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THE BATTALION
THURSDAY, APRIL 9, 1981
Page 11
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Wilson carries team through final workouts
By RITCHIE PRIDDY
Sports Editor
jThe Texas A&M University
btball team concludes its spring
11s this weekend with the
ual Maroon-White game.
Coach Tom Wilson has thus far
en pleased with the overall im-
vement of his team this spring
t said there are still a few areas
that need work.
'■ Protest^ [ We’ve had a good spring,
lost pec Wo ve spent a great deal of time in
on, not j; Contact work, and we have been
irimmaging a lot,” Wilson said.
11 not by, | He also said that the spring has
ie is wait; ot ^ een eas y ^ or pl a y ers as he
ethical tlj 85 ^ the first team offense
^inginie fimmaging the first team de-
jnse and second going against
patient u
he is "bis They have been going up
tainst comparable people. We
lecessani | ve not ^ )U ^ t ^y ^ se i rn P ress_
g thefei-; B1S ^ or them,” he said,
nost imm [The Aggies return 49 lettermen
ifioflast year’s 4-7 squad, losing
19 to graduation.
Only eight of those 19 lost were
ters, but six of them were from
f | Btrength” positions such as tack-
In (ft (both offense and defense) and
-Ald'oliarteibacks.
Gone are Tommy Thompson
id Zach Guthrie (offensive tack-
Pat Flinn (tight end), quarter-
icks Mike Mosley and David
al, Mack Moore and Arlis James
kers wertdefensive tackles) and strong safe-
lleandrew Brown,
the BeMWilson’s priorities going into
;ntly was iring drills were to find a strong,
in the t pable quarterback, to replace
oading to i(h defensive tackles, to build a
■ok the ti rong, solid defense and con-
t one wii net a consistent offense,
se, a stra! Wilson and his staff are pleased
ilev&taM ith the way junior quarterback
ary Kubiak has progressed this
or employ (ring and expect him to step into
id a lam ehotseat and take control of the
where tie lease next fall,
itly trigger, “We are very pleased with
Banner fi ary’s performance. He’s come a
'as inside ingway and has had an outstand-
; unloaded Igspring,” Wilson said,
of the efei Should something happen to
occurred! ubiak, though, sophomore John
vedhimfc llkins would most likely assume
nained hi ie starting role.
“John has shown a lot of im-
ivement this spring. He’s a very
(equate backup quarterback and
ouldhe continue to improve he
see some action,” Wilson
1
Overall, I feel our quarterback
((nation is much better than we
thought,” he said.
As far as the offensive line goes,
is not area of concern last year, Wil-
losion, said that it is as good an offen
y ‘
e
avid City
sive line he has seen in some
time.
“There are many pleasimg
aspects (of the offensive line).
They have progressed to the point
that they are blocking well and
giving the quarterback adequate
protection,” he said.
The e are four top contenders
for the two vacated offensive tack
le positions— Kent Adams, JBryan
Dausin, Tommy Robison, and
Chuck Williams.
The receiving corps is perhaps
one of the team’s strongest points.
Senior split end Mike Whitwell
is probably one of the mos t consis
tent receivers in the conference.
“Mike continues to amaze us
with some of his catches. He’s a
very fine receiver,” Wilson said.
Junior wide receiver Don Jones
is another quick, sure bunded re
ceiver the Aggies possess. Howev
er, those are just two in the Aggie
arsenal of receivers. Others in
clude walk-on David Bole, Jimmie
Williams, William Hadley, Tom
my Sugg and Steve Greco. Sopho
more Billy Cannon will miss the
spring game due to baseball but
will return next fall.
Tight end could become a ques
tion mark, but as of now sopho
more Mark Lewis and junior T. J.
Carmody head the list of candi
dates.
Wilson said, however, that
more improvement was needed at
the position before he would be
satisfied.
There’s really no question about
the Texas A&M running game. It
is perhaps one of the best, if not
the best, in the conference —
maybe the nation.
With junior running backs
Johnny Hector and E arnest Jack-
son returning to reek havoc on
opposing defenses; Wilson
couldn’t be sitting in a. better posi
tion.
Couple that with the fact that
senior David Hill ami sophomore
Thomas Sanders, both proven
backups at the runni ng back posi
tions, are returning, and the 1981
Texas A&M running game will
certainly be one to be reckoned
with.
“Hector, Jackson, Sanders and
Hill have all proven they are cap
able of playing,” Wilson said.
“They all have pi ;rformed very
well this spring.”
The fact that the Aggies are now
a split-back team gives Wilson the
opportunity to see; just how much
talent he possesses in the back-
field — and with Hector and Jack-
son in the same Lackfield that ta
lent could almost seem endless.
Gary Kubiak
The kicking game, particularly
the punting, has been the weak
point in the past, but Wilson is
confident of punter’s Kyle
Stuard’s improvement this spring.
Stuard, with the help of former
Texas A&M great, Steve O’Neal,
is taking one less step in his punt
ing routine to get the ball off
quicker.
“Kyle has improved a great deal
over last season. He’s has had a lot
of progress and is getting the ball
off a lot quicker. We’ve put as
much pressure as we could on
him, and the line, this spring,” he
said.
Indeed, the pressure has been
there. At times, Wilson has had 16
players rushing the punter and
none were blocked.
There is a fierce battle going on
for the rights to the place-lacking
chores. Junior David Hardy and
sophomore Alan Smith are in-
Mike Little
volved in the duel. Both kickers
are well-qualified for the job, and
it will be a tough decision for Wil
son to make as far as who kicks
when.
“Hardy and Smith are kicking
very well. We should have a solid
kicking game,” Wilson said.
Defensively, the Aggies could
be hurting, but with the help of
some fine linebackers roaming the
field — the whole field — they
should once again be a tough unit.
If there’s one player that stands
out on the defensive squad he
woidd have to be senior lineback
er Mike Little.
Little plays his strong lineback
er position with the reckless aban
don reminiscent of a Japanese
kamikaze pilot of World War II.
His mission is to inflict as much
damage on enemy offenses as pos
sible without regard to his own
safety — he accomplishes his mis
sion time and again.
Little, however, is just one of
several fine linebackers the Aggies
have. Sophomore Jerry Bullitt,
Defensive Newcomer of the Year
last year, and junior Bobby
Strogen will share time at the mid
dle linebacker position. Sopho
more Greg Berry and junior Will
Wright are competing for the
rights to the remaining weak line
backer position.
Sophomore Keith Guthrie and
junior Fred Caldwell are the best
bets to replace departed Arlis
James and Mack Moore as defen
sive tackles, but they could have
some competition from Kermit
Foster and Robert Stoss and
others.
“They’re all good people, but
we may have a depth problem
there,” Wilson said of his defen
sive tackles, “They have all done
some good things this spring.”
The injury-ridden secondary
may be shaping up with the likes
of speedster cornerbacks Dan
Davis (senior) and Greg Williams
(sophomore) defending. The safe
ties include sophomore Jeff Fuller
and junior Mark McQueen with
several others in the picture. In
jured junior Jeff Farrar, senior
John Dawson and junior Van Bar
nett could claim their old positions
back as safeties as they fully recov
er from injuries.
Overall, Wilson is pleased with
the spring workouts but does
admit that more work in some
areas wouldn’t hurt.
“I feel good about the offense.
We’re throwing and running the
ball well and have got a lot to look
forward to next fall,” he said. “De
fensively, the last l!/2 weeks of
spring we’ve come along, but we
still have a ways to go before we
have a solid defense.”
Wilson will divide his team
down the middle for Saturday’s
game, escaping the traditional
way of playing the “best against
the rest” and will watch from the
press box, letting his assistant
coaches run the show.
Gametime for Saturday’s con
test is 7:30 p. m.
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