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THE BATTALION Page
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 10, 1981
Even match
Aggies, Cowboys to field similar teams in Independence Bowl
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By RITCHIE PRIDDY
Sports Editor
Saturday’s Independence Bowl
in Shreveport, La., matches two
even teams in Texas A&M and
Oklahoma State.
The 7-4 OSU Cowboys will
throw one of the top defensive un
its in the nation at one of the most
explosive offenses.
The Cowboys finished the sea
son as the ninth best defense in
the nation, giving up an average of
nearly 253 yards a game. In addi
tion, they finished 15th against the
rush, yielding an average of 109
yards a game. The team finished as
the third, best defense in the Big
Eight Conference and first against
the rush.
Meanwhile, the Texas A&M
offense ran up a total offense of 385
yards a game during the regular
season. The 6-5 Aggies averaged
213 rushing yards a game and av
eraged 172 passing yards each out
ing. Texas A&M finished as the
number two offensive team in the
Southwest Conference.
Head coach Tom Wilson said:
“The strength of their team lies in
their defense. They’ve got two
outstanding linebackers and a
noseguard that is a one-man
wrecking crew.”
OSU runs a 5-2 defense with
linebackers Ricky Young and
Mike Green the biggest threats.
Green, 6-2, 223 pounds, finished
as the team’s leading tackier with
129. Young, 6-1, 217 pounds, had
122 tackles, while noseguard Gary
Lewis had 96 tackles. All three
were considered for post-season
honors.
Wilson said the Cowboys are
similar to some of the defenses the
Aggies have faced this year.
“They’re a defense you can
compare to Houston or SMU —
very aggressive and dominating,”
he said. “They do a real good job.”
The Cowboy secondary is good,
but not outstanding. Averaging
144 yards a game against a pre
dominantly sophomore and junior
secondary, opponents have had
little success. Opposing quarter
backs have completed 132 com
pletions of 272 attempts for 1,585
yards and seven touchdowns.
The secondary is anchored by
sophomore free safety Chris Rock-
ins and senior strong safety Pete
DiClementi. Rockins finished the
season with 83 tackles and two in
terceptions. DiClementi was
named the defensive player of the
game in a 54-7 loss to Nebraska
late in the season. DiClementi
also finished with 83 tackles and
three interceptions.
The OSU defensive line aver
ages 6-3, 233 pounds, while the
Aggie offensive line averages 6-3,
244 pounds.
The Aggie line, behind the
blocking of senior center David
Bandy and sophomore strong
tackle Tommy Robison, has been
largely responsible for the team’s
offensive success.
The Aggies finished as the num
ber two offense in the school’s his
tory, running up 4,243 yards, an
average of 385 yards a game.
Fullback Earnest Jackson
finished his junior year with 902
yards on 153 carries, a 5.8 yards
per carry average. Junior tailback
Johnny Hector finished the regu
lar season with 772 yards, an aver
age of 5.3 yards a carry.
It was the passing of junior
quarterback Gary Kubiak that
lead the team to several victories.
Kubiak passed for 1,808 yards this
year, completing 111 of209passes
(53.1 percent) and 11 touchdowns.
In addition, he ran for 178 yards
and three touchdowns.
Kubiak set several passing
marks this year. Against Louisiana
Tech he connected with junior
flanker Don Jones for the longest
touchdown pass in conference his
tory. Against Rice he threw six
touchdowns and ran for another.
Kubiak’s favorite target is senior
split end Mike Whitwell. The
Aggie all-time leading receiver,
Whitwell caught 27 passes for 731
yards and three touchdowns.
Hector caught 24 passes for 214
yards and Jackson caught 18 for
202. Jones finished with 16 catch
es for 332 and six touchdowns.
Texas A&M scored 247 points in
the regular season for a 22.5 aver
age. Opponents scored 187 points
for a 17 point game average.
The third quarter has been par
ticularly strong for the Aggies,
who have scored 80 points while
holding opponents to 30. The
second and fourth quarters have
been the worst. Opponents have
scored 74 points in the second and
49 in the fourth, while the Aggies
scored 66 and 48.
Offensively, OSU averaged 339
yards per game, with 172 coming
on the ground.
The Cowboys lost their starting
quarterback, senior John Doer-
ner, early in the season and sopho
more Rusty Hilger took over.
Both are healthy now and Satur
day’s starter has not been named.
Wilson said Doerner is a better
passer. Before he went down with
the injury he completed 79 passes
for 877 yards and four touch
downs. He also threw 10 intercep
tions.
Hilger completed 50 passes for
645 yards and four touchdowns.
Wilson said that Hilger is a better
runner and directs the rushing
attack well.
Sophomore tailback Shawn
Jones leads the team in rushing
with 788 yards on 209 carries, an
average of 3.8 yards a carry. Soph
omore fullback Earnest Anderson
finished with 678 yards on 129 car
ries for an average of 5.3 a carry.
Anderson ran for over 100 yards
against Oklahoma in the regular
season finale.
Sophomore tight end John
Chesley is the leading receiver,
having caught 26 passes for 350
yards and four touchdowns. Junior
split end Mark Comer has 19
catches for 347 yards and one
touchdown.
OSU scored 181 points during
the season, an average of 16.5
points a game. Their opponents,
meanwhile, scored 183 points, a
16.7 average. The OSU offensive
line averages 6-3 and 245 pounds.
The Texas A&M defensive line
stands 6-4 and averages 241
pounds.
The Aggies run a 4-3 defense
anchored by linebackers Bobby
Strogen and Mike Little.
Strogen, a junior, finished the
regular season with 133 tackles to
lead the team. Senior linebacker
Little had 117 tackles, while
Strogen had five interceptions.
Senior * defensive end Keith
Baldwin had 91 tackles and junior
Fred Caldwell had 80.
The Aggie secondary has been a
weak spot all year long, giving up
over 195 yards a game through the
air. Most of those yards, however,
came from passing teams such as
California and Rice.
Sophomore Billy Cannon
anchors the secondary, having
finished the season with 58 tackles
and one interception. Sophomore
cornerback Greg Williams had 44
tackles and one interception.
Both teams are blessed with
good place-kickers, with junior
David Hardy being the Aggies’
leading scorer with 65 points. He’s
made 13 of 19 field goals and 26 of
30 extra points.
Freshman Larry Roach handles
the place-kicking chores for the
Cowboys. Roach connected on 19
of 28 field goal attempts and 14 of
15 extra-point attempts for 71
points.
Overall, the game matches two
even but youthful teams. The
Aggies appear to have the experi
ence and the talent advantage, but
anything can happen to take that
edge away.
Wilson's era shows slight increase
A&M football graduation rate rising "spcciai package dsais" |
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By JOHN P. LOPEZ
Battalion Reporter
The graduation rate of football
players at Texas A&M University
has increased considerably since
Tom Wilson became head coach in
1978.
According to figures obtained
from the University Archives, the
graduation rate of football players
while Emory Bellard was head
coach was 43.5 percent. Since
Wilson’s midseason promotion to
the top spot in 1978, the gradua
tion rate has increased to almost
54 percent.
Efforts taken by the Athletic
Department may play an impor
tant part in this increase. Leroy
Sutherland, academic adviser for
athletics, said that much time and
effort has been spent trying to im
prove the academic standing of
the University’s athletes.
One way the Athletic Depart
ment has tried to improve acade
mics among athletes is by moni
toring their class attendance.
“If you go to class, you’re bound
to do better,” Sutherland said.
The Athletic Department also
evaluates mid-term grades and
councils players. Tutors also assist
in the instruction of athletes.
A prime example of the success
the Athletic Department has had
in improving academics is this
year’s group of seniors on the foot
ball team. Sutherland said all 14 of
the athletes will probably gra
duate.
Even though the graduation
rate of football players at Texas
A&M is improving and ranks
above the national average of 51
percent, the graduation rates at
other Southwest Conference
schools are slightly higher.
Baylor University, Rice Univer
sity and Southern Methodist Uni
versity have the highest gradua
tion rates in the conference,
although exact figures were not
available.
The SMU football guide lists
the average grade point ratio of
the school’s football players as 3.0,
while at Baylor, Tommy Newman,
academic adviser for athletics,
estimated the graduation rate to
be about 84 percent.
Rice has the highest football
player graduation rate among
SWC schools, an estimated 85
percent to 90 percent. In 1980, all
21 seniors on the Rice roster re
ceived their degrees.
The University of Texas has a
graduation rate of 70 percent
among its football players, while at
the University of Arkansas,
rate is 51 percent.
the
Texas Christian University,
Texas Tech University and the
University of Houston did not
have specific figures on the num
ber of football players who gradu
ate. However, Jewell Wallace,
academic adviser at TCU, esti
mated that 50 percent of the
school’s players graduate.
Overall, the SWC graduates
more football players than most
other conferences in the country.
Cliff Speegle, commissioner of the
SWC credits the league’s consis
tently high graduation rate to the
quality of the schools.
“We have very fine institutions
in this conference,” Speegle said.
Another reason so many football
players graduate from SWC
schools, Speegle said, is because
“every school has an academic
adviser and tutors if the student-
athlete wishes to use them.”
Sociologist Harry Edwards of
the University of California said
that more football players would
probably use tutors and advisers if
they weren’t hoping to play pro
fessional football.
The idea that an athlete will
play professional football after
completing eligibility is a miscon
ception in most cases, Edwards
said, since only one percent of the
40,000 athletes playing college
football are drafted into the pro
fessional ranks.
*
*
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MILWAUKEE — Just hours
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play during the Milwaukee Bucks’
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The irony of it all was that,
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A short time later Johnson
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Houston basket and
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First, it looked like he stepped
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