The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current, September 26, 1984, Image 3

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    Sports
Wednesday, September 26, 1984AThe Battalion/Page 11
Landry vs. Ditka,
teacher vs. student
See page 12
ft
Stump: No allusions of greatness
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“There’s a lot more to learn here
and being a redshirt really helped
me learn the (A&M football) sys
tem," he said. “It almost takes that
long (a year)just to learn it.”
Sherrill agrees, saying Stump isn’t
hugs.™ quite ready to step become the
starter.
“Stump is a young kid,” Sherrill
said. “He’s got a long way to go.”
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By JEFF GRAUNKE
Sports Writer
You’d think that after coming off
the bench, completing two touch
down passes, and revitalizing a sag
ging Texas A&M offense during the
second half of the Iowa State game
that backup quarterback Craig
Stump might have allusions of gran
deur— not on your life.
Even with all the praise from the
press, Stump modestly responds:
“No, I’m still the back up quar
terback. It hasn’t changed.”
Through all of this attention,
Stump has remained quite subdued
about his performance. He didn’t
know what role he was going to play
in the game, until A&M Head Coach
Jackie Sherrill called on him in the
third quarter.
“I felt that I had prepared well
enough,” Stump said. “It was just a
matter of executing and hoping I’d
do the best I could do.”
Execute is a bit of an understate
ment.
Stump accounted for a dozen of
the Aggies 38 points on two key
drives. Tight end Duncan Webb
hooked up with Stump for a five
yard touchdown pass and, on the
next drive, split end Creg Dillon
caught a 29 yard pass from Stump
for another score.
In addition to those two touch
down passes, Stump also converted
six out of six thrid down situations
into first downs when the Ags
needed them desparately.
Stump is young. This is his first
season in uniform because he was
redshirted last as a freshman. Stump
believes that experience helped him
tremendously.
A&M’s Craig Stump
Sherrill’s.got a point. Stump’s had
difficulty holding on to the ball seve
ral times during the ISU game. For
tunately for Stump and the Aggies,
he was able to fall on it. Otherwise,
Stump might have become the villan
instead of the hero.
During his first year. Stump oper
ated the scout team, which runs the
opponents plays against the Ags’ de
fense in practice. This season his
role has basically been the same as it
was last year with one major excep
tion — this season he can play.
That’s his No. 1 reason for being
here.
“I’m young and as a back up quar
terback I have to go out and be pre
pared in case something does hap
pen,” he said. “I have to go out there
and keep the team on track and see
there’s not a let down.”
Coaching has definitely been a
factor in Stump’s success.
“I like them (coaching staff) a lot,”
he said. “They’ve helped me come a
long way as far as making me work
out with weights and they teach me a
lot knowledge-wise.”
The A&M coaches also played a
big part in getting Stump to even
sign with the Aggies.
“I got a lot of letters (from other
Texas A&M reserve quarterback Craig
Stump (9) executes the option play during
the third quarter against Iowa State last Sat-
Photo by DEAN SAITO
urday. Aggie running back Anthony Toney
(25) prepares to take the handoff from
Stump, while a Cyclone eyes their moves.
universities). It was real close,”
Slump admits.
Stump’s popularity among major
colleges was a result of his creden
tials, including All-State, All-District
and a member on the Dallas‘Times-
Herald’s Blue Chip List.
Notre Dame, Louisiana State and
Alabama were just some of the
schools that were actively recruiting
Stump. He visited Notre Dame and
LSU, but he chose A&M because of
“Coach Sherrill and the type of of
fense they (Aggies) play.”
“I felt that A&M was up and com
ing,” he said.
When asked about motivation on
the field, Stump responded: “Well it
just overcomes you. Whatever your
thoughts are, they’re all going to
wards what’s going on right now.”
“There’s a lot of tradition here
and that had a lot to do with it (sign
ing with A&M),” he said. “I like the
people here, and I like the players
here. I want to play here, but, of
course, the degree comes first.”
%
and ready
for pickup
8:45-4:45
English Annex
must present Student ID
(if you have pre-paid; check your fee slip)
Aggielands will be available for purchase and pickup
after October 10 in Room #230 Reed McDonald