Texas A&M
The Battalion Sports
Wednesday, November 23,1983/The Battalion/Page 17
t’s showtime
A&M seniors hope to show national TV audience a preview of whafs to come
by Bob Caster
Battalion Statt'
e Aggies have a lot at stake
week as they prepare to chal-
,e the No. 2-ranked Texas
fghorns Saturday. To the
s, a capacity home crowd, a
ionwide television audience
a winning record may be com-
place. But the 5-4-1 Aggies
■not enjoyed all those luxuries
ie same time in quite a while,
hat could be a big factor in
relay s game. The Aggies look
they have survived the lean
is and are on the verge of be
ing a potential conference
erhouse. For the seniors on
team though, there is no next
— this is it.
ienior offensive lineman Tom-
Robison has mixed emotions
lot his tenure with the Aggies.
“I haven’t been real pleased
with the way everything’s gone
since I’ve been here,” he said.
‘But the program is growing and
it’s getting better. This year we re
starting to solidify and I think I’ve
had a small part in it.”
But Robison has no mixed emo
tions about beating the Horns.
“This is my last game in Kyle
Field, it’s on national TV and they
humiliated us last year,” he said.
“I don’t know how much more in
centive it takes.
The Aggie seniors haven’t play
ed under the best conditions over
the last four years and only now is
the team showing signs of prom
ise. The Texas game will be the
last chance for the seniors to take
out their frustrations against an
Aggie foe. And after four years, a
lot of frustration can build up.
"S of I
nuesf
real
Texas A&M running back Roger Vick has
averaged almost five yards a carry for A&M
this year to lead all Aggie rushers.
Aggies slip by
Texas 78-64
■eTexas A&M women s basket-
s t r il;ii kill team upped their record to 2-1
c wasB es( l a y night with a 78-64 win
»rbeii®P er North Texas State Univer-
ringT'
;ls '|iiisB The Aggies were led by Lisa
Bngston who burned the nets for
20points against the Mean Green.
■ Texas A&M head coach Cherri
S^jlapp also cited freshman Beth
9 Bung as a big contributor to the
Bgies’ win. Young scored 14
points while chalking up four
ftals and three assists.
■ Rapp said women’s basketball
■rejuveniited this year and has a
chance to do well within the
■uthwest Conference.
7 haven’t been real pleased with the way
everything s gone since Tve been here.
But the program is growing and it's get
ting better. This year we’re starting to
solidify and I think Tve had a small part
in it.’ — Aggies’lineman Tommy Romi-
son on playing his last game for Texas
A&M.
“Weve had our ups and downs
in four years,” punter Kyle Stuard
said. “We’ve been like a roller
coaster but it’s neat to see the team
heading upward. I kind of wish I
could be here another year to
play.”
Stuard said he feels the seniors
have had an impact on the team
this year despite the large amount
of playing time put in by under
classmen.
“What we do next year has
already started, he said. “It will
be great for them to go into the
next season with a win over the
No. 2 team under their belt. We
have great freshmen and sopho
mores — we couldn’t have done it
without them and they couldn’t
have done it without us.”
The seniors, more than anyone
else including the coaching staff,
have been able to look at the team
from the inside over the past few
years and they are perhaps the
most qualified to make a judge
ment on the direction the team has
taken.
They have been through the
bad times, the coaching problems,
the bad publicity and they have
been the target of more than their
share of criticism. But linebacker
Jeff Fuller thinks they’ve come a
long way.
“The atmosphere has changed
in the athletic department,” he
said. “We’ve been through a
whole lot, but we’ve accomplished
what we wanted.”
Another senior linebacker, Jeff
Paine, ope of six linebackers the
Aggies will lose this year, sees the
team getting better and better ev
ery day and thinks the main reason
is because they are growing as a
team and not just as individuals.
“This year has developed a lot >
of friendships,” he said. “I think it
shows in the way we are playing ;
this year — : our young players 2;
have shown very good attitudes. '•
**
m
“The Texas game is the culmi- *
nation of a lot of hard work and •
fun. It has to be emotional for thej^
seniors, it’s probably the last game •
a lot of us will ever play in.” '•'*
But is Paine ready to check in >
the pads or would he like to stick
around for another season?
“The thought crosses your
mind every once in awhile,” he
said. “But I’m ready to get on with
the rest of my life.”
Confident Vick leads Ag runners
by John P. Lopez
Battalion Staff
Texas A&M’s Roger Vick was
sitting on a bench in the locker-
room after he just slashed through
the TCU defense for 110 yards in
the Aggies’ 20-10 win over the
Horned Frogs last week.
He was grinning.
Even while the freshman from
Tomball was fielding tough ques
tions about the Aggies’ next oppo
nent — No. 2-ranked Texas — the
grin was still firmly in place.
I • KYLE FIELD/ page 18
• ARKANSAS/ page 19
It wasn t so much that Vick didn’t
respect Texas’ powerful defense,
he was just feeling good — real
good.
After all, two years ago Vick was
a wimpy wide receiver for Tom
ball and the last place he expected
to be was in the Aggies’ starting
backfield. Much less, did he ex
pect to be the leading ball carrier
for Texas A&M with a 4.8 yard
average.
But he is. And his sparkling
performance against the Frogs
marked the first time an A&M
runner has rushed more than 100
yards since Jackie Sherrill was
hired almost two years ago. But
Vick doesn’t seem to know any
better.
He doesn’t know that since he’s
-only been a running back for two
years, he shouldn’t be able to
make opposing defenders tackle
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air. And he also doesn’t seem to
know that most freshmen sit the
bench or play special teams at least
until they’re sophomores.
“That’s just the way he’s always
been,” Vick’s high school coach,
Lynn Etheridge said. “When he
was a junior, he was about 6-2 and
weighed about 160 pounds so we
had him at wide receiver.
“Then the next year he came in
and really worked the weights and
came in at about 6-3, 200 pounds.
And we lost our running backs that
year so we moved him to running
back and he got his first real ex
perience as a runner.”
But run he did. As a senior at
Tornball, Vick led all 4A and 5A
Greater Houston runners with
1,465 yards rushing on 222
attempts for a 6.6 yard average.
Obviously, Vick’s numbers im
pressed Etheridge and Southwest
Conference recruiters.
“After his senior season I knew
he was going to be a good college
football player, but I didn’t think
he could do it his first year. But he
told me from the time he got up to
A&M that he thought he could be
the starter.”
Apparently, nobody told Vick
that freshmen from small towns
don’t go to major-college football
programs and become starters.
And nobody has told him that the
Longhorns defense is supposed to
bottle up the Texas A&M rushing
attack Saturday.
“I’m confident,” Vick said. “I
would like nothing better than
having Texas come to Kyle Field
“I feel we have a real bright
future,” she said.
In past years, the Aggies hilve
been no threat to stronger teams
like the University of Texas.
The Aggies next game will be
against St. Mary’s University Nov.
28 in G. Rollie White Coliseum.
Rapp said this year’s version of
Texas A&M s women s basketball
team is nothing like prior Aggie
teams.
“I’d encourage people to come
out and watch us play,” Rapp said.
“It’s a lot more exciting this year.”
ji
44
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and we knock them off. Their de
fense is tough, but I think we can
do some things against them.”
The Aggies are expected to have
a tough time running against
Texas’ stingy defense, but if any
runner taps the Longhorns for big
yardage, it will likely be Vick —
just ask Etheridge.
“I’m going to this game,”
Etheridge said. “I want to see
what happens because I know
what he can do with a football. His
future’s all ahead of him because
he’s learned in two years what a lot -•
of baeks take years to learn. It I
should be interesting to see what.
he does Saturday.”
True, especially since Vick •
doesn’t know that he shouldn’t be
able to do a thing.
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