The Battalion
Sports
ichardson ignites offense
[Despite poor statistics, he finds a way to win
Wednesday, Oct. 12, 1988
Page
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By Doug Walker
Assista7it Sports Editor
Football scouts and fans call it an
|intangible.
It’s something that can’t be de-
Ifined or easily described.
In fact, Richardson doesn’t lead
[the Texas Aggies in any of the statis-
[tical categories that ax e supposed to
determine the most valuable mem
ber of a football team.
Yet, when the sophomore from
Baton Rouge, Louis., is in at quar-
iterback the Aggies almost always
Ivin.
When Richardson speaks it be-
bomes clear why he is a successful at
huarterback: He’s confident without
being cocky, and he knows what he
bas to do.
In victories over Texas Tech and
louston, Richardson has provided a
kpark for the Aggie offense in seve
ral different ways.
Profile of the Week
Bucky Richardson
Prior to the Texas Tech game
A&M Head Coach Jackie Sherrill
said he needed to find a way to get
Richardson involved in the game be
cause of his attitude.
“Bucky’s a winner, and we’ve got
to think of a way to get him on the
field,” Sherrill said.
As Texas Tech can attest, they
found a way.
The Aggies shocked the Raiders
by using Richardson as a quar
terback in the wishbone formation
and rolled up 420 yards rushing.
A&M demolished a defense that
had held Baylor to two yards rush
ing the week before.
He also ran for a two-point con
version and for a first down on a
fake punt to key a scoring drive.
After the game, Richardson was
typically calm.
He displayed his unselfish atti
tude as he explained his outlook for
himself and his feelings about split
ting time at quarterback with junior
transfer Chris Osgood.
“I want to help this team in any
way possible,” Richardson said.
The option attack that Richardson
runs so effectively was vital in last
week’s game against Houston. The
Aggies needed to control the ball
and score points to keep the explo
sive Cougar offense off the field.
Early in the game the offense was
not sustaining drives, and the Hous
ton offense drove for two early field
goals to take a 6-0 lead.
Enter Richardson.
On his second series at quar
terback, the Aggies drove 81 yards
for a touchdown to take the lead.
The drive took 18 plays and con
sumed six minutes and 30 seconds to
give the Aggie defensive unit a valu
able rest.
Richardson quarterbacked the
Aggies on their other scoring drives
and converted some big third-down
plays all day against a Houston de
fense that is vastly improved over
last year.
A&M converted 13 of 26 third
down situations and compiled over
five minutes more possession time
than Houston in the 30-16 win.
The most important third down
conversion may have come in A&M’s
last scoring drive.
Houston had scored to draw
within 23-16 with slightly under five
minutes remaining. Cougar reserve
quarterback Andre Ware seemed to
have finally solved the weary Aggie
See Richardson, page 8
it|Lewis, Roper get kudos from Sherrill
IV!
eall
By Hal L. Hammons
Sports Editor
Texas A&M Head Coach Jackie Sherrill went
|o Tuesday’s press luncheon planning to talk
pout the Aggies’ upcoming game with Baylor.
Mat he ended up talking about was Darren Le-
iandjohn Roper.
Sherrill said Lewis and Roper represent Heis-
nan and Lombardi Trophy candidates who have
few equals in the country.
Lewis is coming off a 201-yard effort against
louston Saturday that, with 168- and 177-yard
tames against Oklahoma State and Texas Tech,
let an A&M record for rushing yardage in three
tonsecutive games.
The 546-yard total is the best in the Southwest
Conference since the last three games of Earl
Campbell’s senior year at Texas. Campbell fol
lowed the 556-yard effort with a Heisman Tro
phy.
Sherrill said he doesn’t think it’s too late in the
jeason or too early in Lewis’ career for the Aggie
[wphomore to think about a Heisman of his own.
“The two best running backs in the country
berformance-wise are (OSU’s) Barry Sanders
and Darren Lewis,” Sherrill said. “He’s a physical
player. He’ll take licks and dish them out.”
Lewis proved that Saturday. His 40 carxies was
one shy of the school record held by Mark Green
(against Southern Methodist in 1971) and Roger
Vick (1986 against Texas).
“There are very few running backs who can
take the punishment Darren took Saturday night
and give the effort he gave,” Sherrill said.
Lewis is still not 100 percent. He has a
sprained toe and a bruised shoulder, but the in
juries don’t seem to have affected his perfor
mance.
Lewis now ranks fourth in the nation and leads
the SWC in yards-per-game at 146.8. His 5.8
yards-per-carry average leads the conference
too.
Sherrill also praised Roper as being one of the
top linebackers in the country.
“He’s not only one of the best football players
I’ve been around,” Sherrill said of Roper, “he’s a
very unselfish player. There are a lot of others
with his ability that don’t perform play after play.
“There are not many others who will rush the
passer, then turn around and make the tackle 60
yards downfield. There are not many'others who
will drop down and play nose guard.”
Sherrill referred to the first play of the Hous
ton game, when Roper recovered from the pass
rush in time to make the tackle after quarter back
David Dacus completed a long pass to Jason Phil
lips. Roper played as a down lineman for much
of the game.
Baylor is 0-2 in conference, and the losses were
against Texas Tech and Houston — both of
which A&M has already defeated this year. The
Bears’ wins have come against Nevada-Las Ve
gas, Kansas, Iowa State and Southwest Texas
State — hardly Top 20 opponents like A&M has
played.
“That doesn’t make any difference,” Sherrill
said about Baylor’s mediocre showings thus far.
Sherxill said the Bears are a different team with
Brad Goebel healthy. Baylor lost to Tech without
the sophomore quarterback. He said he expects
the Bears’ speed at defensive end and outside
linebacker to give the Aggies trouble on outside
Cone hurls Mats
to win, 7th game
LOS ANGELES (AP) — David
Cone wrote a different story in Game
6 of the National League playoffs,
pitching a five-hitter as the New York
Mets beat the Los Angeles Dodgers
5-1 Tuesday night to tie the best-of-
seven series at three games apiece.
The decisive seventh game will be
played Wednesday at Dodger Sta
dium.
Orel Hershiser, a 23-game winner,
will start for Los Angeles against Ron
Darling, 17—9.
Hershiser started Games 1 and 3
without getting a decision, and got a
save in the Dodgers’ 12-inning, 5-4
victory in Game 4.
Kevin McReynolds, with a two-
run homer among his four hits in four
at-bats, provided the offense against
loser Tim Leary.
McReynolds, who also had a sacri
fice fly, drove in three of the five runs
as New York provided the scoring
Manager Davey Johnson had prom
ised for the sixth game.
The four hits tied an NL playoff re
cord accomplished by eight players,
the last Tito Landrum of the St. Louis
Cardinals in 1985.
The Mets dominated the season se
ries against the Dodgers, winning 10
of 11.
But Los Angeles won two of three
games at New York to take a 3-2 lead
into Game 6 and the warmth of the
swaying palm trees.
After the Mets won the first game
3-2 with three runs in the ninth off
Hershiser and Jay Howell, Cone
wrote in a first-person article for the
New York Daily News that Howell
looked like a “high school pitcher”
and Hershiser was “lucky” to throw
eight shutout innings.
The Dodgers, inspired by Cone’s
prose, chased him after two innings
of Game 2, scoring five runs on five
hits en route to a 6-3 victory. It was
Cone’s shortest outing as a starter this
year, and his career as a columnist
lasted only one more day.
Cone then came back and got the
last three outs of the Mets’ 8-4 vic
tory in Game 3 on Saturday but still
wanted a chance to prove his 20-3
season was not a fluke.
After a shaky first inning, Cone
shut the Dodgers out on one hit until
two were out in the fifth when re
liever Brian Holton singled, Steve
Sax walked and Mickey Hatcher sin
gled in a run to make it 4-1.
Holton was 0-for-10 this season
and 1-for-20 lifetime.
Cone ended the threat by getting
Kirk Gibson to pop to third. Cone,
who didn’t make his first start until
May 3, walked three and struck out
six.
The Dodgers’ 3-4-5 hitters were
hitless in 16 at-bats.
In each of the first five games the
Dodgers took the lead, while during
the regular season the Mets scored
first in seven of the 11 games.
This time, the Mets came out run
ning — and scoring — against Leary.
Leary, a former Met, was 17-11
during the season but lost three of his
last five decisions.
He was 0-2 against New York, al
lowing nine runs and 13 hits in 12 in
nings.
After fouling off several pitches,
leadoff hitter Len Dykstra hit a shot to
first base that Hatcher hobbled for an
error. Wally Backman, moved from
eighth to second in the order, dropped
a perfect hit-and-run single in front of
a hobbling Gibson in left to send
Dykstra to third.
Keith Hernandez struck out and,
after Darryl Strawberry walked to
load the bases, McReynolds hit a sac
rifice fly to right field.
McReynolds had 19 game-winning
RBI during the season and hit .309
with runners in scoring position.
Strawberry, 9-for-26 in the series,
and McReynolds led off the third in
ning with singles and two outs later
Kevin Elster hit an RBI double.
Elster was 3-for-4 against Leary with
two home runs in two games this sea
son.
Leary walked Strawberry leading
off the fifth and McReynolds fol
lowed with a home run over 370-foot
sign in left field.
Dosierro
durine
A repel
in dial
poking at the competition, the SWC doesn’t seem so bad
Jerry
Bolz
Columnist
jaceM
rlier tta Was it me who not to long ago compared the
;covet! -Brength of the Southwest Conference football
with long-time losers like North Texas and
■exas-El Paso?
inform Maybe 1 needed to include almost the entire
Vitiation in the classification of conferences on the
'fslidc.
la.. Maybe it’s not a slide, but more of an equaliz-
erstiL' jpg affect caused by a general mediocrity.
i Ir , >
Surprisingly, after six weeks of college foot
ball, the SWC stands at 12-10 against non-con
ference opponents. With just a quick glance at
the SWC schedules so far this season, it looks
like the local show has gone to town against no-
namers, but has been the side show with the real
big boys like Nebraska and Oklahoma. With an
in-depth search and a sports writers imagination,
however, the SWC squads look as shiny as the
rest of the country’s teams.
Take this for instance. This week’s AP Top 20
has Indiana ranked No. 18 with a 4-0-1 record.
The tie was a 28-28 draw with Missouri. Yep,
the same Missouri that Houston clobbered 31-7
the second week of the season. Indiana demo
lished Ohio State this weekend 41-7. A few
weeks ago, Ohio State beat LSU who whooped
the Aggies three weeks before. Of course A&M
beat Houston who beat Missouri who tied No. 18
Indiana.
Are you still with me? In some strange back
ward way all of this seems to qualify A&M for
the Top Twenty, doesn’t it?
How about those Homed Frogs. Sure, they
were dewarted by an old Razorback two weeks
ago 53-10. But the game before they beat Bos
ton College handily. Of course BC beat Pitts
burgh who thrashed Ohio State who beat Syra
cuse, a winner over Rutgers. Who is Rutgers!?
They’re the little team from somewhere that beat
Michigan State and Penn State, both of which
were in the Top 20 at the time.
It looks like there are only a handful of teams
that are standing above the mass of beatables this
year.
The top-dog again this season is Miami, prob
ably the only college team that matches up
evenly with the NFL teams. Running close be
hind the Hurricanes are Pacific Ten Conference
powers UCLA and Southern California, both 5-
0.
The only other teams that have a shot at stay
ing undefeated are West Virginia and Wyoming,
now at 6-0. West Virginia is a possible national
championship contender, but Wyoming can slip
through in the Western Athletic Conference but
probably wouldn’t compare well with a team like
West Virginia.
Notre Dame, at 5-0, should have a “1” in the
“L” column after taking on Miami this week.
Both Oklahoma and Nebraska, the two Big-8ers
that usually never lose until they have to play
each other, have each taken an early season loss.
OU lost to No.3 Southern California while Ne
braska dropped one to No.2 UCLA. Of course
UCLA will have to face USC later in the season
and that will clear out one more perfect record.
Anyway, back to the ordinary guys. A deeper
look at the SWC just isn’t as discouraging as lo
cal fans expected. Even around Aggieland, the
bleak picture of three straight losses, probation
and no home games is much brighter a few
weeks later. Now the scene is two wins in a row,
the next three games at home and the Dec. 1
Hurricane Bowl at Kyle Field.
In the remaining non-conference games for
SWC teams, there are a few pseudo-forfeits (a
team is there but the score doesn’t prove they
were). For example, the last week of their sched
ule Arkansas plays Miami in Florida and Texas
Tech plays OSU in Stillwater. Then there is the
game with the triple-digit margin of victory —
Rice at Notre Dame, in early November.
Two SWC vs. WAC showdowns may be the
best determinant of just where the SWC stands.
This weekend TCU visits 4-1 Brigham Young to
try and recover the SWC bones left there by the
Longhorns in their 47-6 loss to BYU.
Later in the year Houston, who has played
well and won big against non-conference teams,
hosts Wyoming. These two games are in the
toss-up category.
No one in the SWC stands out this year. But
the truth is, with the exception of those handful
of unbeatables, most of which will be beat, the
rest of the nation looks just as blurry.
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