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By JEFF GRAUNKE
Spoi ls Writer
When inside linebackers Ken
Ford and Johnny Holland get to
gether on the football field, the Ag
gies get their defense MTV style —
in stereo.
Until last Saturday’s game against
Texas Tech, Ford and Holland, Mr.
Everywhere and Mr. Anywhere, as
A&M coaches fondly call them, were
the defensive machine. Saturday
they just couldn’t get it together.
A&M Head Coach Jackie Sherrill
agreed. Sherrill said one big reason
why the Ags lost to l ech was missed
tackles.
“They (Ford and Holland) played
hard, but missed a lot of tackles,”
Sherrill said. ‘‘It’s unusual.”
The Aggies play a 3-4 defense, so
the linebackers, in theory, should
make most of the tackles.
“Linebackers are supposed to
make a lot of tackles in that scheme
of defense,” Ford said. “Me and
Johnny (Holland), we kind of missed
a lot of tackles. Between the two of
us we missed about 20 tackles. That
gave the (Texas Tech) backs time to
get past the second defense, and
they gained more yardage.
“I think the weather and the rain
had a lot to do with it,” Holland
said. “This is really my first time
playing defense and my first time
really tackling. I think (lack of) expe
rience hurt me a little.”
“We weren’t wrapping up,” Ford
said. “It was kind of wet. I’m not
going to blame it on the weather. We
missed a lot of tackles, maybe be
cause of the wetness, but mostly be
cause we weren’t wrapping up like
we re suppost to.”
Ford and Holland are both new to
the linebacker position. Ford moved
from starting strong safety and Hol
land switched f rom f ree safety.
“I was moved f rom a starting posi
tion at strong safety to linebacker, a
position 1 had never before in my li
fe,” Ford said. “People said, ‘What
are you doing there when you could
stay at strong safety and start?’ 1 say
“Well, it’s to help the team.’ What
Photo by FRANK IR WIN
Texas A&M linebacker Johnny Holland flies across the line Holland lead the Aggies in tackles after four games and have
to stop Texas Tech I-back Timmy Smith. Ken Ford (19) and made a smooth transition after playing in the secondary.
else could you ask for from a guy?
“They saw that I played good and
they said keep it up. I just got the,
confidence.”
Ford’s seniority and success at his
new position has helped Holland
adapt.
“He’s (Ford) an upperclassman,”
Holland said. “He’s a senior. I look
up to him. I respect him. He’s a good
leader. He’s a pretty good motivator
too.”
“I like working with Johnny,”
Ford said. “Johnny helps me out and
I help him out. By helping each
other out, we don’t make that many
mistakes. If he didn’t ask me and I
didn’t ask him, then we’d make a lot
of mistakes.
“I know Johnny will cover for me
if I get blocked or I get knocked
down. I know he’s somewhere be
hind me and he’s going to cover (for
me). I know that I can cover for
Johnny after I do my assignment, if
he gets out of place or something.”
Ford feels confident about Hol
land’s abilities at linebacker.
“Johnny is a big, strong, physical
guy and he adapted to the run very
well,” Ford said. “So, in turn, he
helps me out because he knows all
the coverages. He helps me with my
coverages and I help him support
the run.
“We kind of blend together and
make a lot of tackles, making a lot of
things happen.”
Both Ford and Holland are quick,
sprinting the 40 yard dash in 4.6 sec
onds.
“I think one of my strong points is
my ability to run, and my quickness,”
Holland said.
“Ken and I play pretty fast and we
find ourselves not really taking care
of our responsibilities. We’re leaving
our positions too fast. That hurts
us.”
Ford echoes Holland’s sentiments.
“I’m so fast and I get out quick, I
don’t hold my ground and read (the
opponents offense),” Ford said.
"Who wants a 280 pound lineman
coming down on you, if you wait ip
there that long? I know I don’t.”
The Aggies have had some prob
lems with consistency and concentra
tion on defense.
“We’ve had so many mental mis
takes and mental busts that if we just
cut out half of them, we’d be so
much better,” Ford said. “Somehow
we just have mental mistakes and it
costs us at times. If we just learned to
concentrate and take one play at a
time and not have those mental mis
takes then, hey, who knows where
we could be.”
Ford and Holland are definitely
geared up for this week’s game in
Houston.
“I think I’ll be a lot more aggre-
sive this week and I’ll concentrate on
wrapping up in my tackles,” Holland
said. “I’ll try not to miss so many
tackles. Practice has been pretty
tough. Everybody’s been fired up.
“We know what we have to do to
win. We need to win.”
Holland said the 30-12 loss to
Tech is still on the Aggies’ minds.
“I think it will help us,” Holland
said. “We haven’t been playing up to
our potential. It (the loss to Tech) let
us see how we need to improve. It’ll
make us play a lot better.”
9:30
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7:30-9:H
:50 ENDS
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