Page 14 THE BATTALION
MONDAY, DECEMBER 8, 1980
Statistics show why Aggies
had poor season in 1980
By KURT ALLEN
Battalion Staff
Now that all the hoopla sur
rounding the Texas Aggies’ win
over the University of Texas has
died down, it’s once again time
for the annual sober evaluation of
Texas A&M’s final football statis
tics.
Predictably, there are no major
surprises to be found among the
team statistics this year. Unlike
the last five or six years, the
Aggies have not rewritten the
University’s record books. That’s
not to say that a couple of marks
haven’t been broken although
they’re not the kind that just leap
right off the page.
A grand total of four records bit
the dust this year. Not surprising
ly, two of those involved attend
ance. The Aggies broke their
single-game attendance mark set
just last year (69,017 vs. Texas) by
packing 69,735 into Kyle Field to
see the Baylor debacle (in case
anyone forgot, Baylor won 46-7)
on Oct. 18 in a driving rainstorm.
The other attendance record is
a season mark for Kyle Field. This
year’s average of 60,551 eclipses
the old record (an average of
57,276 per game) which was also
set last year. The 1980 figure is
impressive considering there
were two lackluster crowds for
the Rice (52,499) and TCU
(48,250) games.
Ironically, those contests
turned out to be two of the most
closely fought battles the Aggies
played all year. Texas A&M lost
to a vastly improved Owl squad
10-6 despite defensive work and
then later on held on to beat a
psyched-up TCU team 13-10.
Against Rice, the Aggie de
fense turned in some season-high
performances. It racked up sea
son highs by allowing the Owls
only seven first downs and hold
ing Rice to 77 yards passing and
179 total yards.
Analysis
Another season superlative
found Texas A&M defenders giv
ing up 10 points to the Owls as
well as the Horned Frogs. Mean
while, the Aggie offense had a
mediocre day against Rice, chalk
ing up a season-low 72 yards pas
sing despite 223 yards on the
ground and no fumbles.
Speaking of the TCU game,
Texas A&M did quite well defen
sively in that contest. The Aggies
held the Frogs to a season-best 46
offensive plays, including only 23
rushing attempts. The 23
attempts allowed not only was a
season-best but also tied an all-
time single game record first set
in 1965 against Baylor and then
Here is a rundown of some Texas
A&M statistics and those of its oppo
nents. The Aggie stats will be listed
first, and the opponents second:
STATISTICS
TOTALS
First downs
171 189
Rushing
108 111
Passing
54 69
Penalties
9 9
Rushing Attempts
538 551
Gained rushing
2,413 2,459
Lost rushing
335 269
Net Yards Rushing
2,078 2,190
Per play
3.9 4.0
Per game
188.9 199.1
Passes Attempted
229 227
Completed
100 108
Had intercepted
11 14
Percentage
43.7 47.6
Net Yards Passing
1,362 1,554
Per game
123.8 141.3
Total Plays
767 778
Total Offense
3,440 3,744
Per play
4.5 4.8
Per game
312.7 340.4
Punts
88 78
Punt yardage
3,343 3,112
Punt average
38.0 39.9
Had blocked
7 2
Punt returns
34 40
Yardage
124 560
Per, return
3.7 14.0
Kickoff returns
30 20
Yardage
524 384
Per return
17.5 19.2
Interceptions
14 11
Yards returned
113 155
Penalties
66 69
Yards penalized
592 623
Avg. yds. per game
53.8 56.6
Fumbles/Lost
33/21 33/18
1980 RESULTS
A&M
Opp
23 Mississippi
20
0 Georgia
42
9 Penn State
25
41 Texas Tech
21
13 Houston
17
7 Baylor
46
6 Rice
10
0 SMU
27
24 Arkansas
27
13 TCU
10
24 Texas
14
again in 1979 versus Brigham
Young.
That’s the third of four records
the Aggies took care of this year.
The last of the group is not the
kind of record Aggie partisans like
to hear about, yet it must be cons
idered.
The record in question is the
mark for the worst Southwest
Conference defeat ever suffered
by Texas A&M. The old record,
set in 1970, was a 52-14 drubbing
at the hands of Texas in Memorial
Stadium. However, this year, the
Aggies outdid that 38-point mar
gin by one point when they floun
dered under Baylor 46-7 (good for
a 39-point margin).
Punting could also account for
another broken record, but
there’s no official listing for the
most punts the Aggies have had
blocked in one season. However,
it seems reasonable to assume
that seven punts blocked by the
opposition in one year is close to
being a record for any Texas A&M
team.
After looking at the final season
totals, it becomes very obvious
that the kicking game was the
single-most responsible factor for
the Aggies’ first losing season
since 1973. Not only was one of
each 12 punts blocked, two of the
14 field goal attempts were block
ed as well. Meanwhile, Texas
A&M was only able to block two
punts by opponents.
One particular phase of spe
cial-teams play that really hurt
Texas A&M in 1980 was punt re
turns. Opponents had a field day
against the Aggies all season long
and returned 40 punts for 560
yards, good for an average of 14
yards per punt. For whatever
reasons, the Aggies managed only
124 yards on 34 punts, or an aver
age of 3.7 yards per kick.
As noted earlier, disregarding
the kicking game, Texas A&M
was nearly even with the opposi
tion in most categories. The
Aggies did well in picking up 171
total first downs compared to 189
for the other guys. Of that num
ber, 108 were by rushing (com
pared to 111), 54 were passed for
(69), and both teams picked up
nine through penalties.
Looking at the rushing game,
things couldn’t have been much
closer. Texas A&M gained 2,078
yards on 538 carries compared to
the opposition’s 2,190 yards on
551 carries.
As in years past, the offensive
difference came in the passing
game, where the Aggies could
complete only 100 of 229 passes
for a 43.7 percent average. Mean
while, opponents completed 108
of 227 attempts for an average of
47.6 percent.
So much for the overall team
record. On Tuesday, the second
half of this annual statistical re
view will look at individual per
formances and their impact on
Texas A&M’s 1980 season.
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Astros trade Cabell to Giai
United Press International
DALLAS — The Houston Astros, continuing to add powerful arms
to an already potent pitching arsenal, traded third baseman Enos
Cabell to the San Francisco Giants for left-hander Bob Knepper and
outfielder Chris Bourjos Sunday.
The Astros announced the trade at a 9:30 news conference this
morning.
At the same time, the Astros announced they have released second
baseman Joe Morgan, one of the leaders during their drive to the
National League West pennant last season.
The Astros, who recently signed free agent right-hander Don Sutton
to a multi-million dollar five-year contract, wanted Knepper because
they are short of left-handed starters and feel the 28-year-old still has
plenty of life in his arm despite a 9-16 record and a 4.10 earned run
average last season. Three years ago Knepper was one of the most
promising young pitchers in the NL, winning 17 games with a 2.63
ERA.
Knepper will join a staff which includes starters Nolan R
Niekro, Ken Forsch, Vern Ruble, the recently acquired S h i
J.R. Richard, who is recovering from a stroke. Frank LaCort »
Smith and Joe Sambito are the key relievers. 11
Vol. 74
Pag
10
Cabell, 31, has been one of the steadiest players for the
the last six seasons and batted .276 with two home runs am
152 games last season. He has averaged 152 games a yearove iLi
four seasons, but fell into disfavor with Astros managementbp *
his poor performance in the NL playoffs.
Bourjos, 25, hit .295 and drove in 86 runs in 144 mines I
Giants’ Phoenix farm club of the Pacific Coast League last seijj
was called up by the Giants in September and hit 227inl3« 1 ^f^
The release of Morgan by the Astros comes as a bit ofasurnrif** ’
he had played a pivotal role in Houston’s rise to theNLWestn
during the last six weeks of the season.
The Astros reached a mutual agreement with Morgan whid
allow him to make his own deal elsewhere.
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