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
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effort
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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.”
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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.
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