Monday, August 29,1983/The Battalion/Page 5BX
on-conference opponents have Aggies worried
AScM scheduled to play Cowboys, Indians and Golden Bears
.
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. 17
California head coach Joe Kapp is
hoping Golden Bear quarterback Gale
Gilbert can reach his potential in ’83.
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Opponent Quick Facts
California
Nickname — Golden Bears
Conference — Pac-10
1982 record — 7-4
Arkansas State
Nickname — Indians
Conference — Southland
1982 record — 5-6
Oklahoma State
Nickname — Cowboys
Conference — Big 8
1982 record — 4-5-2
one or twon
by John Wagner
Sports Editor
Of all the lessons learned by
Texas Aggie football players last
season, perhaps the most impor
tant was taught by a young soph
omore from Natick, Mass.
To be sure,, head coach Jackie
Sherrill and his staff spent the
season drilling the squad in both
fundamentals and flashiness,
but neither had as much impact
as the 60 minutes of football
magic Boston College quarter
back Doug Flutie displayed in
the Aggies’ opening game.
Flutie completed 18 of 26
passes for 346 yards and three
touchdowns, leading the Eagles
to a stunning 38-16 upset vic
tory. The apparent ease in
which Flutie moved the Eagles’
offense left the crowd of 55,177
— not to mention the Aggies
themselves — with a severe case
of defensive doubt.
But this is not a story without
a moral. If the Aggies learned
anything in 1982, it is not to take
any opponent lightly. In the case
of Boston College, the Aggies
thought nothing could spoil
Sherrill’s nationally televised de
but as A&M’s head man. Flutie
showed them the error of such
thoughts.
A&M players vow not to be so
foolish when they host the Cali
fornia Golden Bears Saturday
— the first of three non
conference games. It is not easy
to forget the harsh lessons of
yesterday, but don’t count on
the Aggies making it to South
west Conference play without a
blemish in the loss column. In
fact, despite what appears (on
paper) to be a throw-away game
in Arkansas State, this may turn
into one of the toughest non-
\ conference schedules the Aggies
have ever played.
On the surface, there might
be reason for the Aggies to take
a light-hearted approach to the
non-conference portion of the
season. A&M’s non-conference
opponents combined for a 16-
15-2 record in 1982, and only
Cal finished the year with a win
ning record (the Golden Bears
went 7-4).
But looking deeper, it’s easy
to see why California and Okla
homa State, and to a lesser ex
tent, Arkansas State, have the
Aggies worried. All three
schools have talented offensive
personnel returning, a fact that
could translate into long even
ings for the A&M defense.
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To begin with, the Aggies
have to be concerned about Cal’s
Gale Gilbert, a 6-3 junior quar
terback with two years of playing
experience. Gilbert hit 54 per
cent of his passes in 1982 en
route to 1,796 yards and 12
touchdowns. Shades of Doug
Flutie? Maybe so.
Cal coach Joe Kapp says Gil
bert is a winner.
“There’s nobody better in the
Pac-10,” says Kapp. “Gale was a
solid quarterback last year, but
he has matured now and this
season he will start to excel.”
Gilbert has a favorite target in
all-America tight end David
Lewis, a 6-4, 240-pounder.
Lewis caught 54 passes for 715
yards in ’82, including six for
touchdowns.
OSU’s Ernest Anderson
led ’82 NCAA rushers
QB Tim Langford returns
to give ASU stable attack
Cal’s Gale Gilbert threw
12 TD passes in 1982
But Lewis wasn’t the only Cal
player catching Gilbert’s passes
last season. With Lewis double-
teamed much of time, Cal’s two
starting wide receivers caught
77 passes between them.
Although both graduated, the
Golden Bears should have ade
quate replacements in junior
Ranee McDougald and senior
Andy Bark.
The Aggies are aware the
Golden Bears won’t hibernate
when they hit College Station.
And they say they’re just as
aware that a win against Cal
could be the springboard for a
very successful season.
A&M defensive end Ray Chil
dress says last year’s opening loss
to Boston College is on every
one’s mind.
“I think (the loss) had a defi
nite effect on our season. It hurt
our confidence, and made us
doubt ourselves.
“We know California’s gonna
be a big part of our season. To be
successful, we’re gonna have to
beat California.”
“Obviously you want to get off
to a great start,” says A&M quar
terback John Mazur. “Unfor
tunately, half the teams in the
nation won’t. We’re just gonna
have to fight like the dickens to
be on the winning side.”
The one game A&M may
have trouble getting excited ab
out is Arkansas State. With Cal
out of the way and OSU up next,
the Indians may find the Aggies
absent from the warpath. That
could be a mistake, however, as
eight offensive veterans, includ
ing the entire offensive line, re
turn.
Arkansas State may be a small
school — its enrollment is a few
hundred shy of 8,000 — but it
doesn’t always act like one. The
Indians are used to being under
dogs, considering last season’s
road games against Mississippi
St. and Alabama. And quarter
back Tim Langford, who
accounted for 756 yards of total
offense out of the Indians’ wish
bone attack, is back this year,
along with No. 2 quarterback
Greg Grant.
Indian coach Larry Lacewell
explains the situation.
“Timmy Langford is a better
player than people give him cre
dit for, and I won’t be suprised if
he has a super season. But we’ll
remain a two-quarterback team
because of the physical beating
quarterbacks take in the wish
bone.”
Lacewell says he expects
Langford and Grant to throw
the ball more in 1983.
“We haven’t had any trouble
running the ball, but we’ve been
so predictable that opponents
have been able to stack their de
fenses against us.
1 “We feel we’ve got to throw
the football more to make our
running game more effective.”
And last (but usually first, be
cause of his speed) is Oklahoma
State’s Ernest Anderson, the
Cowboys’ all-America running
back and the NCAA’s 1982
rushing leader with 1,877 yardsi
Anderson was so spectacular last
season he has a three-page
spread in the 1983 Cowboy
media guide, all to himself.
The man OSU’s linemen call
“Ernie” rushed for 200 yards or
more in a single game four times
last season, and he hit the 1,000-
yard mark after the fifth game,
only the fourth back in NCAA
history to accomplish that feat.
“Anytime, any game, any cru
cial play ... I can feel confident
when Ernest has the ball in his
hands,” says Cowboy coach Jim
my Johnson. “He has outstand
ing balance — that’s his asset as
much as anything. He gets
knocked around from all angles
but never loses his balance. He
just doesn’t go down easy.”
Gilbert, Langford and
Anderson have got to have
A&M defensive players praying,
especially when you consider the
Aggies gave up over 400 yards a
game last season.
“I’ve heard some very, very
good things about Cal and Okla
homa State,” says Mazur.
“They’re gonna come out and
play their butts off, and we’ve
got to be ready for them.”
If they are, give the Aggies
credit for a lesson well learned.
And if they’re not — well, just
say Doug Flutie tried his best.
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