THE BATTALION Page 13
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 5, 1979
the sports
'mntdown started
gs ready for BYU
By MARK PATTERSON
Battalion Sports Staff
|ecountdown has begun. With
rdays left before Texas A&M’s
son's opening game, Aggie head
[ball coach Tom Wilson held his
weekly press conference of the
.using the occasion to praise his
iur offense and defense are to
point that we re ready to play a
game,” Wilson said. ‘T’ve said
can say about this team. It’s
letoget on the field and see what
re made of.
|lhe chance comes Saturday
t, in Houston’s Rice Stadium.
ie Aggies open play against
ram Young University, the de-
ng Western Athletic Confer
ee champions. BYU has been
in the top 20 in several pre-
ason polls.
Everyone knows how dangerous
ese guys can be,” said Wilson,
enters his first full season as a
ad football coach. ‘‘BYU is an ex-
ssive team, able to score from
where at any time.’’
ranked eighth in the nation
team passing offense with a 238.2
rd-per-game average last year,
air show was led by Jim McMa-
m, who got the starting nod when
arter Marc Wilson, the WAC
ayer f the Y'ear in 1977, went
iwn with a knee injury. Both
cMahon and Wilson will return
season for Coach LaVell Ed-
ards’ Cougars.
Our success will depend on our
lilitytokeep possession of the ball
id keep our offense on the field,
ton said. “We have to keep their
bseoff the field as long as possi-
"Brigham Young runs a lot more
irint out passes than you would
aagine. Their bigger, more mobile
aemen are on offense to protect
ie quarterback. With the mobility
the offense, they can change the
ea that they set up the pocket,
he mobile pocket makes it very dif-
culttorush the quarterback. It will
be quite a challenge to our defense.
“We’ll stay with the 4-3 defense
but our thinking and concepts have
changed. We won’t blitz as much
and we ll lean to zone coverage in
the secondary over man-to-man.
We want to eliminate the big play
and force our opponents to move
the ball on their own merits, not on
our mistakes.”
Four of BYU’s starting five line
men from last season return to sup
ply the passing protection. Leading
the returnees is all-WAC guard Tom
Bell and two year starting center
Scott Neilson.
All-WAC defensive end Mat
Mendenhall returns to anchor the
front wall of the Cougars’ defense.
The linebacking corps is colored red
at the season’s beginning with red-
shirts Gary Kama and Danny
Frazier at two of the starting three
slots. In the secondary, two of the
starting four return to lend stability.
“BYU doesn’t overpower you on
defense,” Wilson explained, “but it
gets the job done with technique.
You know right where they are
going and what they are going to do.
Our offense is ready to go. We ll see
what we can do against them Satur
day night.”
The Texas A&M offense will be
led by quarterback Mike Mosley,
who is up to 195 pounds this season.
With last year’s back-up David Beal
out with a shoulder injury, freshman
Gary Kubiak has been elevated to
the second string quarterback slot.
The familiar look of tailback Cur
tis Dickey and fullback David
Brothers will be seen in the starting
backfield for the Aggies Saturday
night. Ample back-up will be
supplied at tailback by Temple
Aday, Johnny Hector and Earnest
Jackson. David Hill, George
Woodard and Ronnie James will
play behind Brothers.
“All our tailbacks will get some
game time in this week,” Wilson
said. “I wouldn’t hesitate to put any
one of them into the game at any
time.
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Studio
Announces new classes
beginning week of Sept. 10.
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Morning classes 10-1 3810 Texas Ave.
Afternoon classes 2-5 Bryan
Evening classes 7-10 846-4156
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Tender broiled calf liver with smothered
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Country fried beef steak with cream
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“We’ll shuffle them in and out,
according to the situation. Of
course, we’d love to have Curtis
Dickey in the game as much as pos
sible. But he has to build up to the
30-carry games. It might take three
or four games for him to get in that
kind of shape.”
Saturday night might also be the
debut of the slimmed-down George
Woodard. Since returning to the
team this fall, Woodard has suffered
a bruised knee and is questionable
for this week’s game.
“We’re on a wait-and-see basis
with George,” Wilson said. “We
have to see how he’ll do in practice
this week.
“The injury is totally unrelated to
his ankle injury. He’s going to prac
tice all week and we ll know by Fri
day. I think he’ll be ready to go.”
Although the game will be played
at Rice, Wilson stressed that the
team will make it as much like a
home game as possible. He said the
Aggies will work out Friday after
noon and stay here Friday night.
The team will travel to Houston
about 10 a.m. Saturday and check
into their hotel and relax before the
night game.
“We want the guys to be able to
sleep in their own beds the night
before the game and be able to get
up and eat a good breakfast at Cain
Hall,” Wilson said. “Then we ll bus
into Houston and check in to the
hotel so the guys can relax and think
about the game.
The game against BYU might be
the biggest game of the year, not
because it’s the first but because it
will preview what’s to come in 1979.
“This first game won’t answer ev
erything about us or determine
what kind of team we will be this
year,” Wilson said, “but the game
will answer a lot of questions that we
have about ourselves.”
The making of a quarterback
Gary Kubiak, a freshman quarterback from Houston St. Pius,
throws over the head of an A&M defensive player for one of his
five completions in the intrasquad scrimmage Saturday at
Kyle Field. Kubiak has impressed Aggie coaches from the
start, picking up the A&M system quickly and running the
option very well. Head coach Tom Wilson described him as
“an unusual freshman who handles pressure like few fresh
man can.” Kubiak will be hacking up starting quarterback
Mike Mosley against Brigham Young because former backup
David Beal is out for at least three weeks with a shoulder in
jury. Battalion photo by Pat O’Malley
Volleyball bouncing into good year
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845-2611
By CAROLYN BLOSSER
Battalion Staff
Texas A&M’s 1979 volleyball
team will be going into its first tour
nament of the season seeded first,
based on its strong showing last
year. The Aggies are the defending
Regional champions and finished
ninth out of 24 teams at Nationals.
With that impressive record, the
Aggies have established a reputation
as a winner. But whether this year’s
team can live up to its great expecta
tions is another question.
One key word can be used to de
scribe the 1979 team — youth.
Gone from last year’s squad are four
starters, three to graduation and one
to injury. Wendy Wilson, who
started last year as an outside
spiker, is sitting out this season with
OCT. 6
PAT
THERE’S STILL
TIME TO PREPARE
-H.
^MPI
bursitis in the knees. That leaves
head coach Dave Schakel’s team
comprised entirely of freshmen and
sophomores.
The term “inexperienced” is usu
ally synonymous with youth, but not
in this case. Anchoring this year’s
team will be sophomores Kristin
Bloom, Nancy Dunn and Krista
Sodich.
Bloom and Dunn, along with
Wendy Wilson, participated in the
Colorado Sports Festival this sum
mer. The program, sponsored by
the Olympic Committee, is used as
a training center for the Olympics,
Schakel said.
“It is getting more and more
young people involved with interna
tional competition. Just the best
players in the country are invited to
go,” he said.
The players selected to the Festi
val are divided up into four teams
and compete against each other.
Players 19-years-old and under try
out for the Junior National Team,
while those 19 and older try out for
the Women’s Olympic Team.
This summer Wilson and Bloom
made the Junior National Team for
the second year in a row. They went
with the team to compete in the
Pacific Rim Games in Hawaii last
month, facing the best players from
other countries including Mexico,
Canada and Japan.
Krista Sodich from Caldwell also
has valuable playing experience.
She started front row as a spiking
and blocking specialist for A&M last
year.
The other three starting positions
will be open to the six new
freshmen, including two Texans.
Cheryl Ford from Port Arthur is the
tallest player on the squad at 6-1.
“She’s very agile for her height and
has tremendous vertical jump,”
Schakel said.
Beverly Isaiah from Refugio is
5-8, and very quick and agile,
Schakel said.
Rounding out the team are four
top recruits from Southern Califor
nia: Setter Elizabeth Echternach
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TEXAS HALL
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Ags free w/I.D. — Beer 1.75/pitcher
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(5-7), and middle blockers Ann
Yardley (5-9), Sue Wetzel (5-9), and
Suzanne Askew (5-8).
“They’re all from different high
schools but played together on the
Orange County Volleyball Club,”
Schakel said.
The Aggies open their season
away Sept. 13 with a match against
the University of Texas at Arlington.
The following day they begin play in
the North Texas State Tournament
in Denton, in which A&M is the
No. 1 seed.
The highlight of A&M’s schedule
comes in mid-October when the
Aggies travel to Hawaii to face the
University of Hawaii at Hilo in two
3-out-of-5 game matches, and the
University of Honolulu in two
matches. Honolulu finished third in
last year’s Nationals.
On the way back, A&M will stop
off in California for matches against
UCLA and Pepperdine University,
who respectively placed second and
fourth in Nationals last year.
The Aggies will see their first
home action when they host the
Texas A&M Invitational Tourna
ment Sept. 28-29 in G. Rollie White
Coliseum.
Their strongest competition will
come from the University of Hous
ton, University of Texas at Ar
lington, Lamar, and the University
of Texas.
“I think we re a young team but
we re going to be as competitive as
any team in Texas,” Schakel said.
“We’ve got pretty good experience,
height and consistency. Without in
juries, we ll be tough.”
Will the Ags have an encore sea
son for their impressive ninth-place
finish at Nationals last year?
“Being this young you just can’t
tell right now,” Schakel said.
Basketball
anyone?
The Bryan Parks and Recreation
Department is organizing City
League Basketball once again. The
deadline for entering a team in the
Bryan’s Men’s City League is Sept.
10th at 5 p. m. The entry fee is $50
per team and should be paid at 203
E. 29th St. In addition to the open
league, a 30-and-over league will be
offered this year. All 30-and-over
teams are encouraged to enter. For
further information please call 822-
1054.
Senior Placement Seminar
Presented by Mr. Melon Southerland of the TAMU Placement Office
Topics to be covered:
Placement Procedures
Resume and Letter Writing
Job Search Techniques
Interviewing Techniques
On Campus Interviewing
September 12-13 at 7:30, rm. 701 Rudder
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