—Sports THE BATTALION Page 11 WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 3, 1980 iail Oilers out of‘elbow room’ TANK MCNAMARA by Jeff Millar & Bill Hinds ~Y cm, bock, vav the mx. ' LIKE MDU'RE GOIKlG 1& PUNI IT. A LITTLE HIGHER-A LITTLE lOWET?.. *-<*>, /A C s v~\ vi • United Press International lay,", (MS , HOUSTON — Head coach Bum Phillips says all he can do is ofifer words of warning — he knows of no other cure for the Houston Oilers’ the earlier® psh of turnovers and slow starts in games. 1 Talk, however, has turned out to be enough to resolve another natter that was getting him down, namely the inconsistent placekick- ng of Toni Fritsch. unlovedp® Phillips had thought Fritsch was hiding the pain from an injured ad troy bit b fight thigh muscle following a loss to the Cleveland Browns Sunday, everythingtt )ut he learned otherwise Monday. museumii| “He’s all right,’’ Phillips said. “I thought he really might have had as skip wlj omething wrong. But I went up to him and said, ‘Toni, how is your eg? And don’t give me any bull.’ He said, T’m all right. ” rewassm* As a result, Phillips has those intangible problems remaining to be was, He sail ixed in a short work week leading to Thursday night’s game with the grade, btll Httsburgh Steelers. oppedontl* j Resolutions are critical because the Oilers and Steelers, both 8-5, hat wasprtl lave run out of elbow room this season. Phillips said he didn’t “consider it a problem” that his team had hewaskeept cored only 16 total points in the first quarters of the 13 games this d. I could if; eason. toputhisks “Every time we go on the field, we tell them we’ve got to start the ik he drop;? lallgame offlike it’s the fourth quarter,” he said. “Every practice we wot me, sfe lave, we say we’ve got to start it offlike we want to finish the thing. But commit suit ither than talk about it, there’s not a heck of a lot you can do.” Three turnovers in the first quarter Sunday caused the Oilers to fall 1! himself.! ichind the Browns 14-0 in the first 17 minutes, and they never and failed! ecovered. ! his suicide,' Quarterback Kenny Stabler threw two interceptions, giving him 24 to Walker»i < )r t,ie season. ladehimt But Phillips said he wasn’t making any changes as a result. , ^ (y “There’s not a football player on the field who didn’t make a mis- boutanb ^ e >” sa ^- offensive tackle who slips off a block is making just s big a mistake as a receiver dropping a pass or a kicker missing a field )! (he JKliJi , oa i There’s a jillion mistakes in a football game.” 3 the “b Important to him was his players’ effort. irts would t “I don’t think the mistakes are on purpose,’Phillips told reporters at oney, whelk is weekly news conference. “They’re trying to do the best they can. It the fundsij L eans a whole lot more to them than it does to y’all. ” urials. Because of the 17-14 loss to Cleveland and the 31-28 overtime loss to ie New York Jets Nov. 23, the Oilers’ playoff position is perilous. Phillips said he felt “in all probability” the Oilers had to win their |iree remaining games to gain a wild card playoff berth. Houston can win the AFC Central Division title, even though the Browns lead, 4. Howe is NL Rookie of Year United Press International LOS ANGELES — Steve Howe didn’t think he would even make the team, but Monday he became the second Los Angeles Dodgers’ pitch er in two years to win the the Nation al League’s Rookie of the Year award. “I can’t believe it, ” Howe said af ter receiving the award. “I really didn’t expect it. I competed against some really fine baseball players.” Howe got 12 first-place votes and 80 points from the 24 members of the Storage Space ^ FOR RENT Secure • Well Lighted Various Sizes • Behind U-RENT-M in College Stalion The Storage Station * 693-0551 Baseball Writers Association of pitcher Bill Gullickson of Montreal America — two from each National and outfielder Lonnie Smith of Phi- League city — to easily beat out ladelphia. Tex AS v^TAnrE o E'riCAE Prescriptions Filled Glasses Repaired 216 N. MAIN BRYAN 822-6105 Mon.-Fri. 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Sat. 8 a.m.-l p.m. Make HAPPY COTTAGE GIFT SHOPPE your gift headquarters for Christmas Music Boxes (over250 selections) Silk Flower ArrangemenlsA Fashion Jewelry ! /_ 822-9393 0-5:30, Sat. 10-5 Houston Oilers Head Coach Bum Phillips watches the action on the field. The Oilers, who lost to the Cleveland Browns last Sunday 17-14 in a fight for the American Conference Central Division lead, play the Pittsburgh Steelers Thursday night. owboys face tough final stretch tdows of her ivate iy close fria ces and iw icd nun <■■ United Press International mcially »i [ DALLAS — Dallas Cowboys and once l«|jch Tom Landry, whose club is on jamosofNe®verge of clinching yet another leave mucki|jff spot, said Tuesday that going s. fib the season he felt anything over awl pnstM ■break-even mark in 1980 would ncuuiMuuw -ii r i secrets ato® ^ een considered a successtul ecureforevfll e Cowboys, however, have put ther a 10-3 record with three of toughest games on their sche- b yet to play. ndry, for the first time this year, jeated what type of season he ght his team might be in for be- le of the many changes affecting club. 1 thought that anything over . 500 ild have been a good year, what the quarterback change and Landry said. “But anytime a n is over .500 it is a good football n. They are only a player away or or two close games away from ig in the playoffs.” ind now that Dallas is all but in be i enjoijt ow tm . leligkei calorie, s in ik o Centei 5 PM the playoffs Landry has turned his attention to a tough season ending stretch against Oakland, Los Angeles and Philadelphia — games that will determine how much of a run the Cowboys might be able to make at the Super Bowl. “I would say we will have to play as well as we have all year in each of these games,” Landry said. “We will be playing three teams that could be in the Super Bowl. They have good enough defensive teams to get to the Super Bowl.” And how does he rank his major competition in the NFC? “Well, I think the most solid team in the league right now is Philadel phia,” he said. “Week in and week out they seem to be the most solid. That doesn’t necessarily mean they are going to win it, but they are very solid. “The most explosive team is Los Angeles. They can do things quickly and with more explosion than any other team. Atlanta is solid and they are a hungry football team. “Atlanta is doing a lot of things well because they have a better re cord than Los Angeles does right now. I haven’t really seen them that much to be able to evaluate them, but obviously they are back where they were a few years ago and I thought they had a good team when we beat them in the playoffs (in the 1978 season).” And where does Dallas fit in? “We re somewhere around,” Landry said “Anyplace you want to stick us. Obviously we are not play ing as solid a defense week in and week out as I would like for us to, although I think we are gaining confi dence every week. Music Box World 'd is at HAPPY COTTAGE \ GIFT SHOPPE 5 (over 250 SelectionB) 809 E. 29th Day Deer Hunting $50. a day Groups oMO 3 days/$100. 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