some consistency working the same people." t'nited Press International ■IMAN, Okla. — Uwe on las addedi! ■ this se formation wishbone fullback ii ds no prefc— lL P . formation ann though* about it all week iturday calmly kicked his 88th fcutive conversion for an ftcord. He booted five more top-ranked Oklahoma com- ■ts 45-23 conquest of schools it* lri t0 boost his record to 93. it camera, a {jjg mornent f or von i ■ > hut not the biggest of his because I came j ast year , when ,,' e S j. r e ^ a 41-yard game-winning dlyandi jo a i agai^ Ohio State. 'd*on*the! r elt ver >' relieved,” IfirkerP H 0 sa ’^ his 88th straight ben eradi L nt ' * ^ new 1 had only one Brothers* 11 ^urday and I had a lot of ter his sei ason, not keep I confidence. I had all week to think about that one extra point. I was very emotional, happy and re lieved." The German-born senior from Fort Worth, Texas, began the sea son unaware he was so near the na tional mark of 87, set by Don Bitter- lich of Temple. “I didn’t know I was that close to a national record until last week,” he said. “I broke a school record and I was wondering how close I was to a national record. I asked the sports information office and they found out.” Von Schamann, 6-0 and 197 pounds, expects a stiff kicking chal lenge Saturday from Texas standout Russell Erxleben. “He’s one of the best. He’s the best punter, I think, in the nation,” von Schamann said. “I feel like the kicking game will be very important this weekend because I anticipate a very close game. “The Texas defense hasn’t al lowed many points this season. It should be a good showdown. The kicking game is always very impor tant. It can lose or win a ball game for you.” Last year in Oklahoma’s game against Ohio State, von Schamann’s 41-yard field goal in the final sec onds did just that as the Sooners won, 29-28. odgers and Phillies meet again t° k e . B . . hilt VOU1 Unite d Press International llyaswel [LADELPHIA - The his sharf i e Pbia Phillies and Los mo* be b tes b ° ,h P ' ayed 'c heir ork and ii > r S ,n L Se P- [lii [t and eacb club says that is .pkyo a fr s . Win the Na,ional | P°^S er s, who defeated the tk "l four S ames last y^r to JCl* e league championship, ar- ■J irreatei L f eterans Stadium today to plaving!ebet r of 0 fi ight ’ S ° penin g g ame the big! | ' five senes - ates team |Lillies, who are 0-2 in the urn at 1 I s Past two seasons and to have I j£° ne 28 years without a Na- makei league pennant, won their makinf , la| ght Eastern Division title g game j ,‘ iy v '''ui a 10-8 win over the especial* Pittsburgh Pirates. I “nuhes led the Pirates by at thisp* [Sanies on Aug. 12 but e. If've; Ur |J won 36 of its next 47 themIfr *J he Plrates drew within a dofn*jr e on Sept. 5 but Philadel- at Dal nake tk me on a; Tony _ r Wask cott. Tin effort of Rod ndryf deal wii* 1 some]** n’t mak ;oal lin« own ill triff and tl' oger n't at is when was P* illas e w Y° r ball® ey '' phia went on a 17-8 tear to hold them off. The constant pressure was enough to wear out a lot of teams, but Phils’ catcher Bob Boone thinks that may be the best way to prepare for the series. “We’ve been playing nothing but crucial games for more than three weeks,” Boone said. “I think it has toughened us up mentally for the championship series. In fact. I’m sure of it. We’ve been through the mill and we’re mature enough to handle what comes along.” The Dodgers, getting stronger as the season rolled on, overtook the San Francisco Giants at the end of August and breezed in, clinching the divisional title on Sept. 24. “It’s a tribute to the club the way we did it down the stretch,” third baseman Ron Cey said. “We played our best baseball down the stretch. Now the important thing is for us to have our momentum going into the playoffs.” ggieland Flower | & Gift Shop | Give her the Keepsake Mum | If she's special — be individual and & let Aggieland Flowers design your $ mum just for her. Select a special jjl mum of velvet, colligate or satin trim S — add roses, carnations or button poms. j| Individual designing creates a better ^ mum for you. H CALL 846-5825 Plants — Hallmark Cards Posters — Candles -— Roses & Other Fresh Flowers pen 8-5:30 846-5825 ^' Ver sity Dr. (Next to Campus Theatre) 846-5825 VVe Wire Flowers Worldwide In the opening game, the Phillies will send right-hander Larry Christ enson, 13-14, to the mound against Burt Hooten, 19-10. Philadelphia’s Dick Ruthven, 15-11, meets Tommy John, 16-10, in the second game Thursday afternoon. The Phillies would appear to have an edge with the first two games at Veterans Stadium but team captain Mike Schmidt noted that the Dod gers won hyeason series, 7-5, in cluding a 3-3 mark in Philadelphia. “They (the Dodgers) showed us last year that they can win there, and we showed that we can win in LA,” the Phillies’ third baseman said. “It’s to our advantage to win the first two. It doesn’t matter where they are.” “That will be the kick I remember all my life. It was the happiest mo ment of my college career, ” he said. The Ohio State game outshone setting the national record because, “It didn’t just matter personally, ” he said. “It mattered to the team, it mattered to the coaches and it mat tered to Oklahoma.” But back to today’s pressures, von Schamann said plans for the Texas game call for him to practice more with the team on punting. Okla homa has punted only 11 times in its four games this season. “I will work a little more with the team. Our punting has been a little unstable. We didn’t do a real good job last week,” he said. “We had one punt blocked and we had only 10 men on the field instead of 11. It could lose the ball game for us.” Von Schamann said he felt the new NCAA field goal rule might not affect the Texas game, depending on how badly points were needed. “I don’t know if that rule will mat ter because I could see the Texas team try a 60-yarder in a crucial situation if there were only seconds left in the half and the score was tied, or there was no score at all,” he said. “They are going to try the long one, and I think we’re going to do the same thing.” Under the new rule, if a field goal fails, the ball returns to the spot from which it was kicked instead of the 20-yard line. “It hasn’t mattered in our last four games, but I anticipate this game will be closer than our last four games,” von Schamann said. SENIORS & GRADUATES!! YEARBOOK PICTURES A-E MUST BE TAKEN THIS WEEK (OCT. 2-6) b P Sonography 846-5766 NORTHGATE 30 MIN UTE HEEQmm 846-7785 50 cent beer! KA/Him feature* free munchiee! ROCK n ROLL luesdoy«thursdoy 1802 south texes avenue college station, texas 77840