Image provided by: Texas A&M University
About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 13, 1978)
ep ;er the sports THE BATTALION FRIDAY, OCTOBER 13, 1978 Page 13 Aggies to face explosive Cougars in Astrodome n statin >rldwi(J e il can!* icientisti 't profilf igars By SEAN PETTY Battalion Staff plosive. That is the word that A&M University head football Emory Bellard uses to de~ the University of Houston Hi, Lost JUS fiRSX C-AMC so sms COUGAR CAAt TO At AMO... HtrsoY OOJf'X TOUCH THAT OAUO / > static ;an use i sstroy j r Skylal, >tact wit da, Spais ■sday an! a Charlti mtil new cause» it succes which (j le tnde afti ICC ge and nil ge from Mrs /hen the two teams meet for the time in as many years, explo re right word. iturday night will mark the first , t he Aggies and Cougars have edeach other in the Astrodome, two teams have battled each almost evenly for the last 17 The Aggies come into the estwith a one game lead in the The all-time series record ds at seven wins for A&M, six for Houston and three ties, lere is one more major aspect in Aggie-Cougar history. No team 'ver won two games in a row. Aggies hope to change this in Houston. iere will be some old faces re- ; to the Houston lineup. And will be some newer faces ston would not like to see again, |y Aggie quarterback Mike ley. osley, as a freshman, took over sputtering Aggie offense in the id quarter of last year’s game in Field. The Aggies were down (the time and the young quar- ick ignited the offense by rush- for 109 yards and two downs. The Aggies defeated lougars 27-7 on national televi- at was last year. The Cougars e .. n” ince a 8 a ' n the serv ices of seasoned leaders, senior quar- ick Danny Davis and junior acker David Hodge. Davis sat ail liost oflast season with a shoul- ijury and Hodge did not play Jrsonal reasons. es ] vis is the fuse that ignites the f ars explosive offense. He is a ilay quarterback and makes * s happen. mny Davis can stay right on ule and look great,’ Bellard He has the ability to get out of le and make the big play that ill you. He is a very smart rbaek.” it will la •ollar b! of 1. ept in mths. • half the] :xnild f $20 s said tht ills is ed by tht In graving indergo Davis led the Cougars to the 1976 Southwest Conference cham pionship and provides solid leader ship. You judge a quarterback like a coach," Houston head coach Bill Yeoman said. ’You judge him on how many games he wins. Danny’s (Davis) a winner.” Hodge is the leader of the Hous ton headhunters. He is captain of the Coogs’ defense. "He is going to be as good a linebacker as there is walking around in the nation,” Yeoman said. “He is terribly strong.” Although Mosley has never played against Hodge, he said he has total respect for him. “He will take your head off,” Mosley said. “We watched him in the films and that guy can hit as hard as anybody.” The Cougar-Aggie rivalry is one that sparks a little more enthusiasm in the fans and players than even a regular conference game. Some of the Houston players shaved their heads this week to get a little more spirit into the practices. Th is game is very important to Coach Bellard and the Aggies, also. They will be putting their un blemished record on the line at the Cougars’ home field. It will be the hardest task the Aggies have faced all year. “Houston is a fine team with lots of skilled football players,” Bellard said. “They are explosive and have all the ingredients to be an explosive ball club. “They have good receivers, a big offensive line and darn good run ning backs. They come at you with a basic attack and hit and hit until they see daylight and they’re gone. “We have not played a team that poses a combination pass and run threat like Houston,’’ he said. What about their only loss to Memphis State, is there any com parison of the two teams? “There is an ace over deuce com parison of Memphis State and Hous ton,” Bellard said. “The strength of the two is not an issue because Houston is so much stronger. “Houston had a bad opening day. They made a lot of mistakes and had some penalties that killed scoring drives. We can’t count on them to make those mistakes this week.” The Cougars have not lost a game since the opener with Memphis St. In fact, they went to Florida and knocked off 10th ranked Florida State two weeks ago. “They totally dominated Florida St. throughout the game,” Bellard said. “They have a fine defense and their offense scored the first three times they got the ball.” Tbe Aggies take the second best defense in the nation to the Dome Saturday. There is a bit of irony in volved here because defensive coach Melvin Robertson started his collegiate coaching career at Hous ton under Bill Yeoman. He coached at Houston from 1965 through 1971. The Cougars come into the Dome to play their second home game after beating Baylor in Waco last week. It was not an easy victory as Houston rallied in the final three minutes to win 20-18. “I don’t think that we were wildly pumped up at Waco, but our young people were able to gather them selves sufficiently to get the win,” Yeoman said. “I don t think our of fensive people went into the game in the right frame of mind. This is the problem with young people. They play an excellent game (against Florida St.) and they get so happy with themselves they can barely stand it. And, they forget to realize that it is an every day, on going op eration. “Texas A&M is playing better than any team in the conference right now. They have great offensive talent, a great defense and they are well coached.” So the stage is set. The action takes place at 7:30 Saturday night in the Astrodome. A standing room only crowd of 53,000 is expected to watch as the Aggies and Cougars meet head on in an explosion that could just lift the roof right off the Dome. Armstrong hurt Aggie halfback Adgar Armstrong is not expected to start in Saturday’s Texas A&M- Houston game. The 220-pound senior received a severely bruised knee in last week’s Texas Tech game. Freshman Temple Aday, 190 pounds, will get his first collegiate start in place of Armstrong. In other lineup changes, Pres ton Dickson will be at center, replacing Ed Pustejovsky who sprained a knee in practice this week. James Zachery will play right defensive end, replacing Eddie Heath who suffered a leg injury in a motorcycle accident. nitonUa Men’s & women’s tennis apparel T-Shirts & custom-design transfers Complete selection of athletic clothing OPEN 9:30-6:00 ^BROOKS HconVERSE Mil.I Elions 822 VILLA MARIA RD I.orker I!ooin 0 "SPORTSHOES UNLIMITED'' ACROSS FROM MANOR EAST MALL 779 9484 idans WC coaches argue bout tournament site tung by roundedC United Press International Uganda UST0N — Southwest Con- ilehespa e basketball coaches are split ether to move their highly responsel sfal post-season tournament tion, ho*t louston’s Summit to San An- n. HemisFair Arena in 1980, diateU A&M coach Shelby Metcalf Radio Ka: lursday. before Josure of the disagreements Tbe li en the coaches, and some of ve notsei guments on both sides, were 5. Emta ; d after eight of the nine head osed tor smet in a closed-door session iment tn n SWC official and two ath- 1S fromli irectors at Rice Universitv Eastil lay morning. ’re well divided,” Metcalf go sign" a news conference following ; k actual 1 :eting. ,erM 15 coach Abe Lemons, when tates In* about the group’s recom- (liH t'" ‘lion to the governing body of to An®' VC declined comment. ‘ at difference does it make? en f ’ T hence stuff. They won’t ’ ’■ Lemons said, ndisen tournament the past two i a ' > rawn capacity crowds on , es in th e 16,000-seat Sum- 0 S |\„ se veral coaches say the « ! 'T g'ves the Houston mn cajrs and Rice Owls an unfair > e > although neither the pon ! .|»* rOWlSre8 ”' arlypla> ' in c re mi ai \Vantage (for the ' an * „ tli ams )’ m m V opinion, be- f'siii- ie tl Can ,^ ave their players b , schedule,” Ar- "Whereas, if you bring a team in here, and you’re in a hotel and you’ve broken your schedule, it’s different.” Sutton was one of several coaches to say the decision whether to move the tournament was being made more difficult because of past suc cess. “All of us have concern too that the people of Houston have done such a marvelous job in promoting the tournament. There are question marks anytime you move. You ask, ‘Hey, can they do the same thing in San Antonio?”’ The SWC’s contract to play the springtime tournament at the Summit was for three years begin ning in 1976. Both years it has been played in Houston, Guy Lewis’ Cougars advanced to the finals. Last season Houston won the tourna ment by beating Texas, the eventual NIT champion, and Arkansas, the third-place finisher in the NCAA tournament. Lewis listened to arguments fa voring a move and then said, “In the interest of fair play and trying to even this tournament up, I’m going to move my team out of the dorm next year and move them into the Houston Oaks (Hotel).” Rice coach Mike Schuler indi cated officials of HemisFair Arena should prove they can match the at tendance and excitement generated at the Summit. HemisFair Arena is presently in creasing its seating to 16,000. Coach Gerald Myers of Texas Tech appeared to line up with Sut ton and Lemons for the move to San Antonio. A&M’s Metcalf appeared to side with Schuler and Lewis for keeping the tournament in Hous ton. Coaches Jim Haller of Baylor and SMU’s Sonny Allen gave no in dication which way they leaned. TCU’s Tim Somerville was not present. CORRECTION! TEXAS HALL OF FAME HAS 2 FOR 1 DRINKS THURSDAY ALL NITE, NOT FRIDAY! Imagine if you can. One moment you’re sitting still...then in four seconds flat you are launched to a speed of sixty miles per hour. With a force of six G’s you’re orbiting, upside down through a Texas-size loop circling more than eighty feet high into the Houston sky. Then get set to zoom straight up ten stories in the air at the near vertical seventy degree angles as you pre pare to relive the entire journey backwards. Back through the loop, upside down and backwards. You won’t know whether you’re coming or going but when you stop...you can say you’ve experienced Greezed Lightnin’l Have a High Old Time AstroWorld’s as Much Fun as Cutting Classes