5
Wednesday, January 6, 1988/The Battalion/Page 5
Sports
ii
g_ j|fl. Irish eyes not smiling after Cotton Bowl
lOw" Iw« as Ags deal Notre Dame stunning loss
By Hal. L. Hammons
Assistant Spurts Editor
DALLAS — Surprise, surprise,
surprise. That was the word for the
day Friday at the Cotton Bowl.
Countless times throughout the
game, coaching —|
Analysis
Photo courtesy of Peter Rocha, Bryan-College Station Eagle
Notre Dame’s Mark Green fumbles the ball after being hit by a host
°f Aggies led by Adam Bob. The Aggie defense forced four turn
overs against the Fighting Irish in A&M’s 35-10 win on Jan. 1.
decisions or
player perfor
mances left
fans and ex-
perts alike shaking their heads in
amazement.
The most obvious one, of course,
was the outcome. Texas A&M, 5 1 /2-
point underdogs before the game,
completely dominated Notre Dame
in a 35-10 win that was about as close
as the score indicates.
For most of the First half, it looked
like the Aggie offense was going to
have to carry the Aggie defense — a
complete reversal of roles for A&M.
The Aggie offense rolled up 174
total yards in the First half alone,
while the defense allowed 201 for
Notre Dame. The Irish moved the
ball almost at will, mounting an
opening drive of 59 yards for a
touchdown and two other drives of
nine plays apiece.
The offense was led by its quar
terbacks — a situation common with
most teams but extremely unusual
for A&M this year. And even more
surprising was that two Aggie quar
terbacks had outstanding games. All
year there had not been an Aggie
quarterback who looked outstanding
at all in any game, but yet, when it
was most important, freshmen
Bucky Richardson (named Offen
sive Most Valuable Player) and
Lance Pavlas both surpassed all ex
pectations.
Pavlas, after looking average to
poor all year because of his inability
to read defenses, was sparkling
through the air, completing Five of
seven passes for 77 yards. Richard
son rushed for 96 yards and two
touchdowns on 13 carries.
It was amazing how effectively
A&M capitalized on Notre Dame
turnovers. Except for a late intercep
tion by Kip Corrington when the
game was no longer in doubt, each
led to an Aggie touchdown.
The first may have been the most
important. After Notre Dame had
driven the length of the field to the
Aggie 18-yard line, Irish quar
terback Terry Andrysiak made one
of his few poor passes into the end
zone, where cornerback Alex Morris
made a one-handed interception.
After the game, Andrysiak ad
mitted the play was a big mistake.
Photo courtesy of Peter Rocha, Bryan-College Station Eagle
Notre Dame’s Heisman Trophy winner Tim Brown talks to an official after he tackled A&M’s Warren Barhorst
of the 12th-Man Kick-off team. Brown complained that Barhorst tried to steal his Cotton Bowl towel.
The offense was in the wrong for
mation to run the called play, but in
stead of calling a time-out, he elected
to run the play. Then, forced out of
the pocket, he threw into double
coverage to tight end Andy Heck.
Morris, assigned to the other side of
the field, had followed Andrysiak’s
roll to the left and cut in front of
Heck for the interception.
Pavlas then entered the game for
the first time and took the Aggies
the length of the field for the score
and a 14-point turnaround.
Notre Dame turned the ball over
on the next play, as Braxton Banks
coughed up a controversial fumble
of what officials called a completed
pass. Replays seemed to indicate
Banks never had posession of the
ball.
Richardson and Pavlas combined
to take the Aggies 21 yards for an
other score. Freshman Larry Horton
scored from one yard out, plowing
over second-team All-America line
backer Ned Bplcar.
The third ^turnover was in the
third quarter after Matt Gurley had
fumbled on the 1-yard line. An ap
parent — and, for Notre Dame,
much-needed — momentum swing
evaporated as Mark Green fumbled
the ball on the next play, the second
time the Irish began a drive with a
fumble.
Pavlas took the team to the one
again, where Richardson carried the
ball in for the score. By then the
score was 25-10, 3:45 remained in;
the third quarter, and the Irish were
well on their way to being routed.
The insertion of Pavlas in the first;
place was a big surprise to many.;
Richardson, although l-for-7 in
passing at that point (The comple
tion was for -4 yards), was moving
the team effectively on the ground.
But Pavlas had another surprise
for viewers. After showing remarka
ble ability to misread defenses ear
lier in the year, he looked poised fot'
the first time all year, picking the Ir
ish defense apart with apparent ease-
and reminding Aggie fans andl
coaches that Richardson had not yec
sewn up next year’s startingjob.
lessee
j Wfr
has:'
play choices on 1st down
helped Ag defense dominate
a 10 20 30 40 50 40 30 20 10 Q
By Hal. L. Hammons
Assistant Sports Editor
DALLAS — Notre Dame’s un
explainable refusal to throw the
ball on first down may have been
the biggest
i n
a s
im
Analysis
in the Cotton
factor
Tex
A&M’s
01001300p-™
ressive victory
Bowl.
The Irish only passed seven
times in 17 first down opportuni
ties in the first half. Quarterback
Terry Andrysiak completed five
of the seven for 93 yards and four
first downs.
That amounts to an average of
18.6 yards per first down comple
tion and over 13 yards per first
down pass attempt.
But still Notre Dame insisted
on running on first down. The Ir
ish ran 10 times for 17 yards and
no first downs. Five yards was the
longest of them, and only three
netted more than two yards.
The success passing was due to
A&M’s reluctance to blitz on first
down. When the Irish passed on
first down, they kept either a back
or the tight end in the backfield,
resulting in the Irish having six or
seven men to block three or four
Aggie rushers.
A&M was concerned with stop
ping the rush to the extent that
the pass went largely unchal
lenged. Heisman Trophy winner
Tim Brown was left in single cov
erage most of the half. Of 105 re
ceiving yards for Brown in the
first half, 77 came on first down
passes.
After Notre Dame only got 29
yards on 18 rushes in the first
half, Aggie worries about the run
were slight enough to risk the
first down blitz. This and a dou
ble-team on Brown resulted in
the Irish getting only 24 yards
through the air. Brown did not
catch a pass the entire half.
Notre Dame eschewed the first
down pass the entire second half,
even with the first-down blitzing
and a substantial scoring deficit.
The first pass thrown by Notre
Dame on first down in the second
half was with less than five min
utes remaining, when A&M led
by 25 points.
FIRST HALF
Rushes: 10
Rushing yardage: 17
Yards per attempt: 1.7
Passes: 7
Completions: 5
Passing yardage: 93
Yards per attempt: 13.3
SECOND HALF
Rushes: 11
Rushing yards: 35
Yards per attempt: 3.2
Passes: 1
Completions: 0
Passing yards: 0
Yards per attempt: 0
17 rushing yards
93 passing yards
35 rushing yards
0 passing yards
Battalion Graphic by Sue Krenek
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