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Page 6AThe Battalion/Friday, November 20, 1987
Sports
Ags, Horned Frogs tangle Saturday
Oliver’s takes over as Aggies’ ‘hand’s man’
By Anthony Wilson
Sports Writer
A hands man. Every successful
football team has to have one.
A hands man is a receiver who
the quarterback always looks for
when a crucial first down or
touchdown is needed, because a
hands man will always hang onto
a pass, especially when the game
is on the line.
In the previous four seasons,
Texas A&M had one of the best
possession receivers to be found
in Shea Walker. But this year’s
hands man, freshman redshirt
Gary Oliver, may be even better.
“He’s a better receiver than
Shea was,” A&M wide receiver
coach George Pugh said. “He’s
better because he does have
speed. He does have talent. He
does catch the ball. He’s a tough,
tough ballplayer. His speed is de
ceiving. He’s a legitimate 4.6
sprinter. Shea Walker was at best
4.9 — wind-aided.”
3?
As a redshirt last season, Oliver
spent a lot of time observing
Walker from the sideline. Among
the things he learned were to
work hard in practice and preci
sion in running pass routes.
“From Shea, you just learned
that you have to go out every day
and practice and work harder just
to get better,” Oliver said.
Oliver must have picked up on
some of Walker’s goal line moves.
He scored the offense’s only
touchdown against Arkansas Sat
urday in the fourth quarter on a
3-yard pass from Craig Stump.
“I ran my 10-yard out route
and Craig made a good throw on
the sideline,” the 6-foot-2, 170-
pound Oliver said. “It doesn’t
sound like much, but the 3-yard
touchdown against Arkansas was
my biggest catch.”
After making thie grab that
iced the game for the Aggies, the
normally subdued Oliver went
wild with excitement, pointing
into the stands, jumping into tea
mmates’ arms and high-fxving ev
eryone in the area code.
“When I was interviewing (af
ter the game), they asked me
what I was feeling,” he said. “And
after the game I couldn’t even re
member what I had done after
the touchdown. Everything just
takes over you. I didn’t realize I
had run off the field or jumped
up and down or whatever I did.”
Oliver finished the game with
two catches for 15 yards and the
one touchdown. For the season,
he has seven catches for 88 yards,
a 12.6 yard average. His two TD
receptions leads the team. His
other touchdown catch sealed
A&M’s victory in the fourth quar
ter of the Rice game. That was a
37-yard catch thrown by running
back Darren Lewis on a halfhack
option pass.
Oliver, who because of his
moves and body english was
given the nickname the Weasel by
Pugh (“He loves it. He better. He
has no choice.”), has made a me
teoric rise up the depth chart into
the starting flanker position. At
the end of spring practices, Oli
ver was listed as the third split
end.
“He may have been even far
ther along than that,” Pugh said.
“I thought he was maybe fourth
or fifth string.”
Oliver moved up the depth
chart after Anthony Taylor and
See Oliver, page 7
Nebraska or OU clash
as No.1 for sixth time
Jeffery’s chances for Heisman Trophy fading
By Anthony Wilson
Sports Writer
Around the turn and heading
into the home stretch, it’s Tim
Brown and Tony Jeffery neck
and neck. Close behind but fad
ing fast are Lorenzo White and
Craig “Ironhead” Heyward. It’s
Jeffery and Brown. It’s Brown
and Jeffery. Brown’s really pour
ing on the publicity and hype.
And Brown crosses the finish line
in full stride, winning the race to
the Heisman hands down.
The Heisman Trophy is an
award given each year to the na
tion’s best collegiate football
player. The Heisman race has
evolved into a four-man contest
this season with Notre Dame’s
Brown, Texas Christian’s Jeffery,
Michigan State’s White and Pitts
burgh’s Heyward pulling away
from the pack of early season
mmm
Wu
hopefuls, such as Washington’s
Chris Chandler, Florida’s Kerwin
Bell and UCLA’s Gaston Green.
This Saturday, Texas A&M’s
defense will try to contain Jeffery,
who is the nation’s third leading
rusher behind Heyward and
White. Jeffery has carried the ball
202 times for 1,353 yards, for a
6.7 yard average, the top average
among the nation’s top six rush
ers. Although Jeffery received no
preseason consideration for the
Heisman, he has emerged as a
strong candidate in the last
month.
However, the front runner for
the award would have to be
Brown. Brown is second in the
nation in all-purpose yardage, av
eraging 182.2 yards per game.
The senior from Dallas has
racked up 133 yards rushing, 729
yards receiving, 380 punt return
yards and 398 kickoff return
yards for a total of 1,640 yards.
Jeffery is fifth in the nation
with 161 yards per game. He has
17 receptions for 257 yards to go
along with his rushing totals.
Notre Dame’s record, 8-1, cou
pled with the fact that the Fight
ing Irish play the toughest sched
ule in the nation, gives Brown a
definite advantage over Jeffery.
TCU is 5-5 with a 3-3 Southwest
Conference record. And the
SWC has had trouble keeping a
team in the top 20.
In a telephone interview on
Thursday, Jeffery said that he
hadn’t even contemplated win
ning the award until about a
month ago.
“I’m just trying to help the
team and try to have a winning
season,” he said. “I wasn’t think
ing about that until I saw it in the
paper about four weeks ago. It’s
nice but I’m not really thinking
about it.”
John David Crow, A&M’s asso
ciate athletic director who won
the Heisman Trophy in 1957
when he rushed for 562 yards,
believes that Brown is the favorite
to win the trophy, but that Jeffery
should be given consideration.
“I think with the kind of year
he’s having and what he means to
TCU’s football team, he deserves
consideration,” Crow said.
See Jeffery, page 7
From the Associated Press
Saturday’s game marks the sixth
time since their 1971 “Game of the
Century” that either the Nebraska
Cornhuskers or the Oklahoma
Sooners is ranked No. 1 entering
their annual showdown.
The No. 1 team is 3-2 in the pre
vious five meetings and the higher
ranked team is 11-6 since 1971.
Saturday will be the 22nd meeting
of No. 1 and No. 2 ranked teams in
the 52 years of the Associated Press
poll, the 15th time in regular-season
play.
In the previous 21 games, the No.
1 team has a 14-5 lead with two ties,
although the No. 2 team has won
four of the last six.
The first shootout between the
nation’s two highest ranked teams
occurred in 1943 when No. 1 Notre
Dame edged No. 2 Iowa Pre-Flight
14-13. Notre Dame and Army each
were involved in four of the first six
1-2 games between 1943-1946.
There was a 16-year break until
No. 1 Southern Cal outlasted No.2
Wisconsin 42-37 in the 1962 Rose
Bowl, the first time the top two
teams met in postseason play.
The last time, of course, wasNo.2
Penn State’s 14-10 national i
championship victory over No. 1 Mi
ami in last season’s Fiesta Bowl.
The 1971 classic, in which No. 1
Nebraska beat No. 2 Oklahoma 35-
31, was the only previous time this
game matched No. 1 and No. 2. Ne
braska has been involved in one
other showdown, defeating No. 2
Alabama 38-6 in the Orange Bowlto
win the 1971 national
championship.
Oklahoma has been in three other
1-2 marches, losing all of them. The
Sooners were No. 1 when they lostto
Texas 28-7 in the 1963 Cotton Bowl,
No. 2 when they lost to Southern
California 28-24 in 1981 and No. 1
when they bowed to Miami 28-li
last season.
Big 10 upset by network’s
showcasing of Tim Brown
From the Associated Press
Tim Brown, Notre Dame’s out
standing flanker-kick return special
ist, is favored to win the Heisman
Trophy next month.
It’s a good thing votes are not
counted in the Big 10 office.
The Big 10, which has not had a
Heisman winner since Ohio State’s
Archie Griffin in 1974-75, is some
what touchy over its TV network
publicizing other players.
On Sept. 30, Mark Rudner, direc
tor of the Big Ten Service Bureau,
sent a letter to Rasmussen Commu
nications, the Big 10’s TV syndica
tor, complaining about “the pre
ferred treatment given to Notre
Dame’s Tim Brown in regards to the
Heisman Trophy.”
Specifically, Rudner objected to a
Rasmussen news release which said
that “the Big 10 Television Network
will showcase the Purdue Boilermak
ers against nationally-ranked Notre
Dame and Heisman Trophy candi
date Tim Brown ...”
Rudner conceded “there can be
no question about the abilities of a
Tim Brown,” but expressed concern
that “these efforts should be madeat
the expense of the many Big 10 foot
ball players that our coaches, sports
information directors and confer
ence office personnel promote for
various postseason honors.”
The letter mentioned Ohio State
linebacker Chris Spielman and run
ning backs Jamie Morris of Michigan
and Lorenzo White of Michigan
State as possible Heisman contend
ers, adding:
“I question the wisdom of the Big
10 Television Network promoting
Tim Brown of Notre Dame for the
Heisman Trophy over those three
players, or any other Big 10 player."
Class Council Newsletter
Thank You!
All of the classes would like to say thank you to
Jackie Sherrill for a donation of $2,500 to each of
us.
It is greatly appreciated!
Elephant Walk
Elephant Walk is right around the corner!
On November 24th, the Seniors wilt once again gather
around the statue of Sully at noon to begin the tradition
known as Elephant Walk. This year we have a few favors to
ask of Junior Aggies, and Senior Aggies alike.
Elephant Walk is intended to be the Seniors day. It is a
time of reflection for the Seniors, an opportunity to gather
with good friends, and a way to show their support for a
victory over t.u.. It is a day of fun for all Zips.
Over the past 10 years this tradition has been jeapor-
dized. Junior-Senior interaction — stemming from Juniors
trying to “kill” Seniors with everything from shaving cream
to water ballons, and Seniors refusing to “die”, — has
caused several problems. (The Seniors do not actually die,
it just represents the fact that they are no longer of use to
the Twelfth Man.) Major injuries occurring from the wres
tling, and the “trashing” of our campus are only a few prob
lems that have caused a deviation from the intent of El
ephant Walk. The interaction may be Good Bull, but at the
expense of people’s health and the tradition itself, it is a
high price to pay.
In a concerted effort to preserve the Elephant Walk tra
dition, a group of student leaders and students, Jqniors
and Seniors alike, have made the decision to highly dis
courage Junior involvement in Elephant Walk this year. Not
only will this keep unnecessary injuries from occurring, but
it will also preserve the tradition for the classes to follow,
who may not get to enjoy this tradition if the problems con
tinue.
We cannot expect that in a few days we are going to
reach all Juniors and Seniors and turn the whole scene
around. This is where we would like to call upon our fellow
Juniors and Seniors to help out, also. If you are a Senior
and you are approached during the Walk by another stu
dent, please try to discourage the interaction and continue
walking. This may seem like a small move, but it will have
great effects. Juniors are encouraged to participate in
activities that have been planned for them on the day of El
ephant Walk. There will be a pull-out yell practice headed
by the Junior yell leaders at 1:00 p.m. at the statue of Sully.
Immediately following yell practice, the Class of ’89 will
have pictures taken with the live elephants out at the Bon
fire site.
With all this in mind, let us all help to get Elephant Walk
back to a Senior activity and preserve the traditions for the
years to come. Your support and cooperation will be
greatly appreciated.
Beat the hell outta t.u.!!!!
Andrea R. Beshara, Pres.
Class of ’88
Denise Arledge, Pres.
Class of ’89
Class of ’88
T-Shirt Sales:
Elephant walk t-shirts are on sale in the MSC
through the 23rd for $10 each. All proceeds go to
the class gift. Whoop!
“Never say Die!”
Class gift:
The Gift Committee is currently accepting
suggestions for class gift through Nov. 20th in the
MSC. From then, the gift suggestions will be re
searched and up to five final suggestions will be
selected for voting. The voting for the class gift
will be the week of February 8th thru the 12th in
the MSC. The votes will then be tallyed and a se
nior class gift will be chosen! Whoop!!! The Class
of ’88, the Senior Class, gift will then be presented
at the All University Awards Ceremony, Sunday,
April 10th, during parents weekend. We urge ev
eryone in the Senior Class to get involved in this
project, since it represents our class and contri
bution to the university.
Class of ’89
Thank You!
We would like to say thank you to the hard
workers who put on car washes this past summer.
They were held in San Antonio & College Station
to raise $ for our
class. The help of everyone involved was greatly
appreciated.
Class Ball
Class Ball will be combined with the class of
’90 this year. We hope this will make the class ball
bigger and better than ever. There was a general
committee meeting on November 18, to start work
toward the big night— March 5, 1988. Sub-Corn-
mittee Chairmen have been chosen, but people
are needed to help them. For more information
call Todd 260-3991 or Katherine 260-0937.
T-Shirt Sales
Elephant Walk T-Shirts are on sale through the
23th for $8 each. Ail proceeds go to the class gift,
so stop by and pick one up!
“Just say Die!”
Class Gift
Gift information week is coming soon to the
MSC — watch for it!
Class of ’91
The freshman class had a general meeting
last Tues. and officers were introduced and
spoke briefly. Plans for class ball and fundraisers
were discussed by students and chairmen. Con
cerns voiced by freshmen included the closing of
the Rudder Tower Dining Room and lack of class
spirit. Class of ’91 t-shirts and caps will be on
sale soon.
Freshman officers are: Steve Werheim-Pres., Ja
son Wilcox-Vice Pres., Leslie Frizzell-Secretary,
David-Treasurer; Krissa-Social Secretary