Page 6/The Battalion/Wednesday, Januaiy 6, 1988 Mustangs dominate Lady Ags; A&M drops conference opener By Anthony Wilson Sports Writer When the Southern Methodist Lady Mustangs weren’t bludgeoning the Lady Aggies on the boards Tues day night at G. Rollie White Col iseum, they were harassing them in the open court. The results were an overabun dance of A&M turnovers, a ton of SMU rebounds and a 71-58 loss for the Lady Aggies. SMU snatched 10 more rebounds than A&M in each half for a 43-23 advantage on the boards. SMU’s leading rebounder, Felicia Bluitt, grabbed 16 caroms. Reserve forward Nette Garrett led A&M with five re bounds. In the second half A&M com mitted 13 turnovers compared to SMU’s five. The Lady Aggies fin ished the game with 27. SMU jumped out to an early lead by scoring the first eight points of the game. A&M didn’t score until 16:35 in the first half when Traci Thomas nailed a 16-foot jumper. The Lady Aggies garnered their first lead at 10:40 in the half when Thomas'hit an 18-foot jumper. The lead rocked between the two teams for the remainder of the half with SMU taking a 28-25 advantage into the locker room at the intermission. A&M’s first lead of the second half came at 13:07 when Tracey Fewell hit a 25-foot high-arching bomb far behind the three-point line for a 43-41 advantage. Once again the. lead shifted back and forth with the Lady Aggies leading 57-56 with 4:50 remaining when Donna Roper fed Evelyn Sanders with a perfect fast-break assist for a layup. But A&M only scored two points Sooners must ditch the wishbone 1 to capture national championship 11'< +*rtf\tMtrh //* * m i\\ ■>%rm /*Lvc» !l*»n SoORCIj ^ By Hal. L. Hammons Assistant Sports Editor Mark your calendars. Friday, Jan. 1, 1988. The day Oklahoma football died. It was the day football fans never expected to see, , and a day few people recog- Viewpoint nize for the landmark occa- sion that it was. The day people real lay peoj ized that Oklahoma didn’t have a Photo byJayJanner A&M’s Donna Roper jumps for the rebound during Tuesday night’s - - - - - - — - game against SMU. The Lady Aggies lost their SWC opener 71-59. in the final 4:49. SMU scored 15 points in the same amount of time. Roper and Lisa Jordon led the Lady Aggies in scoring with 14 points apiece. Thomas chipped in 12 points, 10 of them in the first half. great football team. Mark my words — Oklahoma will never win another national championship without major recons truction.Even Barry Switzer may know that now. It’s not a problem with the Sooner defense. National champion Miami moved the ball against Oklahoma little better than vice-versa. It’s the offense, fellas, the offense. A few sheltered individuals may not know that Oklahoma runs the wishbone. Perfected by Darryl Royal and Frank Broyles at the universities of Texas and Arkansas, respectively, the forma tion became the most effective back- field formation in history. The most effective, that is, for running the football. Unfortunately for those schools, it proved to be pretty useless for pass ing. And as defenses and passing at tacks progressed in complexity and effectiveness, most schools dropped the formation for one of several, more versatile offenses. Oklahoma, however, still has it. And they work it as well as any team in wishbone history. It's more than enough to run roughshod over the Kansases and Iowa States of the bot tom-heavy Big Eight Conference. It's gene rail v enough bod\ else. But when the\ tun across the right team, a team which can slow down or e\ en mop the ground Xante and mount an effective and versatile attack of its own, the Sooners wind up on the short end of the rope. That’s happened exactly three times in the past three years. All against the University of Miami. All were Sooner losses, the onl\ losses in those three years. Miami is a great team, an honor which goes only to them and Florida State this year. OnI\ great teams can beat great teams. Oklahoma is not immune. Other teams see it’s possible to beat the hulking monster from Nor man. And the worst part about it for the Sooner faithful is that it doesn’t take a great team to-do it. It just takes the right team. have challenged the even beaten them. Do you seriously think tliai Sooners would have escapedthf „ ular season unscathed iftheyhadj longed to the Southeastern Cow ence? I’m not sure at all theyvJ have won the confertEl i hampionship. Playing teams like Auburn ^ LSU, as well as Alabama, Tenner (ieorgia and Florida every veal why more SEC teams don’t vitj tional championships. It’stootoJ to go undefeated. If Oklahoma doesn’t comeod the dark ages soon, even itsowticJ l ei ence might start catching up.® braska already has started initd ing the pass into its oMSl scheme. n Any team with a powerful front seven can hold Oklahoma to 20 points or fewer. Nebraska proved that. The Cornhuskei defense held the Sooners as well as Miami did. Fhe offense wasn't good enough to score enough points. If a team has an of fense compli cated enough to mix up the run- based Sooner defenders, as well as a strong run defense, that s|>ells doom for OU. But the signs don’t look ising. fhe Sooners have haa a J^ •‘ s> one good passing quarterback^ 6 * 11 .^ well, forever. He sat on thebend] SOl ^ K I lot, so he decided to transfe;S| ^* 1 * 1 1(1 \ You’ve seen him, nodi. *jfl )l)S< on all the All-America lists, heai d of Frov Aikman? Jamelle Hollieway? Well, ther;JB* nisl difference l>etween an arm an:i passei. Why do vou think he'sbd recruited as a defensive back: i With Aikman and a legit;.-,? probably wj K; ‘“'I' j, Ga/a i Bln < This year that team wouldn't have to be either Miami or Florida State. It could Ik* Auburn, Louisiana State or South Carolina. Or even Texas A&M. Yes, I'm serious. Texas A&M. With the Aggie offense fiat k on the upward trend. A&M has to f>e con sidered one of the best teams m the country. And the team that thrashed Notre Dame Fridas probabh would wide receiver, Ol have beaten Miami. Provided com se, the Sooner offensivesche was altered to accomodate thep ing game. As it stands, what standout k st hoof receiver is going to want to to ()l' when he can go to Miami: have a chance of catching a a from time to time? And uhatstro; ai med quarterback w ill be willing i ule t lie Inmch foi foul veanjustli^ cause he can't run a -40-yard da