The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current, November 02, 1987, Image 8

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    Page 8/The Battalion/Monday, November 2,1987
Sports
Ag defense, special teams
key victory over Bulldogs
By Tammy Hedgpeth
Sports Writer
Louisiana Tech quarterbacks
handed the Texas A&M “Wreck
ing Crew” a few treats as they
were tricked into eight sacks dur
ing the Aggies 32-3 win over the
Bulldogs on Halloween.
A&M
linebacker
John Roper
said, “It was
Nightmare
Analysis
on Kyle Field!”
The A&M offense dressed as
Sleepy and Bashful of the Seven
Dwarfs while the special teams
and the dominating defense came
to the rescue as Prince Charming.
The special teams scored two
touchdowns to overpower Tech
as 53,779 fans witnessed the Hal
loween massacre.
“The biggest difference in the
ball game was their punt team
and our return team,” A&M
Head Coach Jackie Sherrill said.
A&M punt returner Rod Har
ris recorded eight punt returns —
one of which he returned 59
yards for a touchdown — for a to
tal of 123 yards. Harris’ one-
game totals eclipsed the old A&M
record of 98 yards set by Bob
Goode in 1945.
“I felt like Tech was going to
play us hard, and everybody had
to do their job,” Harris said. “We
played together as a team — of
fense, defense and kicking game.
That’s what you have to do to
win.”
True, but once again the A&M
defense kept the 6-2 Aggies in the
game. The Aggie defense held
the Bulldogs to only 57 yards
rushing and 45 yards passing.
That’s domination.
It was terror on the field for
Tech quarterback David McKin
ney who was dropped for six of
the eight sacks. Conroy Hines
also was sacked twice. Roper re
corded four of the eight quar
terback sacks and returned a
blocked punt 10 yards for the
first touchdown of the game.
Running back Larry Horton set
Photo by Robert Rizzo
Louisiana Tech quarterback David McKinney scrambles as A&M
noseguard Jeff Huff (62) and linebacker Adam Bob (24) pursue.
up the touchdown by blocking
the Tech punt.
The dominance continued as
strong safety Chet Brooks
blocked a field goal attempt in the
first quarter.
A&M’s ground attack was led
by fullback Melvins Collins who
ran for 56 yards on 11 carries.
Quarterbacks Bucky Richardson
and Lance Pavlas combined to
complete five of 15 passes for 47
yards, a season low.
“We didn’t throw the ball as
well as we have to,” Sherrill said.
“Forty-seven yards may be the
lowest total I’ve ever had as a
coach — period. We’ve got to
work on protection.”
It was halftime before the of
fense crawled out of bed and
played ball.
“It was a case of us not coming
out and being ready to play,”
A&M quarterback Bucky Rich
ardson said. “We woke up at half
time, and we came out and put
some points on the board. The
defense kept us in the game the
first half.”
Everyone is waiting for the of
fense to explode. But will that
happen?
“We know we can do the job,”
Richardson said. “We know we
can move the ball on people. We
come out and just don’t do it.
That’s frustating for everybody
— fans, coaches, us.”
The Aggies, who have next
week off, are hoping the break
will allow them to improve on
some noteable weaknesses.
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Horns lead SWC chase
Aggies, Razorbacks, Horned Frogs still alive
(AP)—The surprising Texas
Longhorns have established them
selves as the team to catch in the
Southwest Conference November
football stretch-run.
The Horns’ solid 41-27 victory
over the Texas Tech Red Raiders
before 74,000 in Austin on Saturday
removed any doubts whether Coach
David McWilliams’ burnt orange
bunch is a serious contender.
“I think we’re a Top 20 team and
we’re just now coming into our own
as a team, especially the defensive
unit,” linebacker Duane Duncum
said.
“I think we’re improving in differ
ent areas each week and I still don’t
think we’ve put everything together
for the full four quarters yet,” said
another Texas linebacker, Lee
Brockman.
“We’ve all got the attitude that we
can go to the Cotton Bowl,” safety
John Hagy said.
The Longhorns, 3-0 in league
f ames, are shadowed by defending
WC champion Texas A&M, presea
son favorite Arkansas, and the
Texas Christian Horned Frogs.
Arkansas is 4-1 after a 38-14 vic
tory over Rice in Houston while
The Longhorns get TCU ant
Baylor at home in back-to-bad
clashes after meeting Houston.
Then comes what could be tin
SWC Game of the Year on Thank,,
giving night in College Statk
against Texas A&M before them'
tional television cameras (ESPN). |l
TCU improved to 3-1 with a solid
35-7 triumph over Houston in Fort
Worth.
Texas A&M is 3-1 and defeated
Louisiana Tech 32-3 in a non-con
ference game at College Station.
Baylor (2-2) was idle. Tech is 2-3,
Houston 0-4, and Rice 0-5.
Texas travels to Houston for a 7
p.m. game in the Astrodome on Sat
urday while TCU is at Texas Tech in
a noon (Raycom regional television)
matchup and Baylor is at Arkansas
for a 1 p.m. game at Fayetteville.
McWilliams handles any Cottor
Bowl talk like a hot potato.
“We’re not going to get ahead oil
ourselves,” McWilliams said. “Wtl
just need to stay aggressive.”
TCU Coach Jim Wacker said tit
same thing.
“We can’t afford to start thinking
about the Cotton Bowl,” Wacko
said. “That will take care of itself
down the road. I know this: wean
starting to play very good defense,
and that’s what you have to do to win
championships."
Texas A&M will be idle this week,
giving Jackie Sherrill critical time to
work on his sputtering offense.
The Aggie defense is still among
the nation's Top 20.
A&M had only 47 yards passing
and Sherrill said, “it’s the lowest tota
I’ve ever had as a coach. We just
have to work on our protection.”
SWC football: UT, A&M defense
highlight conference superlatives
Associated Press
The much maligned Southwest
Conference has produced an inter
esting four-team race. Here’s what
happened around the conference on
Saturday:
AUSTIN CHALK — The Texas
Tech Red Raiders just can’t handle
the Texas Longhorns in Austin.
Texas is 20-2 against Tech at home,
including Saturday’s 41-27 victory.
The Red Raiders haven’t won there
BIG D IN KYLE FIELD — Texas
A&M’s defense held Louisiana Tech
to only 100 yards total defense. The
Aggies are sure to move up the lad
der from their 14th national ranking
and they’ll stay there awhile.
JEFFERY’S GALLOP — Can you
think of a more classy way to break
Jim Swink’s all-time Texas Christian
touchdown record than an 82-yard
scoring run? That’s what Tony Jeff
ery did on Saturday in a 35-7 victory
over Houston.
STREAK ENDS — Houston had
won five consecutive games at Amon
Carter Stadium in Fort Worth, never
losing to the Horned Frogs until Sat
urday’s flogging.
GOOD HANDS — For the first
time this year, Texas didn’t fumble
in a game.
BIG BOOT — Wayne Clements’
52-yard field goal against Texas
Tech was his career long.
QUICK HEALER — Eric Metcal!
suffered a painful hip pointer in tht
first half of Texas’ victory overTecli
on Saturday. After a whirlpool treat'
ment at halftime, Metcalf returned
to throw a touchdown pass and run
for another score.
STRANGE ST AT — Louisiana
Tech lost to A&M 32-3 yet actually
held the ball more than the Aggies
with 30:27 to 29:33 time of posses
sion.
BAD CROWD — Not even the
loyal Arkansas fans can pump up the
bad crowds at Rice Stadium. Official
attendance was listed at 13,299 fans.
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