The Battalion Sports
October 11, 1982 Page 11
oogs grab fumble, 20-14 triumph
Harmon’s late recovery
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orminu 111 Houston Cougar defensive end Greg Harmon is buried
though their j b a host of teammates after he recovered a fumble
lo not over!) ar, d ran 20 yards for the winning touchdown against
ract runs for ithe Aggies in Saturday’s 24-20 UH victory. In right
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photo by C. Michel Chang
insert, Harmon runs untouched into the end zone for
the Cougars’ final touchdown of the night. Harmon
and his teammates have a 2-2-1 record on the season,
and the Aggies now stand at 2-3, 0-2 in conference.
istakes cost A&M victory
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A&M’s
Aggies
Bobby Strogen says
still in SWC race
by John P. Lopez
Battalion Staff
There have been games in
which the Texas Aggies have
committed more turnovers than
they did against the University
of Houston Saturday night.
There have been games in
which the Aggies have been pen
alized more times than they
were against the Cougars.
But there have been few
Aggie games where one fumble
and one penalty directly deter
mined the outcome — a 24-20
UH victory.
In the third quarter, Texas
A&M had a 17-14 lead and was
driving for what certainly would
have been a crucial touchdown.
The Aggies got the ball at their
own 15-yard line and drove to
the Cougar 9-yard line, where
quarterback Gary Kubiak threw
a perfect strike to tight end John
Kellen for a touchdown.
Or was it?
There was holding in the
Aggie offensive line, so Texas
A&M was moved back to the 19-
yard line.
The penalty proved to be
catastrophic as the Aggie drive
stalled and a David Hardy field
goal attempt was blocked by
Cougar defensive end Kevin
Alexander. The Aggie drive
lasted six minutes, went 76 yards
and didn’t change the numbers
on the scoreboard.
The next mistake came in the
fourth quarter with the score
tied at 17. With the ball at their
own 19-yard line, the Aggies
missed an assignment in the
backfield, forcing Kubiak to run
with the ball. Houston defensive
end T.J. Turner caused Kubiak
to fumble into the hands of
Cougar lineman Greg Harmon,
who returned the ball 20 yards
for the touchdown.
With 12 minutes left in the
game, the Aggies never reco
vered from their mistakes. After
the game, Coach Jackie Sherrill
agreed.
“The fumble was a big, big
play,” he said. “But the holding
down on the goalline really hurt
us too. I thought we played well
defensively — we only gave
them 14 points. But the offense
gave them 10 points.
“It just boils down to big
plays. It was really a good game
against a good team. (Houston)
will be hard to beat. You just
couldn’t ask for a better game
spectator-wise.”
The sentiment among the
players sounded like an echo of
Sherrill’s statements.
Kubiak: “The mistakes killed
us.”
Defensive end Ray Childress:
“Our mistakes killed us.”
Running back Jimmie Haw
kins: “Our mistakes were very
costly.”
Offensive tackle Bryan
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by Frank L. Christlieb
Sports Editor
Greg Harmon gave a master
ful performance Saturday night
in the Astrodome.
It was short and to the point
— six points, to be exact.
For the record, Harmon’s
performance lasted only nine
seconds. But it was more than
enough to warrant a standing
ovation from any crowd of
Houston Cougar fans.
The stage had been set in clas
sic manner for this particular
play. Harmon, the Cougars’
starting left defensive end, had
recorded only one tackle on the
night until unveiling his true
athletic genius.
Harmon’s sack of Aggie quar
terback Gary Kubiak for an 8-
yard loss with less than a minute
left in the third quarter stood as
his only tackle of the night. So
it’s only natural that Harmon
would figure in the most signifi
cant play of the game, which en
ded with the Cougars taking a
24-20 victory over the Aggies.
With 1 1:50 left in the game,
Kubiak called for a counter play
on first and 10 at the Texas
A&M 19-yard line. But when
tailback Johnny Hector didn’t
take the handoff, Kubiak was
forced to scramble toward the
right sideline, looking down-
field for a hole through which to
squeeze or for a receiver toward
whom he could drill a pass.
Enter Mr. Harmon, actor ex
traordinaire and a specialist in
one-act plays. He doesn’t need
the help of cue cards. All Har
mon needs is an opportunity to
make a contribution.
And what a key contribution
this was.
While Kubiak ran right and
faked a pass downfield, he was
met by the Cougars’ T.J. Turner
and Craig McGallion. Upon
contact, the ball popped loose
into the air and into Harmon’s
waiting hands.
Nothing but open territory
stood between Harmon and the
goalline. 'The 20-yard touch
down put Houston ahead 24-17
and Harmon became a hero.
Houston end Greg Harmon
scores winning touchdown
Harmon became the Cougars’
courageous hero, Houston’s red
and white knight who saved the
day.
“It hasn’t really hit me yet,”
Harmon said while sitting on his
locker-room stool after the
Coogs’ victory. “I was just in the
right place at the right time.
“It looked like a busted play.
Somebody didn’t get it right.
Kubiak went to hand off to Hec
tor and he wasn’t there. The ball
just popped up and I didn’t
think twice — I just took it and
ran.”
The Cougars, who raised
their record to 2-2-1 with the vic
tory, have been plagued by tur
novers throughout the season.
Against Texas A&M, Houston
committed four turnovers —
three fumbles and one intercep
tion.
But Cougar coach Bill Yeo
man said he’ll gladly accept the
victory — turnovers or no tur
novers.
“I’m disappointed about the
turnovers, but not as dis
appointed as when we were los
ing,” he laughed.
Although the UH offense has
been inconsistent, Yeoman said,
Saturday’s victory showed him
that the Cougars are capable of
moving the football steadily.
“We’re rounding into a little
better shape with our offense,”
Yeoman said. “I thought the
offensive line did an excellent
job, too.
“I feel a whole lot better be
cause we won a hard-fought
football game. This is the one we
needed desperately.
“We played tough teams the
first two games (in losing to na
tionally ranked Miami and Ari
zona State), and I think that’s
just now sinking into our kids.
This win was just terribly, terr
ibly important for us.”
Running back Dallas Wiggins,
who led Cougar rushers with
127 yards, said the victory
should give the team incentive in
this week’s game with SMU.
“Anytime you win a big game
it’s a big boost, and it’ll really
make us feel a lot better against
SMU,” he said. “The Aggies
could have come in here and
shut us out without any points or
offense. We didn’t play all that
well in the first half, but we knew
we could polish our game in the
second half, so we did.”
UH quarterback Lionel Wil
son, who completed 12 of 19
passes for 192 yards and rushed
for 82 yard, said: “People had
criticized us for not getting the
ball in the end zone in the first
quarter of any of our games. So
we came out there with the in
tention of executing well and
scoring some points.”
Cougar nose guard McGal
lion said the Cougars threw off
their early jitters during the
second half of the game.
“We usually come out a little
nervous and tight,” he said, “but
we settled down in the second
half against A&M.
“So, maybe we can go out and
play two second halves from
now on.”
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