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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 5, 1988)
Monday, September 5, 1988/The Battalion/Page 13 31 Sports isaster strikes in Baton Rouge j A&M’s Larry Horton fights for yardage during Saturday’s game against LSU. Photo by Dean Saito Tigers swamp Aggies for 27-0 win Havpim; ion I !Ct jse ties FI iwis's ai| t drive: n viewer I ’ diseav; Vmericr nich co| refits itionaDl t to till c calls bj cash o:| ica. tee;] rid otlitil nt door ■ rnivalsii] t agains| m’s Iona k again Davis jt .0, Note By Hal L. Hammons Sports Editor BATON ROUGE, La. — Call it weather, call it fans, call it injuries, call it what you will. What it was was a thrashing. A hostile crowd of 79,018 screamed with delight as it saw the llth-ranked Texas A&M Aggies methodically destroyed 27-0 by the No. 17 Louisiana State Tigers. The Aggies were beaten, pure and simple. Beaten in the trenches. Beaten in the backfield. Beaten in the secondary. Beaten in their own minds. Beaten up. The tone of the game was set im mediately, as LSU stopped the Ag gies on three plays to start the game. Tom Fabacher blocked the punt by Sean Wilson that followed, the Ti gers got the ball at midfield, and they were stopped short of the end l Lone otvVv by a fall by quarterback | Tom Hodson on second and five. David Browndyke kicked a 37- yard field goal, and the rout was on. Bucky Richardson, the starting quarterback for A&M, stayed in for only two drives that added up to six plays. By that time it was 6-0. Lance Pavlas came in for the first time this season, and he, like Rich ardson last week, threw an intercep tion on his first pass. Pavlas’ toss was blocked at the line of scrimmage by linebacker Ron Sancho and taken in for a touch down. It seemed A&M might be recov ering on the next posession. The Ag gies started with excellent field posi tion after a 15-yard offensive interference penalty was marked off against LSU. The penalty occurred on the failed two-point attempt after the touchdown. Pavlas moved the team to the LSU 33 but threw another interception when he was flushed out of the pocket and tried to force a pass down the sideline. The team never seriously threat ened to win the game after that. The only other Aggie drive of note was conducted early in the fourth quarter by Chris Osgood, who played the entire second half. Trailing 20-0 by this time, the Ag gies drove from their own 36 to the two yardline. But three attempts ended in a pass to Wally Hartley in the end zone that bounced off the crossbar incomplete. And if that wasn’t psychologically destructive enough, the Tigers took the ball 98 yards to punch it in them selves. The raucous Tiger crowd was a big part of the game, particularly on the goal-line stand. Osgood said, “When we got down near the end zone I couldn’t even hear myself, but the referee told me to run the play.” A&M Head Coach Jackie Sherrill See Aggies, page 15 Ags functioned as a team in embarrassing setback Hal L. Hammons BATON ROUGE, La. — Somebody asked Adam Bob after the game what went wrong, and his answer says it all: “I don’t know, it was just a team effort.” Generally that’s a statement that comes from someone on the winning side who’s trying to be humble about his part in the victory. Here it’s just a simple statement of fact. — What went wrong for the Aggies? Let’s look at a partial list: Rushing offense. Passing offense. Rushing defense. Passing defense. Offensive line of scrimmage. Time of posession. Turnovers. First downs. Third downs. And if that isn’t enough, you can factor in the intangibles. Things like inexperience, injuries, weather and the home-field advantage. But don’t get the impression that Texas A&M lost to Louisiana State because of the second group. The bottom line is, the Aggies got waxed by a team that, under any conditions and circumstances, would have beaten them. Easily. In the three years since the Jackie Sherrill Renaissance at A&M the Aggies have made it a habit to lose games from time to time. But in each of the losses, including the Kickoff Classic Aug. 27, it is easy to see the Aggies coming out as the victors. All they would have nad to do is play the way they were capable. The only possible exception I can think of would be Ohio State in the Cotton Bowl two years ago. And that loss could almost be single-handedly attributed to Kevin Murray’s inept performance. This game was different. And Aggies everywhere might just as well admit it. The thing that makes it so scary is that LSU didn’t particularly play well. The Tigers could have, and arguably should have, won by 35 or 40. How many times are you going to see Tom Hodson go 7-for-21 in a game this year? Not many, I’ll assure you. How about the first Tiger drive — the one that ended in the first Tigers points? Only a fluke fall by Hodson on a rollout killed the drive. There’s absolutely no reason to think LSU wouldn’t have driven into the end zone just as easily as they had driven the rest of the field. What is going to happen when this team gets its act in gear? Photo by Dean Saito Ron Sancho runs through Lance Pavlas to return an interception for LSU’s first touchdown. Remember how all the Aggies said the last two years that they would have creamed LSU if they had played the Tigers at the end of the season? Well, if these two teams met at the end of 1988 it might be 60-0 LSU. All the credit the past two years has gone to Harvey Williams — “The Aggie Killer.” Well, if you will recall, Williams didn’t play Saturday. Rather, it was the Tiger second- and third-string tailbacks who both outrushed the entire A&M team in the first See Hammons, page 15 se$lW [ ^phyAi ) besed ic open the tele 3 s 47 SIGN UP TO PLHV! Ep t jjA Ej PRESENTED BY GENERAL MOTORS & GMAC FINANCIAL SERVICES IN ASSOCIATION WITH SPORT OR ACTIVITY: Indoor Soccer DIVISION(S): Co-Rec B SIGN-UP DATE(S): Entries Close Tuesday, Septmeber 6 TIME: 5:30 p.m. PLACE: IM-Rec Sports Office, 159 Read Bldg. SPORT OR ACTIVITY: Flag Football DIVISION(S): CO-Rec B SIGN-UP DATE(S): Entries Close Tuesday, September 13 TIME: 5:30 p.m. PLACE: IM-Rec Sports Office, 159 Read Bldg. SPORT OR ACTIVITY: Table Tennis Singles DIVISION(S): Co-Rec B SIGN-UP DATE(S): Entries Close Tuesday, September 13 TIME: 5:30 p.m. PLACE: IM-Rec Sports Office, 159 Read Bldg. SPORT OR ACTIVITY: 16” Softball DIVISION(S): Co-Rec B SIGN-UP DATE(S): Entries Close Tuesday, September 13 TIME: 5:30 p.m. PLACE: IM-Rec Sports Office, 159 Read Bldg. General Motors and GMAC Financial Services are proud to be associated with your campus intramural-recreational sports and activities. Stop by your Intramural or Recreational Sports Department today so you can sign up to play! GM COLLEM CHEVROLET- PONTIAC • glftSMOSI ii BUICK • CADILLAC- CMC TRUCK GMAC FINANCIAL SERVICES ©1988 General Motors..'.'sharing your future’ 6th Annual Texas Biathlon at southwood valley Pool Saturday Sept. 10,8 a.m. 1000 yd. swim 10Krun For More Information Call: 764-3787 764-3773 US a* SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING MAJORS! The Air Force has open ings for men and women in selected science and engineering fields. To prepare you for one, you can apply for an Air Force ROTC scholarship. See what it can do for you. Contact the cam pus Air Force ROTC representative today CART GAMACHE 409-845-7611 Leadership Excellence Starts Here OFFICIAL NOTICE TO TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY STUDENTS In the past, certain information has been made public by Texas A&M University as a service to students, families, and other interested individuals. Under the “Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974”, the following directory information may be made public unless the student desires to withhold any or all of this information. Student’s name, address (local and permanent), telephone listing, date and place of birth, sex, nationality, race, major, classification, dates of attendance, class schedule, degrees awarded,awards or honors, class standing, previous institution or educational agency attended by the student, parent’s name and address, sports participation, weight and height of athletic team members, parking permit information, and photograph. Any student wishing to withhold any or all of this information should fill out, in person, the appropriate form, available to all students at the Registrar’s Office, Room 112, Records Section, no later than 5:00 p.m., Friday September 16, 1988 Donald D. Carter Registrar