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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 15, 1983)
Texas A&M impress TCU coach Wacker Battalion Sports Tuesday, November 15,1983/The Battalion/Page 11 give teams like Texas and SMU all they can handle, Jackie Sherrill said. by John P. Lopez Battalion Staff Surprise, surprise, surprise. Texas A&M’s resurgance on the football field this year has turned a few heads in the South west Conference. In College Station, the Aggies’ impressive play has made the Jackie Sherrill invest ment of two years ago apparent ly start to yield dividends. And it’s made players confident, bowl representatives interested and Texas A&M fans happy. But the person that has the Aggies on his mind more than just about anybody these days is TCU coach Jim Wacker. He’d just as soon play the old Aggies Saturday in Fort Worth. You know, the team that ev ery opponent in the SWC used to laugh at prior to kickoff and laugh at even more after the fin al gun. The team whose offense was miserable and whose de fense was a cross between pathe tic and ridiculous. The team that didn’t have players like Kevin Murray on offense and Ray Childress on defense. “For Pete’s sake,” Wacker said in a press conference Mon day. “Don’t let Childress play. He could hurt somebody. And I just wish Kevin Murray was still playing baseball. He’s a great quarterback — a threat every- time he touches the ball.” ay Childress aren’t the only players he was impressed with on the Aggie squad. “We’re going to find out if we can line up with them,” he said. “They’re a much bigger and stronger team than us so it’s going to take an unbelievable effort on our part. We’re going to have to play over our heads.” Perhaps, but Texas A&M head coach Jackie Sherrill said the Horned Frogs are a talented team that is capable of giving opponents fits. Just ask the Texas Longhorns — the No. 2 team in the nation that had to come from behind last week to defeat TCU 20-14. I “TCU has been in every game they’ve played this year,” Sher rill said. “And they always have played Texas A&M well. “They have some talented players that have experience on defense — their secondary is good. And their outside line backers (Gary) Spann and (Kyle) Clifton can run. Their defense, has been able to chase the ball well.” Offensively, Sherrill said the biggest problem the Aggies will have is coping with the veer offense. He said that besides having two talented runnin backs in Kenneth Davis an Egypt Allen, the Horned Frogs also have a good passing game. “It can be hard to prepare for because they’re an option foot ball team that runs play-action passes,” Sherrill said. “They never run straight drop-back passes.” AGGIE NOTES: Texas A&M head coach Sherrill said in his press conference Monday that the only bowl the Aggies could receive a bid to is the Inde pendence Bowl. “It seems like we may be in the picture for the Independence Bowl. All the other bowl games are just about settled,” he said...Sherrill also said he is still impressed with Kevin Murray’s consistent play. “I’ll take Kevin Murray’s mis takes anytime, for what he does for us. He makes fewer mistakes than a lot of seniors. He can completely control the other team,” Sherrill said...Freshman running back Keith Woodside will start his second game at half back for Texas A&M Satur day...Aggie offensive guard Randy Wylie, who sat out the Arkansas game, will start against the Horned Frogs. owl games 1 SMU is upset, may only get bid for Sun Bowl; not Fiesta or Sugar Bowl United Press International l)though bids cannot official- extended until Saturday, college football post-season ' picture already has begun develop and SMU athletic t0 a [ icials think the entire thing is kju ihipletely out of focus. r( j a |’ jSMU’s athletic director, Bob 0 jch, and Football Coach Bob- jA, Collins are terribly upset ab- i a “gentleman’s agreement” j , (ween officials of the Big Ten Jpj nference, the Fiesta Bowl and p Sugar Bowl that has appa- itly left the Mustangs, the i an( j am with the best recorcT in the lion over the past three sea- L • ts, out of the Jan. 2 major , , ‘ ivl alignment. T : ; SMU (8-1), No. 7 in the UPI , dies ratings, seems certain to ' ■ iish second to second-ranked :xas in the Southwest Confer- r ,. :e, thereby losing out on an 1 , ;; lortunity to host the Cotton d ' ' iwl game. Since the Orange lC ' iwl has already decided on A uni (Fla.) (10-1) to meet Big r 5, ;ht champion Nebraska (11- and the Rose Bowl is set with ois, the Big Ten champion, edng the Pacific 10 cham- m, probably Washington, the slangs seemed to be a logical ice for an at-large bid to either the Sugar or Fiesta Bowls. That is until television execu tives entered the picture. It seems officials of the Sugar Bowl would prefer either Michi gan (8-2) or Ohio State (8-2) to face Auburn (9-1), the South eastern Conference representa tive, rather than SMU because they are concerned about SMU’s ability to attract a national televi sion audience as well as attract fans to the game at New Orleans. Meantime, the Fiesta Bowl, which is aired at the same time as the Cotton Bowl, does not want to have to share the Southwest Conference viewers with the Cotton Bowl. So, Fiesta Bowl officials will not take SMU, even though the Mustangs have com- E iled a 29-2-1 record over the ist three seasons. Instead, Pitt sburgh (8-2) will be named to face the loser of the Ohio State- Michigan game. That leaves the Mustangs most likely headed for the Sun Bowl at El Paso to meet Alaba ma. Alabama athletic director and head coach Ray Perkins has already agreed to a Sun Bowl bid, according to published re ports. “I’ve been to the Liberty, Sun, Peach, Independence, Cotton, Gator and Tangerine Bowls,” said Collins, the SMU coach. “I’ve never been to a bowl I didn’t enjoy. “But if we beat Arkansas (next week) and don’t get a major bowl bid, I will use whatever pull I have to fight for a playoff sys tem. If the television networks get to dictate who goes where, then I think it is time for the playoffs.” Iowa, Florida, West Virginia, Boston College, Notre Dame and Missouri also appear to have wrapped up bowl bids. Iowa athletic director Bump Elliot said Sunday night the chances of the No. 9 Hawkeyes playing in the Gator Bowl at Jacksonville, Fla., on Dec. 30 were “very, very good.” He emphasized the NCAA has strict regulations prohibit ing bowl committees from ex tending official invitations be fore 5 p.m. on Saturday. “But . it is a reasonable assumption that we will be in this bowl,” Elliot said. No. 13 Florida also is ex pected to receive a Gator Bowl bid. West Virginia appears headed for the Hall of Fame Classic Dec. 22 at Legion Field in Birmingham, Ala. The Moun taineers (8-2) are expected to draw the winner of Saturday’s Tennessee-Kentucky game as their opponent. Boston College (7-2) is ex pecting to get a bid to play Notre Dame in the 25th Liberty Bowl in Memphis, Tenn., on Dec. 29. “The Liberty Bowl is in terested in us and hopefully will extend a bid next Saturday,” said BC athletic director Bill Flynn. “I think it’s the best matchup of all.” Padre Cafe really fine eats Dominik Drive College Station-BY-THE-SEA UDENT ENGINEER'S COUNCIL AND STUDENT GOVERNM PRESENT CAct/rua^ optlcL thj*" " DEAN'S FORUM T.00 p.m. WEDNESDAY, NOV. 16 ROOM 102 ZAC HRY DEANS AND DEPARTMENT HEADS WILL BE PRESENT TO ANSWER QUESTIONS CONCERNING THEIR DEPARTMENTS AND CURRICULUM. ALL ENGINEERING STUDENTS ARE INVITED. The Association of Former Students Due to an overwhelming response to our Fall Senior Induction Banquet has scheduled a second banquet to be held on i Monday, November 21,1983 6:30 p.m. i MSC, Rooms 224 All December graduates that did not attend the Movember 16 banquet are invited to attend. A limited number of com plimentary tickets will be available Movember 16 &17 in the lobby of the Forsyth Alumni Center. TICKETS QIVEM OK FIRST COME — FIRST SERVED BASIS