Friday, September 12,1986/The Battalion/Page 11
Sports
it station
fs were die
ggies to experience
msu wildlife — Tigers,
Ians of ‘Death Valley’
J Marquis,
U1 T wr or a
iitrcedes ®
of injury
flow average By Homer Jacobs
Host Small Assistant Sports Editor
tany small^Bicture the type of crowd that fre-
liiicantlv IjBnts Kyle Field for Midnight Yell
and subsur.JSfctice, but drunker.
crcpaircostiBicture Davis-Gary, Moses,
Wor4-doorBcker and Puryear halls placed
10 i 30 percenter the horseshoe at Kyle Field
cand i?ha(;Mead of on ^ .
ally above iB north side 5>porfS
*nipus. Analysis
tsion repair Picture a
cnttoMit . ibetil. bowl-like stadium dubbed
repair cosn (Dlath Valley” with 76,869 fanatics
l ge. Hi state that live for jambalaya,
Hvfish pie and Tiger football.
Hicture a seventh-ranked team
; rom Xexas (heaven forbid) invad-
ellinc#
v It s an ugly picture.
r^f\r\r | s Tiger Stadium, home of 1,500
IUw.Louisiana State students and the Ti-
B| toot ball team.
Pl l infiH exas Offensive Goordina-
S' ! oil Lynn Amedee has many mem-
Hs of “Death Valley,” as he played
Hrterbadc for the Tigers from
Ap )—HP 0 ' 1963 -
ie stock ist#‘My britches were wet the first
ng prices e;H I walked out there (Tiger Sta-
dedine ii Hn) ( ” he said.
at the Ne>:'I Amedee said football, especially
Hit football, is a way of life in
ittributedk^bjisiana.
iden upsurp: *]t’s the social event of the year,”
id to com: (lelaid. “They get their tailgate par
ty profess ties going about Wednesday.”
Hlthough it sounds like the Aggies
:$ average Hsure to be made into seafood cre
ed 8b.61 jle, Amedee said sometimes the in-
ipsing the jH|e noise and avid fans can be ad-
nt loss ofc Hageous for an opposing team,
f this year “Mentally, it helps you get ready
: onlvaseeifora football game,” he said,
mes indiffil Amedee promises deafening
igh of 1,91!crowd noise and a vicious LSU tiger
[ling pide;Hcot (Mike IV) strategically placed
aders san outside the visitor’s locker room to
bt the Aggies on the way out the
pel.
1 Tiger Stadium’s playing surface is
Tiral grass — something the Ag-
:s haven’t set foot on since the
1 Independence Bowl. The Ag-
have been practicing on grass
n recentmffi
Lynn Amedee
through two-a-days and regular
practices.
Amedee said after last year’s pen
alty-plagued game with Alabama
that also involved a lot of noise,
A&M dumped its audible system
that quarterback Kevin Murray used
when he stepped to the line of scrim
mage.
“The snap count is now sounds in
stead of numbers,” Amedee said.
If Murray and company can’t
hear these sounds, the game may be
come an encore of last year’s A&M-
Texas game.
Remember quarterback Bret
Stafford’s plea for silence from the
Aggie faithful?
Amedee compares the noise of Ti
ger Stadium to that Thanksgiving
night.
“I think the crowd noise at the
Texas game was every bit as loud as
it is in Baton Rouge,” Amedee said.
Picture LSU fans waving Jack
Daniels bottles when their kickoff
team takes the field.
Grab the 12th Man towels, Aggies
— at least, to serve as a bib.
Aggie notes. . . Head Yell Leader
Marty Holmes said yell practice will
be held for the LSU game at mid
night at the state capitol building in
Baton Rouge tonight.
Ags to showcase 'real thing' Saturday
By Ken Sury
Sports Editor
Well, we’ve heard enough about
how great the 1986 Texas A&M
football team is expected to be.
We’ll see the truth Saturday
night in Baton Rouge, La.
The Aggies, ranked seventh in
the Asso- c —
ciated Press SpOITS
poll, take on Viewpoint
NO. 14 Loui-
siana State University in Tiger Sta
dium at 6:45 p.m. in a nationally-
televised (ESPN) season opener
which may be a barometer of the
team’s success for the year.
But don’t look at past season
openers with LSU to be an indica
tor of A&M success -—there’s only
disappointment. In eight season
opening contests with LSU, A&M
has lost each time, including the
’69 team, which was the defending
Southwest Conference champions
and ’68 Cotton Bowl winners.
And those starting losses didn’t
bode well for the rest of the season
as those A&M teams finished with
losing records.
But that shouldn’t happen to
the ’86 team, which returns with
last year’s SWC-leading defense
nearly intact and an experienced
group of players at the skills posi
tions.
The Aggie defense returns its
front seven linemen, which could
possibly line up with the best col
lege football has to offer.
Linebackers Larry Kelm and
Johnny Holland should prove why
they were the top two tacklers on
the ’85 squad, and Playboy presea
son All-America Rod Saddler at
left end are just three of the rea
sons LSU freshman redshirt quar
terback Tom Hodson will want to
sit on the bench.
The only concern defensively is
in an inexperienced secondary.
But the secondary is well-stocked
with good athletes and free safety
Kip Corrington does have some
big-play experience, such as an in
terception return for a touchdown
against Baylor and the key tackle
of Arkansas’ Bobby Joe Edmonds
on a fourth-and-two deep in A&M
territory to preserve the Aggies’
10-6 win last year.
On offense, all-SWC quar-
terback Kevin Murray is the
healthiest he’s ever been for a sea
son opener and his performance
will dictate the success of the of
fense Saturday.
Murray says being injury-free to
start the season has him more re
laxed. A&M coaches say he’s
throwing the ball with more speed
than ever.
But he won’t be alone, as a
strong backfield of Playboy pre
season All-America fullback Roger
Vick and tailback Keith Woodside
will keep the Aggie ground game
moving forward, while Murray has
top receivers in Shea Walker, Rod
Harris and Rod Bernstine when
he needs to go to the air.
It remains to be seen if the of
fensive line can be as strong as last
year, and also questionable is the
kicking game. Eric Franklin is
sidelined with a stress fracture and
hasn’t kicked since the Cotton
Bowl. In his place will probably be
Scott Slater, who walked on last
year as the kickoff man, but filled
in at placekicker in both the Texas
and tne Cotton Bowl.
However, even with all the of
fensive firepower at the Aggies’
disposal, the game probably will be
a low-scoring affair. The Tigers
return 10 defensive starters and
are notorious for giving little
ground to opposing teams in Ti
ger Stadium. Linebacker Michael
Brooks earned All-America hon
ors last year and Sherrill expects
tough play from the LSU down
linemen and secondary.
But offensively the Tigers are
green at the skills positions. In ad
dition to a young quarterback, the
starting running backs, Victor
Jones and Sam Martin, carried the
ball only 42 times last year.
So put away all those preseason
prediction football magazines and
prepare for an all-out Bayou bat
tle.
Those predictions look great on
paper, but the real thing’s played
on grass Saturday night.
And A&M’s the real thing.
Battalion File Photo
Quarterback Kevin Murray starts the 1986 season the healthiest he’s
been since his freshman year, and will be directing the Aggie of
fense when A&M faces LSU Saturday night in Baton Rouge, La.
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