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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 20, 1983)
Texas A&M The Battalion Sports Thursday, October 20,1983/The Battalion/Page 15 it understani not also bad; inderstand lave it lion that be discrii le basis of Aggie FB Smith sees bright future ahead ■asonably ■rs in l nobably a f'e's popuiai ipularthan uld have d an AirTi study sho*i '8 and W ed Ameritai billion. led the Aii ation’scalllo o eliminad ie airline indai :e what the m H Texas A&M fullback George Smith, shown I here against Houston, says youth has been staff photo by Dean Saito the Aggies’ main problem this season. ‘The future here looks great,’ Smith said Tuesday. by John P. Lopez Battalion Staff Texas A&M fullback George Smith is always ready to talk ab out his career goals —just ask him how things are going and the Douglass, Ga., native will be happy to tell you. “Well, I feel like I’m moving along at a good pace,” Smith said. “I still have a ways to go, but I think I keep getting better ev ery day, and I’m gaining confi dence in myself. I feel like I did a good job on my history and poli tical science, but we’ll have to see when midterms come out.” History? Political Science? Midterms? Yes, Smith wasn’t talking ab out his career plans in football or the Aggies’ chances of pulling out a winning season this year — those are the least of his worries. No, Smith was talking about his dream of getting a college degree, going to law school and becoming an FBI agent. But if you want to talk football, the 6-0, 230-pound fullback is as good a source as any. After all, he is averaging five yards a carry and is coming off what Aggies’ coach Jackie Sherrill calls his two best games ever at Texas A&M. “I’m not worried about the football program here at A&M,” Smith said. “A lot of people are George Smith saying we’re going to have another losing year, but I don’t believe that. You can just look at the guys this year and you can see that Coach Sherrill is build ing a program here like no where else in the country. The future here looks great. And that includes the rest of the season. “We’re all confident about playing Rice Saturday and going on to beat SMU and Arkansas. I don’t see any reason why we shouldn’t be 6-3-1 going into the Texas game.” Smith is confident — to say the least — but skeptics would ask why the Aggies are just now starting to play the kind of foot ball they are capable of playing. “We’re all so young, and we’re all still learning,” Smith said. “And we’re playing the same guys every week for the first time all year. It’s the kind of situation where everybody is fin ally getting to feel good about each other and is playing better as a team. And the season is a long way from being over. Regardless of how everybody on the Aggies, A&M cannot afford to lose many more games and still expect a bowl bid. Again, the ever-confident Smith has an answer. “I feel like I’m becoming a more complete fullback,” he continued, “but more impor tant, I’m becoming a team full back. I’ll block on every down if that’s what it takes to have a win ning season, and I feel that’s the way everybody on this team feels.” “You never know,” he said, “with a break here and a break there, we just might go to the Cotton Bowl if SMU and Texas lose a game and we win the rest of ours. But the key is us winning the rest of our games — and we can do it.” And if Smith’s confidence carries over to the playing field, who wants to argue with a confi dent, determined future FBI agent? Arkansas QB Taylor doubtful Razorback-Cougar contest the Amen ize their high Linnon said, have any f . They've d»i| gs for this I hard facts anH going to rultij stry. Get costs 1 ingout of hi n said the (Ml ■ power toou_ or ContinemaiB s the airline ® n i , f r Pr ^ s /"‘ c ™ ati ° na ! jut he said it?■ ^ ^ ^ r ' co ””‘i,otb€lieveit. but the Uni- ■°AB issluitf Ar| sansas football , ,, im is likely to have a new quar- “7* tbttck when it faces the > to eliminatetf „ , . -i c ooeratine # irs Saturday at tayetlevil- . ' , Ra/orback coach Lou Holtz the ! pt«l.| teinesday In a telephone news confer- t Klinking Fayetteville, Hous- r r TaA land Little Rock, Holtz said a y [ained knee was likely to keep Kjr Brad Taylor out of the fe Hlg lineup and might pre- 8him from playing at all. When a guy (Taylor) comes ton Tuesday and can’t take a ■ ..-.J),’'Holtz said, “it’s extremely illations It®‘■f u j he . u j If - he > s nwt Duttons by m eed> he will not play.” a donorsi ofte decision on starting “ T^ l'or would be made after l ., 5 .“dnesday’s practice, Holtz the New f F a nd a c j ec j s j on on playing ivc to wti'f .nLyjllg product at all would °P le ; M f e J>w on Thursday, ue that t j Holtz said the Razorback that theyre ^ se wou j ( j f ealure more op- uBays if senior walk-on Scott y do care, B were f orcet | 1o make his i, I m goini f about it.” iTpfethea’s real estate J t e F £*ftury may i. Hesolditflb -i I orsata$2J)e tHC 6110 with the OUthminisie li: «p ni,ed Press International •list Church jught the rHOUSTON — Defensive end iid. wn Bethea was placed on the ised metotfoj’Mton Oilers injured reserve t more and'"/Wednesday due to a muscle ime atoucto"|irv, leading to speculation laid. : Ki-year pro’s career is at an taken care 1)1 j ie started lofl r the foully Bethea, 37, who played all 16 a vacant Wo®'(Sons with the Oilers, suffered ■e town sqa^ iB flexor muscle injury two i (when I s a ’' |ks ago and re-injured it Sun- ace for the' Kin ;1 game. A team spokes- tid. “I was* dtsaid the injury was severe, my mind 1111 ;d me to '' novated the Bethea could be recalled by $125,000, ^Iteam in a minimum of four jor to the fo" 1 !fc, but people close to the rs at $1 antyBsaid the injury probably his corpora ans an end to his playing nd floor, 's. undadon is fL , , . . u johnson 1 f ethea s J er sey is to be retired s & trying to<i cltUleenc * t ^ 1 ‘ s season - He is a s' heln and *x n ' time Pro Bowl participant " ftholds many Oilers records Itiding most seasems and most y tell us to# P la yed, 210. off,” he g to knows 0111 r n first” lhe ^‘ers not inirnedi p replace him on the roster first career start at quarterback against Houston. Yeoman said he expected to see Taylor under center for the Razorbacks in tire 2 p.m. game. “We’re planning on him (Taylor) playing,” Yeoman said. “That’s what we’ve been prepar ing for.” Yeoman said he was impress ed with the way Reed ran the option against Texas last week •^fler Taylor was injured. ' “Reed has excellent quick ness and runs the option well,” Yeoman said. “But we’ve run enough against Te option that we shouldn’t have big prob lems.” Houston is in the top 10 na tionally in total offense, but the Cougars have stumbled to a 2-4 start. Yeoman said turnovers have been a major reason. “I’m told we’ve had 26 drives of 50 yards or more,” Yeoman said, “and only 11 of those got points on the board. We’ve lost a lot of fumbles inside the oppo nents’ 20-yard line.” Yeoman said the Cougars have cut back on the turnovers “Nobody has stopped them (the C but they have had a plague of turnovers. We cannot count on turnovers, made a lot .of turnovers in past years but they never seem to make very many against Arkansas. ” — Razorback coach Lou Holtz on Saturday’s Arkansas-Houston c : in recent games and hope to con tinue the process. The Cougar defense is giving up more than 27 points per game, a school record if ex tended over a full season. Yeo man attributed the problem to not “tackling guys before they get to the end zone.” Holtz said the Cougars have shown a tendency to give up big plays defensively and have also been hurt by turnovers and the resulting field position prob lems. “When they’ve turned the ball over deep in their own terri tory,” Holtz said, “it’s put their defense in a bind. “Nobody has stopped them,’ Holtz said, “but they have had a plague of turnovers. We cannot count on turnovers. They’ve made a lot of turnovers in past years but they never seem to make very many against Arkansas.” Houston had an open date a week ago. Yeoman said the Cougars used the free week to give more work to some of their young players, including sopho- more quarterback Quince Harris. Holtz compared the three Cougar quarterbacks — Harris, freshman Gerald Landry and senior Lionel Wilson — to Yeo man’s long line of talented quar terbacks including Danny Davis and Delrick Brown. “Their quarterbacks are all out of the same mold,” Holtz said, “except Wilson, who is bigger.” Holtz said the Cougars are an “explosive offensive football team with tremendous speed at the skill positions.” He also wor ried about the ability of Houston defenders T.J. Turner, De- Wayne Calloway and Simon Fletcher. “Their defense is big and strong,” Holtz said. “I’m im pressed with the way their line backers play, and the secondary has good speed.” AIM HIGH WORK WITH THE BEST Be an engineering officer in the Air Force The Air Force is forging a new frontier in advanced technology. If you have an electrical or aeronautical engineering degree, you may qualify to work with the best and receive all the outstanding advantages and opportunities the Air Force offers. Contact: SSgt. 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