L-3 Cougars look
turn it around
By KURT ALLEN
Battalion Staff
As every coach knows, a football team must be able to concentrate on
! each game and execute properly if it expects to win consistently.
■ For some reason, the University of Houston has forgotten that basic
Ifsson and is now relearning it the hard way. The 1-3 Cougars are off to
their worst start since 1975 when they lost eight straight games in a
THE BATTALION Page 13
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 8, 1980
The Coogs’ head coach. Bill Yeoman, is usually a calm man on the
Id, but it’s obvious that even he is unusually frustrated by his team’s
ysmal performance.
His frustration is compounded by the fact the Cougars lost a miles-
ne game for Yeoman last weekend to Baylor in Waco. The 24-12 loss
s Yeoman’s 200th game as Houston head coach and was the first time
has ever lost a milestone game.
The Cougars had been overwhelming picked in a Texas Football
agazine pre-season poll to repeat as Southwest Conference Cham
pions.
lOn paper, the choice seemed logical. The Coogs had either won or
(ared the title since joining the conference in 1976. They were
essed with incredible talent. New Houston T-shirts were even
inted up proclaiming “Three out of Four Ain’t Bad.”
Defensive tackle Hosea Taylor went one better than that. He sug-
^sted, “Four out of Five would even be better.”
■ Perhaps the answer to the mystery surrounding the Cougars’ fall can
|'bt found by analyzing the Baylor game.
■ Mistakes proved to be the big difference in the Bears’ first win over
Houston since 1963 and their first in four conference matchups with
the Cougars. Not once, but five times the Cougars coughed up the
Botball, including the fatal pitchout from quarterback Brent Chinn to
senior fullback John Newhouse.
M Houston had possession of the ball at its own 24-yard line when
Ghinn pitched to Newhouse at the 16. Newhouse never controlled the
tpss and the Bears’ Joe Campbell recovered. On the qext play, Walter
■hnbercroiribie danced 16 yards for a touchdown, making the score
if'-B with 5:05 left in the third quarter.
I Chinn later claimed responsibility for the fumble, calling it “a low
tch. ’ But he was not the only one at fault in what was a total team
[ilure, especially offensively. As Yeoman said, “We re just going to
ve to play harder. We also need more experience under out belts.”
It’s pretty hard to criticize Chinn at this stage. The 19-year-old found
mself thrust into a pressure cooker situation when he suddenly had to
rt the Baylor game.
With only a week’s preparation, he had to fill the shoes of senior
Mj^erry Elston who broke his wrist. Elston, by the way, is through for the
^Bteason. It’s a shame since he has run out of collegiate eligibility.
Anyway, the; question at hand is whether the Coogs can work some
magic on the drawing board and put their season back together.
There’s no doubt Yeoman still has the horses to run with. He has two
the country’s finest defensive tackles in Hosea Taylor (6-5, 265) and
onard Mitchell (6-7, 271).
Taylor earned all-SWC honors last season by making 70 tackles,
ven quarterback sacks and blocking a last-second field-goal attempt
1 by Arkansas to preserve a 13-10 Houston victory. This year, he already
hoto by Pi!$h as 27 tackles and one sack to his credit.
P Meanwhile, UH coaches have been watching Mitchell, who passed
, up varsity basketball this year to undergo rigorous off-season weight
ipcomk training.
reorgani There are reports Mitchell’s upper-body strength is 65 or 70 percent
; of yean better than it was in the Cotton Bowl last January.
I The Aggies’ offensive line looked much improved against Texas
Tech, but it will certainly get a more severe test against Taylor,
Mitchell and Co.
’ Looking at the rest of the defense. Yeoman said earlier he consi-
dered this a rebuilding year.
O While this may be true, the Cougars’ two linebackers are putting in a
credible performance. Senior Steve Bradham is leading the team with
52 tackles on the left side, followed by junior Grady Turner on the right
side with 51.
'* By contrast, the Aggies’ two best linebackers, Mike Little and Doug
i theAsb^Garr, have 48 and 38 tackles respectively.
1 stands B® When the season began, it was thought the Houston veer offense
tion to I would carry the team with seven starters returning. Ironically, just the
than fom : opposite has been true. The Coogs are inconsistent at best and have
iwer. produced an average of only 14 points per game compared with 22
ie will points for opponents. It’s no wonder they’re having trouble winning,
ston AstifP As noted earlier, the Cougars did not expect Terry Elston to be out of
5 complex action for the season. They had counted heavily on him to lead this
lich has year’s offense.
However, there is still plenty of backfield talent teaming with Chinn
ems, of bin the form of running backs Terald Clark and David Barrett,
e champi®*-' The number two conference rusher last year, Clark gained 844 of
Lines. If 1,063 yards during the final seven games, including a 167-yard per-
series i« formance against Texas Tech. This year, he’s gained only 223 yards, but
lay diffii is still averaging four yards per carry.
ind the W Not only is Houston capable of running, its passing game still shows a
7:30 p ® lot of potential, as evidenced by junior split end Lonell Phea.
we gaveBf Phea became the first UH receiver to have two 100-yard games in
preferen receptions since Don Bass in 1975. His second six-reception game
ed to Rie against Baylor was good for 135 yards. That included a 51-yard bomb
Those" from Chinn. Phea earlier had 132 yards against Miami-Florida.
ie Astrtx^ One area Houston definitely needs help in is punting. Junior Mark
.allyfelU Ford is only averaging 35.8 yards per kick. Even the much-maligned
ijhle to d> Aggie punting game is better than that.
In the end, the Cougars may be helped by their homefield advan
tage, plus the fact they’ve been awful lucky against the Aggies.
Houston has been deadly at home, no matter where it’s played. The
Coogs beat the Aggies 21-10 at Rice Stadium in 1976 and dealt a mortal
wound to Emory Bellard’s coaching career at Texas A&M by shutting
out the Ags 33-0 at the Astrodome in 1978.
Last year, they even won their first game at Kyle Field in a last-
minute 17-14 thriller.
Thus caution is in order for the Aggies. Saturday’s game is a big
contest for both teams. The final difference may very well be who is
most awake and alert when the ball is teed up for a 10:30 p.m. kickoff.
and collide
s.
five-hour?
Aggie Blood Drive
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Cowboys
get ‘better’
United Press International
DALLAS — It was the goal of the
Dallas Cowboys to get a little better
as the weeks went along this year and
hopefully stay close enough to the
leaders to be able to make a run at
the top spot during the second half of
the season.
So far they have clearly met their
goal. Despite all the changes
wrought on the team by retirement
and injury, the Cowboys are not only
close to the leaders but are, in fact,
one of the leaders.
“I wouldn’t have thought we
would be 4-1 at this point in the sea
son,” coach Tom Landry said Tues
day. “But, then, I thought some of
the teams we had to play were going
to get off to a little better start.
“You’ve got to remember that
Washington is off to slow start and
Tampa Bay is off to a slow start.
That’s fortunate for us. If they had
been as good as they were last year
when they finished we probably
wouldn’t be 4-1.”
•F
HAPPY
COTTAGE
GIFT
SHOPPE
Photo by Lee Roy Leschper Jr.
A&M quarterback David Beal rolls right and readies to cut
against the Tech defense in fourth quarter action Saturday.
The senior quarterback scored one of his four touchdowns on
the play as the Aggies won 41-21. The Ags'now prepare for the
1-3 Houston Cougars, who they are scheduled to play on
Saturday.
Hogs prepare
for Wichita
United Press International
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. —At last,
Arkansas coach Lou Holtz says, the
Razorbacks are on the right calendar.
“Tuesday wasn’t the better day,”
he said. “Usually, Tuesday is our
better day and Saturday is our
worst,” he said.
The Hogs are getting ready for
their game Saturday at Wichita
State, and Holtz said the defense is
performing well in practice but
Tuesday didn’t have the consistency
he wants.
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