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Texas A8cM
The Battalion Sports
Monday, November 14,1983/The Battalion/Page 11
iftowl-hungry Aggies
Murray’s four TD passes lead Ags
'^>ast bewildered Razorbacks, 36-23
Razorbacks
d other.,
by John Wagner
little
Battalion Staff
dividual! 3 ^' 6 Sherrill’s Kiddie Corps gained
ed acti\! i P e< 1 Saturday,
he-shei Under the direction of not-so-freshman quar-
ledas back Kevin Murray, Texas A&M’s youth-laden
is n() ’Jad turned the tables on Arkansas, 36-23, and
n ik:. Wed the first Aggie win over Arkansas since
, 76.
:r of
0 P a n!iWC ROUNDUP/page 12
and wh?
SCHOOLS/page12
workeigl
a year; Murray, a leading candidate to win Southwest
inference Newcomer of the Year honors, threw
ttreatitir touchdown passes and ran for another as the
of wartnes ended the Razorbacks’ chances for a bowl
lelativet 1—and increased their own considerably.
I laked A representative of the Independence Bowl,
ionly bowl in attendence, watched the Aggies
tjjtogether an almost-perfect second half and
rar the Razorbacks. The win evened A&M’s re-
rd at 4-4-1, with games against TCU and Texas
- ton the schedule. Arkansas fell to 5-4.
But the key to a bowl bid, as Sherrill was quick
i -v p explain, is momentum. Consider the Aggies
^ J VJtivated. Since naming Murray as starting quar-
Q'back after the Aggies’ 3-0 loss to Texas Tech,
ith Vhc®iH’ s S( I ua d has gone 3-1-1, and given five
lr j ints in just the right places, the Aggies could be
ia ® r )in that same time span.
bondsB^ ou P eo pl e (sports writers) are pretty know-
Igcuble about sports,” said defensive end Ray
dam I. Jr ress ’ w ^° finished the game with 15 tackles
ez | d four quarterback sacks. ‘‘And you know we
; trial
Anoikj
nterofti
uld easily be 9-0 right now. We have the ability
_ y
djthe talent to be competitive in every game.
The win was A&M’s first Over Arkansas coach
iu Holtz and Sherrill’s first over a “name’
1 MexkW‘ U ‘ UL al * U 3 a name OppO-
nt. From the looks of things, however, there are
d mine 3re t ^ lose on l ^ e wa y- F° ur of the Aggies’ five
uchdowns were scored by freshmen or sopho-
bres — the fifth was scored by a junior. A&M’s
fense has only two seniors listed on the depth
1 ! n m and the Aggies outgained Arkansas 349
r da /7 rds to 181.
0 e ,7 P ne °f the reasons for that is the play of
urray.
i bdofl "Kevin Murray,” Sherrill said, “is the best
eshman in the conference. The leadership he
1 lllt is‘shown has been impressive.”
Murray hit six different receivers for 194 yards,
•. Vests
I [°P id he finished the afternoon 21-29 with one
nd. “I!
le toCa®
co) anil|
and ti
CoZUIJt:
said
interception. As a starter, Murray has completed
61 percent of his passes for 1,113 yards and 11
touchdowns.
“It’s hard to believe he’s a freshman,” tight end
Rich Siler (just a sophomore himself) said of Mur
ray. “He handles pressure so well.”
Despite the four touchdown passes, Murray’s
biggest moment of glory came late in the fourth
quarter with the Aggies on the Arkansas 34-yard
line.
Murray took the snap, hesitated just a second
and burst up the middle on a quarterback sneak
for the touchdown, capping an 11-play, 87-yard
drive and giving A&M a 30-17 lead. The Razor-
backs, caught blitzing on the play, never touched
Murray.
“It was the right play at the right time,” Sherrill
said.
“They caught us in a blitz several times,”
Arkansas safety Keith Wyatt admitted. “Murray is
a great athlete — he’s a leader and he did a good
job of leading the Aggies today. He’s one of the
better athletes at quarterback we’ve faced.”
The A&M defense had another big day, shut
ting down the Razorback rushing attack and sack
ing quarterback Brad Taylor eight times for
minus 66 yards. The Hogs — not known as a great
rushing team, anyway — carried the ball 39 times
for a net total of 39 yards.
“We just couldn’t generate a running game,
and that’s always disastrous,” Holtz said. “We have
no excuses. Just give Texas A&M credit for the
victory.”
Cornerback Billy Brown helped the Aggies re
cover from a 9-3 halftime deficit when he inter
cepted a pass and recovered a fumble early in the
third quarter. Both turnovers led to scores, and
the Aggies erupted for 21 points in the first nine
minutes of the second half.to take a 24-9 lead.
The Razorbacks then ended the quarter with
an 11-play, 80-yard drive against the wind (which
gusted up to 29 miles an hour), and scored on a
two-point conversion to cut A&M’s lead to 24-17.
But the Aggies came back in the fourth with
Murray’s touchdown scamper and freshman Rod
Bernstine’s 5-yard touchdown reception to make
it 36-17. Bernstine’s touchdown was set up by
Twelfth Man kickoff team member Tom Arthur’s
fumble recovery on the Arkansas 30.
Arkansas mounted a comeback attempt late in
the game, scoring on a 2-yard touchdown pass
from Taylor to Mark Mistier. The Razorbacks
then recovered an onside kick, but Childress and
Cannon combined to sack Taylor three times in
four plays to stop the drive.
Aggie basketball team
falls to Flyers, 65-64
a ware!
e instn
t foi hi by Bob Caster
lcl l 6 ® ' Battalion Staff
The Texas A&M basketball
s,ll( :am lost its season opener to
y : fKe Houston Flyers 65-64
[j 16 . aturday night, leaving a
vim rouc j 0 f 2,643 in a state of
y t0 P lispelief as Aggie freshman
threeBm s ton Crite had two baskets
ziped out in the last two
3rnM econds of the game. Either
y ‘‘ ,l1 vould have given the Aggies a
P ort %in.
.11 effl less than a minute left
idv'd ’ nthe game, the Flyers put the
M in play following 3 Crite
astoWhree-point play but promptly
cane \urned it over to the Aggies at
Trjffcourt on an intercepted
the W|ass. With 15 seconds left, the
neededAggi es returned the ball to
:theii heir own end of the court,
:ed pi vorking it in to Crite who was
t over waiting j n t he key. Crite put
ederal'he ball in for the apparent
fo-ahead score but an offen-
^jive foul erased the basket
VVvith two seconds left on the
clock.
IT I 16 onl y hope for the
Wgies was to intercept the in-
I bounds pass and score — all in
" two seconds. And that’s just
bow it happened as the clock
rah out. But once again the
basket was nullified on a
travelling call against Crite.
(The whole game was not as
Htticing as the last minute,
^ however. The Flyers, who are
the 1983 AAU champions,
Hw the Aggies out 33-20 in
|« first half. Led by 6-1 guard
Nickey Snell, who finished
with 22 points, the Houston
team hit 52.2 percent from the
fiild and 90 percent from the
foul line during the first half.
[Hie hapless Aggies shot only
35 percent from the floor on 9
M 26 field goals in the first
If.
I jWhatever Aggie coach
Shelby Metcalf told his players
at the half, however, it seemed
to work. The Aggies came
back in the second half and
joutscored the Flyers 44-32.
ssedj was rea jiy pi ease( j
the effort they gave in the
ijfcond half,” Metcalf said. “I
was mainly concerned with
7(j4i|them putting out a good
ffort, not whether we win or
Dean Saito, Battalion staff
Houston Flyer Larry Stephenson goes up
for a basket against the Aggies Saturday
in G. Rollie White Coliseum. The Flyers
defeated A&M in the exhibition, 65-64.
Metcalf may have had good
point. The Aggies have no
seniors and only three juniors
on the team. Of the starting
five, three were freshmen and
two were sophomores.
“I was real nervous in the
first half, but we played more
of a passing game in the
second half,” said freshman
guard Todd Holloway, who
was the Aggies’ leading scorer
with 15 points. “That allowed
us to free-lance a little more.”
The Aggies have two weeks
off before hosting Texas
Lutheran on Nov. 26.
Texas A&M fullback Roger Vick
carries the ball against Arkansas
Dean Saito, Battalion staff
Saturday. Vick led all rushers with
70 yards on 19 carries.
Taylor:
Hogs didn’t
‘have if
by Kay Mallett
Battalion Staff
A complete turnaround.
That’s what the frustrated
University of Arkansas football
team was calling its 36-23 loss
Saturday to Texas A&M. Quite a
change from the 35-0 whipping
the Hogs gave the Aggies last
year.
And when it was over, Razor-
back head coach Lou Holtz
voiced his disappointment at his
team’s overall play.
“That’s just about as poor as
we’ve played intelligence-wise in
a long time,” an exasperated
Holtz said outside the Razor-
backs’ locker room.
Intelligence-wise?
One wonders whether it was a
lack of wisdom or simply a lack
of teamwork and enthusiasm
that caused the loss.
Arkansas quarterback Brad
Taylor summed up everything
most accurately.
“We just didn’t have it,” he
said. “The game just wasn’t
going for us the whole time.”
Taylor, who led the South
west Conference in total offense
going into Saturday’s game,
completed only 16 of 30 passes.
He rushed six times for only
nine yards. And he was sacked
eight times for a loss of 66 yards.
In other words, he just
couldn’t bring the team
together, especially in the
second half. When the chips
were down, Taylor and the
Hogs couldn’t pull it off.
But they tried, vainly.
Arkansas’ passing game,
which is usually the star of the
Razorback offense, just didn’t
work. Either Taylor’s passes —
or Taylor himself — was being
continually dropped.
“You can’t blame the receiv
ers,” Taylor said. “We just
couldn’t get anything to con
nect.”
See HOGS page 13
Childress’ play stops Hogs short
by John P. Lopez
Battalion Staff
Texas A&M head coach Jack
ie Sherrill calls him one of the
most dominating defensive line
men in the conference.
His teammates say he’s awe-
some — a definite all
conference pick and a strong all-
America candidate.
But Texas A&M opponents
don’t say much of anything ab
out Ray Childress.
At least, not to his face.
After all, who would want to
upset a 6-7, 270-pound defen
sive end whose favorite past
time is making life miserable for
opposing offenses. One would
have to be crazy, or idiotic, or
both to say something about
Childress and throw him into a
tizzy.
Say hello to the Arkansas
Razorbacks.
It might have been Hog
offensive tackle Robert Wilcox-
en, who Childress consistently
whipped on the way to a game-
high 15 tackles. It might have
“Ray Childress had a
great game — prob
ably the best game he’s
ever had for us. ” —
Texas A&M coach
Jackie Sherrill on Chil
dress’ 15-tackle per
formance Saturday
been Arkansas quarterback
Brad Taylor, a four-time sack
victim of Childress’, or it might
have been Razorback head
coach Lou Holtz who couldn’t
do a thing to stop Childress from
having a spectacular perform
ance Saturday.
Regardless, somebody on the
Arkansas team undoubtedly
went over the edge — and had to
suffer the consequences. Name
ly, a 36-23 defeat that was keyed
defensively by Childress.
“Ray Childress had a great
game,” Sherrill said. “Probably
the best game he’s ever had for
us.”
And those are pretty big
words considering Childress was
already the leading tackier for-
the Aggies going into Saturday’s
game against Arkansas with 77
stops. To date, Childress has 92
tackles — 66 unassisted includ
ing 11 quarterback sacks. He
also intercepted a pass in the
Aggies’ 13-13 tie with Baylor
earlier this season.
Those statistics have to please
Childress — especially after hav
ing his best game of the year
against Arkansas, a team that
has beaten Texas A&M for six
consecutive years.
“It feels great,” Childress said
after the Aggies’ win.
Simply put.
But that’s the way Childress
likes to put things, both on the
field and off. He gets excited
and intense when the defense is
faring well, but he’s not a flam
boyant, gloating-type of player
like a Mark Gastineau.
And when off the field, the
soft-spoken Childress is usually
direct and to the point. He hates
losing and bears much of the re
sponsibility when the Aggies
end up on the short end of the
score.
After Texas A&M lost to Cali
fornia 19-17 earlier this year,
Childress was asked how he felt
the defense performed.
“We didn’t play very well —
we lost,” he said.
Not a wordy assessment, but
effective.
As is Aggie linebacker Billy
Cannon’s summation of Chil
dress’ talents.
“All we have to tell Ray Chil
dress is ‘go get the quarter
back,”’ Cannon said. “And he
usually does.”
Finally!
Luck, Oilers end streak with win over Detroit
United Press International
HOUSTON — It took a lot of Luck —
Oliver Luck — but the Houston Oilers Sun
day put an end to their long-suffering losing
streak.
!• COWBOYS/page 13
• NFL SUMS/pagel3
Second-year pro quarterback Luck, in his
first start, passed for 189 yards and two
touchdowns, and he called upon Earl Camp
bell to run for 107 yards to lead a 27-17 win
over the Detroit Lions.
The Oilers, who won for the first time
since Sept. 19, 1982, thought so much of the
job their new head coach has been doing
they gave him the game ball afterward.
Interim head coach Chuck Studley said
he would return the favor and award all 49
Oilers a game ball with “Nov. 13, 1983” on it.
“Today, we literally rose from the dead,”
Studley said. “The team made up its mind
that this thing had gone on long enough.”
Studley made the decision one week ago
to bench regular quarterback Gifford Nies-
len and take a look at Luck. The coach, as
well as the Lions, got an eyefull.
“He’s a player, isn’t he?” Studley said.
“He may not have the greatest arm but he’s a
player and he got us in the end zone.”
Luck said that despite having less than
one game experience he felt comfortable
running the offense.
“I suppose it’s a Cinderella start,” he said.
“Hopefully, I won’t turn into a pumpkin in a
couple of games. I felt it was very important
for us to come down the field and score on
our first possession.”
The Oilers did, but then they fell seven
points behind twice. Each time Luck mar
ched his team to touchdowns with ease that
Houston has not shown since the days when
fired coach Bum Phillips was in charge.
“It felt like we won the Super Bowl,” Oil
ers center David Carter said. “It felt like we
got a gorilla off our back. The weight of the
world is off us. This is the best thing that has
happened to us since . since . forever.”
Lions defensive tackle Doug English said
Luck played better than he thought he
would.
“Luck was the man of the hour,” he said.
“I have to congratulate him.”
Oilers’ fullback Larry Moriarty also
scored on a 3-yard run and place kicker
Florian Kempf booted field goals and 47
and 21 yards.
Campbell, who one week ago demanded
to be traded after this season, got his 107
yards on 28 carries. As in the days when the
Oilers were playoff contenders, the team
protected its lead by giving the ball to Camp
bell in the fourth quarter.
The Lions, now 5-6, suffered only their
second defeat in six games despite running
back Billy Sims 105 yards rushing and one
touchdown.
Sims leaped one yard for his score, and
Detroit also scored on Danielson’s 3-yard
pass to fullback James Jones and on a 35-
yard field goal by Ed Murray.
Oiler safety Willie Tullis intercepted two
passes off quarterback Eric Hippie and cor
nerback Bill Kay took one pass off quarter
back Gary Danielson pass, all in the second
half, to close the door on any Lions com
eback bid.
Interim head coach Chuck Studley won
his first game since taking over the Oilers
five games ago with the resignation of Ed
Biles.
One week ago, Studley benched regular
quarterback Gifford Nielsen in the first
quarter and brought on Luck to play in his
first full game.
i 1 !