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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 14, 1982)
982 ar Texas A&M The Battalion Sports September 14, 1982/Page 9 Making changes Sherrill moves freshmen Smith, Bryant into starting lineup they’ll«. ■ Those?, holarskip ed to it. m govern- r as mailt abroad, ts whop r families, 'em: dies turn toi and sod raduaij job here' 1 knowd adjobs- legrees, e living? :an com- here ami dbigpte t you to :er 1 gta- r with bis iv. Bull igetajok nt crisisii ibout re- mg to go ” he said : it's hard radical' ephew- ajob,tk i jobs arr Petroleos ‘rnmeni is laving, n’t knoti by Frank L. Christlieb Sports Editor Jackie Sherrill said he’d make some changes. And he’s doing just that. After watching the Boston College Eagles and quarterback Doug Flutie speed to 466 yards in total offense against his Texas Aggie football squad, the first- year coach has decided to shuf fle his playing cards. Basically, he’s still using the same deck, but he hopes the out come will be different when the Aggies deal their cards Saturday night against the University of Texas-Arlington. Game No. 2 of the 1982 season kicks off at 6 p.m. in Kyle Field. At his weekly press confer ence Monday in Cain Hall, Sher rill announced the changes made by him and his staff since Texas A&M lost to Boston Col lege 38-16 over a week ago. Six player switches have been made, including five on the defensive unit and one on offense. Offensively, freshman full back George Smith will start in place of the injured Earnest Jackson, who injured a knee against the Eagles and has not fully recovered. Smith, from Douglas, Ga., rushed four times for 41 yards in the Boston College game, and caught two passes for 13 yards. Lining up beside Smith will be senior Johnny Hector, the Aggies’ starting tailback. But it’s the changes on de fense that may leave a few peo ple gasping for air. Sherrill said these switches may change be fore before the UTA game, but as of now, they’ll stick. And they’re not minor changes, either. For starters, senior defensive end Paul Pender, 6-4, 245 DT Fred Caldwell pounds, will start on the left side of the line in place of Jon van Sant. Pender started the first three games of 1981 but was in jured in the Aggies’ 43-7 victory over Louisian Tech-. At the left defensive tackle position, Fred Caldwell, who started several games last sea son, will take the place of Keith Guthrie. On the right side of the line, Ray Childress and Scott Polk maintain their spots at tack le and end. Sherrill has shifted the three starting linebackers, moving Jerry Bullitt from the strong side to middle linebacker and re moving senior Bobby Strogen from the starting squad. Strong safety Jeff Fuller has jumped from the secondary to strong side linebacker, while Rusty Net tles is slated as the weak side line backer. Nettles, a 6-2, 218-pound sophomore from Houston Klein, played in nine games as a freshman and had nine tackles. Fuller, a senior at 6-2, 209 pounds, played linebacker, safe- LB Rusty Nettles SS Domingo Bryant ty and wide receiver at Dallas Roosevelt High School. Sherrill’s insertion of Nettles and Fuller at the outside line backer spots will give the Aggies more speed at those positions. Fuller has 4.5 speed ii^ the 40- yard dash and Nettles runs a 4.7. While Darrell Adams and Greg Williams remain at the cor- nerback slots, changes have been made in the safety portion of the secondary. Freshman Domingo Bryant, a 6-3, 185- pounder from Garrison, will start in place of Billy Cannon at the free safety slot, and Cannon will move up to strong safety. Sherrill said Bryant, an all-state track performer in high school, should give the Aggies speed where they need it. Although some might consid er it a risky move to put fresh men on the field so early in their careers, Sherrill said he sees it as a growing trend in college foot ball. “It’s very evident that throughout the country,” he said, “more and more freshmen are lining up and starting.” But will those players be ready for the emotional impact of being in the starting lineup? “If they can handle it matur ity-wise, there’s no reason they can’t line up and play,” Sherrill said. Another change prompted by a season-ending knee injury to first-string tight end Mark Lewis has given Jeff Paine the starting nod. Paine, a walk-on who made the squad two years ago, lettered at linebacker last season and at tight end in 1980. He had been listed as the third-string tight end behind Lewis and John Kel- len after spring practice, but has been impressive blocking and receiving during workouts. Even with talented relief from Paine and Kellen, Sherrill said, the Aggies will miss the services of Lewis, who had figured to be the team’s primary pass receiver this season. “Mark Lewis potential-wise and ability-wise had a chance to be the best I’ve ever been around,” Sherrill said. “Paine DE Paul Pender has done a very good job, and so have Kellen and (Randy) Sawyer. “Lewis wasn’t just good — he was exceptional. You don’t sub stitute for a player like that and not lose some of the edge.” UTA, which defeated Sam Houston State 63-10 Saturday, relied on four touchdown passes — three from backup quarter back Danny Jackson and one from starter Kraig Hopkins. The Movin’ Mavericks had a 42- 3 lead at halftime and 543 yards in offense for the game. Coach Bud Elliott, in his ninth year as the UTA coach, said his team isn’t judging the Aggies’ ability on the basis of their sea- son-opening loss to the Eagles. “We really believe Texas A&M is an excellent football team,” he said in a long-distance telephone hookup during Mon day’s press conference. “They’ve got several good athletes. “I know they had some prob- See UTA page 12 photo by C. Michel Chang Jackie Sherrill glances upward pensively during the ^ yell practice after the Aggies’ loss to Boston College in their season opener. Over a week of workouts has' seen Sherrill and his staff make several changes in' the Texas A&M defense. The Aggies will play UT-' Arlington Saturday at 6 p.m. in Kyle Field.' ivestiga- imed to r lifting Intern# iiunclo r ' lupto? mr. luce an jyupto id, and awn tli { traffic :ing the erity of utdated of the NEED A JOB? If you’re in the College of Agriculture, we have job possibilities for you at: PC PA IV Professional Career Planning in Agriculture Wednesday, Sept. Agri industries American Cyanamid Co. American-International Bleeders Bank of America Brookhaven Country Center Ciba-Geigy Country Pride Foods Country Skillet Poultry Co. DEKALB AgResearch, Inc. DEKALB Swine Breeders, Inc. Dow Chemical Brangus Elanco Farm Credit Banks of Texas Funk Seeds Granada Corporation H. E. Butt Grocery Int. Brangus Breeders Assn. Monsanto Company Moorman Mfg. Co. National Farm Life Plant Care Co. Professional Women in Agriculture Ralston Purina Co. RepublicBank Dallas Schreiber Foods, Inc. Shell Chemical Co. Standard Meat Co. TAMU Master of Agriculture Texas Electric Coop. Texas Parks & Wildlife U.S. Army Engineer District, Ft. Worth MBPXL Texas Recretion & Parks Society Texas Agricultural Extension Service Iowa Beef Processors, Inc. Booths will be set up on the 2nd floor of the MSC September 15th from 8:30-11:30 a.m. and 1:30-5:00 p.m. There will also be a Bar-be-Que at 6:30 p.m., Sept. 15 at the Brazos Center. Tickets are $3 and still available in the Kleberg Center and Agriculture Building. SPONSORED BY NA]MAj National Agri-Marketing Association TAMU STUDENT CHAPTER TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY COLLEGE STATION. TEXAS 77843 College of Agriculture Career Planning & Placement Center