The Battalion Sports
Monday, September 19, 1983/The Battalion/Page 11
ies follow Smith’s toe to 38-0 victory
Lacewell: Smith should
hank ASU for record
1
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by Joe Tindel Jr.
Bttalion Staff
Arkansas State coach Larry
Lacewell, looking tired and ready
to go home, analyzed the Aggies-
Indians game as if it were a match
up between two teams of equal
caliber,
He refused to give all the credit
to Texas A&M for the Aggies’ 38-0
yictory. After all, his team did
fumble the ball away four times,
•and they did manage to do some
thing illegal on many of the good
'plays they made.
What did the Indians do well?
“Made ’em kick a lot of field
goals,’’ Lacewell said. "That’s the
only thing I can think of that we
did well. They could have been
touchdowns.
• “I don’t know if it was that we
{slayed bad or that Texas A&M
S laved awfully well. I know we
ad a lot of penalties and turnov
ers. We probably should have
teen beaten a lot worse than we
Were.’’
Arkansas State s wishbone
proved to be a little slippery at
times, but the all but outmoded
offense always sputtered. And it
used up a lot of the clock, as the
Indians edged the Aggies in time
^possession, 30:12 to 29:48.
But that’s no good when you’re
oehind.
Yet a coach always thinks his
Jffense can work, and Lacewell
said the execution of his offense
was one of the main contributors
lo the loss.
“When you’re down, the way
we were executing, I don’t care if
we’d been in the Green Bay Pack
er sweep,” Lacewell said. “We
Wouldn’t have made anything. Ev
ery time we completed a pass, we
lad a holding penalty. Every time
we did anything good, we’d turn
right around and fumble.
“I honestly don’t think we play
ed very well. Our quarterback
(Tim Langford), I don’t think, has
played this badly all season. And
I’d like to think them having two
weeks to prepare for us was an
advantage for Texas A&M.”
Things didn’t go well from the
beginning for the Indians, as they
fumbled the ball away to the
Aggies with only 56 seconds
elapsed in the game. Langford
hobbled the snap from center and
Aggie linebacker Jerry Bullitt
pounced on the loose ball.
It took the Aggies only one play
to take the lead. Quarterback John
Mazur found Jimmie Williams in
the endzone by air, 32 yards away.
Things slowed down a bit for the
Aggie offense during the rest of
the evening, but play became
even slower for the Indians’
offense.
Of course, when a team from a
less gifted conference like Arkan
sas State, meets a team from a na
tionally respected conference, the
issue of intimidation often arises.
Lacewell immediately dismis
sed the idea of intimidation.
“I don’t think we were intimi
dated,” he said. “You’re down 13-
0 at the end of the half, you still
think you’re in the ballgame. Are
all 11 guys intimidated when you
fumble the ball or when you jump
off-side or when you get a clip?”
The Tribe coach said he felt his
team was still in the game as late as
when the Aggies had a 16-0 lead
midway through the third quar
ter. But the point of no return
came when Texas A&M’s Billy
Cannon returned a Stacy Gore
punt 60 yards for the touchdown
that lifted the Aggies to a 22-0 lead
with 5:18 remaining in the third
quarter.
“I think it (punt return) did,
because we’d battled so hard de
fensively trying to just get a little
bit of field position,” Lacewell
said. “The game was over, for all
practical purposes.”
The Indians’ offense kept on
sputtering until 16 Aggie points
and a little more than a quarter
later — the end of the game.
Arkansas State managed 182
yards total offense, compared to
Texas A&M’s 396. Only 35 of the
Tribe’s total yardage came
through the air. Indian back
Duane Pittman led all rushers
with 97 yards on 20 carries, and
was the most productive player on
the Arkansas State offense.
Youthful defense, backs
gain confidence in win
staff photo by Dc*
Aggie holder Kyle Stuard celebrates Alan Smith’s 5th of 6 field goals.
by John P. Lopez
Bttalion Staff
The Texas A&M football team
was full of surprises Saturday in its
38-0 win over Arkansas State.
No, the score didn’t raise many
eyebrows at Kyle Field — the
Aggies were heavily favored over
the Division II Indians.
But what did turn out to be a
pleasant surprise for Texas A&M
was impressive play by newcom
ers in the Aggie backfield, defen
sive secondary and linebacking
positions.
Freshman running back Rod
Bemstine, of Bryan, led the way
on offense as he slashed his way for
76 yards on 12 carries. But Jimmie
Hawkins, George Smith and
freshman Roger Vick also contri
buted to Texas A&M’s 227 yards
on the ground.
Texas A&M coach Jackie Sher
rill said the solid performance by
the Aggie backs should prove to be
a confidence builder for his team.
“I wasn’t happy with the overall
performance of the offense, ” Sher
rill said, ‘‘but I thought our backs
and offensive line gained some
confidence tonight.
“George Smith played well —
he had a 30-yard run called back
— Roger Vick played well and
Bernstine had a good game. He’s a
good football player. ”
Bemstine said he has confi
dence in Texas A&M’s running
attack and expects the balanced
offense to continue throughout
the season.
“I think we all are more confi
dent in ourselves,” he said. “I feel
pretty good about my perform
ance. When I got the start, every
body helped me out and tried to
give me confidence. And if next
week another back gets the start,
then I’ll be there trying to help
him out. I think our backfield is
good and will get better.”
Defensively, Sherrill said that
signs of improvement over last
season’s team are already starting
to surface.
“I felt like our 3-4 (new Aggie
defensive alignment) handled
Arkansas State’s wishbone very
well,” Sherrill said. “Our outside
people — the linebackers and
secondary people — are fast and
were getting to the ball well
tonight.”
Aggie linebacker Mike Ashley,
who had seven tackles and reco
vered a fumble, agreed with Sher
rill.
“The name of the game is execu
tion and speed,” he said. “And I
think we have a lot of speed at
linebacker and in the secondary.
This game was definitely a charac
ter builder for the whole team.”
True.
The Texas A&M defensive team
looked good in spots, but broke
down several times two weeks ago
in its 19-17 loss to California.
Saturday, however, the Aggies re
corded their first shutout since
1975 and seemed to surprise
themselves with the way they
easily handled Arkansas State’s
wishbone. The Indians only cros
sed the 50-yard-line once
Saturday.
But the biggest surprise for the
Aggies was the extroardinary per-
forpiance by kicker Alan Smith.
Smith hit six of seven field goals to
tie the NCAA record and set a new
Southwest Conference record for
number of field goals in a single
game.
Ironically, the old record of five
3-pointers in a game was held by
former Texas A&M kicker Tony
Franklin. Smith also said his per
formance boosted his confidence.
“It really feels good (to have the
record),” Smith said. “I had a
down week against California and
I’m glad to bounce back the way I
did tonight with a good game.
“I’m just glad coach Sherrill
gave me the chance to kick it (sixth
field goal). We’ve got a great tradi
tion of kickers here and I just hope
I can keep it up.”
Texas A&M evened its season
record to 1-1 with the victory over
the Indians.
The Aggies will host a consider
ably tougher opponent next week
in Oklahoma State. The Cowboys
boast a possible Heisman trophy
candidate in running back Ernest
Anderson.
Kickoff time has been changed
to 2:30 p.m. CBS-TV will region
ally televise the contest.
Saints slip by Bears; Cowboys muscle past NY
United Press International
A couple of potential Hall of
Famers squared off in New
Orleans Sunday to stage a private
Mardi Gras.
The left arm of Saints’ quarter
back Ken Stabler finally prevailed
over the legs — and right arm — of
Chicago halfback Walter Payton as
Morten Andersen kicked a 41-
yard field goal with 4:03 left in
overtime to lift New Orleans to a
34-31 victory.
Payton threw two option touch
down passes to rookie Willie Gault
and rushed for 161 yards on 28
carries, including a 49-yard TD
run, Gault also caught an 8-yard
scoring pass from Jim McMahon
to go with his receptions of 56 and
21 yards from Payton.
Stabler completed 25-of-39
passes for 271 yards and en
gineered the drive that led to
Andersen’s game-winner.
The Bears sent the game into
overtime on a 21-yard pass from
Payton to Gault with 1:40 left in
regulation. Comerback Johnnie
Poe had given the Saints a lead
with a 31-yard interception re
turn.
Stabler forged a 14-point lead with
two third-period TD tosses, but
the Bears tied the score 24-24 on a
49-yard Payton run and one of
Payton’s option passes to Gault.
Elsewhere Sunday, Washing
ton beat Kansas City 27-12, Green
Bay edged the Los Angeles Rams
27- 24, San Francisco downed St.
Louis 42-27, Atlanta topped De
troit 30-14, Buffalo defeated Balti
more 28-23, New England upset
the New York Jets 23-13, Pitt
sburgh whipped Houston 40-28,
Dallas beat the New York Giants
28- 13, Seattle outlasted San Diego
34-31, Philadelphia nipped De
nver 10-7 and Minnesota topped
Tampa Bay 19-16 in overtime.
COWBOYS 28, GIANTS 13 —
At Irving, a 68-yard interception
return by Dextor Clinkscale and a
10-yard fumble return by Michael
Downs, both going for touch
downs in a fourth-quarter span of
12 seconds, sealed the Cowboys’
triumph as Dallas emerged the
only undefeated club in the NFC.
REDSKINS 27, CHIEFS 12 —
At Washington, Joe Theismann
passed for two second-half TDs
and the Redskins’ defense limited
Kansas City to just 34 total yards
over the final two quarters. The
Redskins, 2-1, trailed 12-0 at half
time as the Chiefs, 1-2, got four
Nick Lowery field goals, including
a 58-yarder.
PACKERS 27, RAMS 24 — At
Milwaukee, the Packers capital
ized on a fumble by Los Angeles
rookie back Eric Dickerson to set
up Jan Stenerud’s 36-yard field
goal with one second left. Stener
ud’s winning kick came after Dick
erson — the second player
selected in the draft — fumbled
with 29 seconds remaining as the
Rams were attempting to run out
the regulation clock.
49’ERS 42, CARDINALS 27 —
At St. Louis, Joe Montana passed
for three TDs and Dwight Hicks
and Tim Collier returned inter
ceptions for scores to power the
resurgent 49ers over the winless
Cardinals. The victory was the
49ers’ fifth in a row on the road
over two seasons and gave San
Francisco 90 points in its last two
games.
FALCONS 30, LIONS 14 —At
Pontiac, Mich., Steve Bartkowski
threw three TD passes, two to
Alfred Jackson, and WillSm
Andrews set a club record with 32
rushing attempts to lead Atlanta.
BILLS 28, COLTS 23 — At
Orchard Park, N.Y., Joe Ferguson
threw three scoring passes, two to
running back Joe Cribbs, and
Cribbs also scored on a 1-yard run
to power Buffalo over the penalty-
plagued Colts.
PATRIOTS 28, JETS 13 — At
Foxboro, Mass., Tony Collins set
one club record and tied another,
scoring on runs of 39, 7 and 23
yards to trigger New England’s
upset. Collins rushed for 212
yards on 23 carries, breaking the
Patriots’ record of 208 yards set in
1966 by Jim Nance.
SEAHAWKS 34, CHARGERS
31 — At Seattle, Steve Largent
caught touchdown passes of 41
and 5 yards from Jim Zorn and
rookie Curt Warner rushed for
109 yards to pace Seattle’s ball-
control offense. The Seahawks
withstood a late Chargers’ rally,
behind three fourth-quarter
touchdown passes from Dan
Fouts, including a 27-yard strike
to tight end Eric Sievers to make it
34-31 with 4:16 left.
EAGLES 10, BRONCOS 7 —
At Denver, Tony Franklin kicked
a 43-yard field goal with 56
seconds remaining to lift the
Eagles. The Broncos tied the
game with 1:54 left when rookie
[ohn Elway threw a 33-yard
touchdown pass up the middle to
running back Rick Parros, but Phi
ladelphia responded by driving 55
yards to set up Franklin’s game
winning kick.
VIKINGS 19, BUCCANEERS 16
— At Tampa, Fla., Benny Ricardo
kicked four field goals, including a
game-saving 38-yarder and a
game-winning 42-yarder 9:27 into
overtime, to lift the Vikings.
• OILERS LOSE/pagel2
On day of upsets, the Horns have what it takes
The Texas Longhorns had two
things going for them in their 20-7
victory over Auburn Saturday,
• SWC ROUNDUP/page 12
• HIGH SCHOOLS/page 12
Learn it, and you will win. And
best of all, there are only two
parts.
1) Depth wins. 2) Defense
wins.
_ Zip.
oe Committee
jlish Dept.
3
! On a day when preseason No.
I I s fell like crystal balls dropped
from the Sears Tower, the Lon-
I ghoms looked extremely capable
of taking over the top spot. In
; addition to Auburn, picked by
Playboy to win the mythical na
tional championship, two other
No. Ts bit the Astroturf. Michigan
(Sports Illustrated) lost to
Washington, 25-24, and Notre
Dame (The Sporting News) fell to
Michigan State, 28-23.
But the Horns had no such
problems Saturday. They jumped
on the Tigers from the start, led
20-0 at the half, and completely
dominated the line of scrimmage
on both offense and defense.
“We may have shocked them a
little,” Texas coach Fred Akers
said. “They weren’t able to recov
er until the fourth quarter.”
If anyone should be shocked,
it’s the people back in Austin.
Putting it bluntly, there’s no
way the Longhorns should be win
ning football games. At least not
now. Check the injury report. It
reads like a preseason all-
South west Conference team.
Quarterback Todd Dodge —
injured. Flanker Ronnie Mullins
— injured. Tight end Bobby
Micho — injured. Linebacker Jeff
Leiding — injured. It’s a wonder
UT coach Fred Akers could find22
players to send out against the
fourth-ranked Tigers, let alone 22
that could dominate.
But that’s Point No. 1. Depth
— the Longhorns have it in
abundance. Before the season
started, a popular joke among
sports writers was to say the
second best team in the confer
ence would be sitting on the Lon
ghorn bench.
So far, nobody — not SMU, not
Arkansas, not Texas A&M — has
proven that assumption wrong.
Still, those injuries helped
change folks’minds a little. Maybe
the Longhorns wouldn’t be that
good. After all, even Texas would
have trouble replacing that many
key players. Oddsmakers made
the Tigers 2V2-point favorites. In
The Battalion’s Friday football
forecast, four of the six “pickers”
chose Auburn. Even the sports
editor of the Daily Texan, UTs
student newspaper, picked Au
burn in that paper’s forecast.
But that’s all theory. The truth
is Texas is knee-pad deep in ta
lent. Injuries won’t hurt, because
the second-teamers are just as
good as the first. Take quarter
back, for example.
The Great UT Quarterback
Scramble was decided, or not de
cided, in typical Longhorn
fashion. Got three quarterbacks
who can play? Can’t decide on any
one? No problem. Use ’em all!
That’s just what Akers did.
Although junior Rob Moerschell
started the game, both Rick Mcl-
vor and Danny Akers played. In
fact, Moerschell and Mclvor took
turns leading the Horns to scores
on four of UTs first six posessions.
It was easy after that.
The only thing Dodge’s injury
did was keep one less QB out of
the rotation. It could get awfully
confusing with four quarterbacks
running the show.
Then again, maybe not. The
Horns used 10 different running
backs against the Tigers. Talk ab
out depth.
That brings us to Point No. 2,
defense. No surprise here. Eight
returning starters and mega-talent
stopped the Tigers’ vaunted wish
bone attack from going anywhere.
Auburn’s bone picked up only
130 yards, prompting Tiger run
ning back Bo Jackson to say he felt
like he had “been stampeded by a
herd of cows. ” Close enough. TTie
Homs held the Tigers to 51 yards
of total offense and two first downs
in the first half. Auburn didn't
cross its own 46-yard line until the
third period, and didn’t score until
1 minute, 33 seconds before the
end of the game.
“I don’t know if we were scared
or what,” said Auburn coach Pat
Dye. “If we could have sustained
the ball any at all in the first half
we could have moved the football
on Texas. But the offense wasn’t
out there long enough to break a
sweat.”
Dye called the first half an
“embarrassment.” But it was Ak
ers who said it best.
“It was our day, folks. It was our
day,” he said.
Not only that, it could the Lon
ghorns’ year, if they canjremem-
ber those two points. Depth and
defense. They work every time.