The Battalion
Thursday, Oct. 13, 1988
Page 9
Sports
Franklin sank ’76 Bears
65-yard field goal shattered record
The skies weren’t the only thing that
was dark and dreary at Kyle Field on
Oct. 16, 1976, because Coach Emory
Bellard’s Aggies were 0-2 in Southwest
Conference play prior to taking the field
against the Baylor Bears.
A&M had seen its 1976 title hopes go
up in flames after only two conference
games, losing to Houston 21-10 and get
ting outslugged 27-16 by Texas Tech at
Kyle Field.
A few key players were injured, Bol
lard was starting a “new quarterback,”
junior David Walker and the kicking
game hadn’t been too effective all sea
son.
Throw in the rain and cool weather,
and it seemed like a tough day was in
store for Texas A&M.
Who would ever have expected that
not only would A&M win (24-0), but
that place-kicker Tony Franklin would
break the NCAA record for the longest
field goal not once but twice?I
Franklin, who had booted 12 of 29
field goal attempts in 1975, including a
then-NCAA freshman record 59-yarder
against Rice, had been out of synch most
of the 1976 season.
He wasn’t the place-kicker who had
[fueled A&M’s comeback 33-14 win over
Rice. Ignoring a sprained ankle, he
kicked a 59 yard field goal into the wind
to draw A&M to within one point of the
[Owls (14-13).
Assistant coach Chuck Moser had
[checked Franklin before telling Bellard
that the youngster should do no more
| kicking that day.
“Our punter, Mark Stanley, fished out
[his kicking shoe and was getting ready
for field goal duty when Franklin came
running up and assured me he could
make it,” Bellard said with a chuckle
following the game. “So I let him go
[ahead. ”
However, Franklin missed four field
[goals against Rice and came right back
[with a 2-of-6 performance when A&M
[beat Texas 20-10.
His 19-yard miss in the first quarter of
Ts loss to Arkansas blunted any
\ggie offensive momemtum, little of
vhich had returned prior to the 1976
Baylor game.
Bellard knew that his squad was in for
ibattle against the Bears.
He said at the time, “They’ve got a lot
t.:, i ad t
Tim Stanfield
Flashback
of momentum going. Quarterback Mark
Jackson keeps giving them big plays
when they need them. He’s the one who
pulls the trigger.”
Bear receiver Alcy Jackson figured to
have a good day against an Aggie sec
ondary that had been riddled by Texas
Tech’s Sammy Williams and a host of
Cougar receivers.
But Robertson had made a change in
the secondary, putting freshman Carl
Grulich at strong safety alongside All-
America free safety Lester Hayes.
That position change coupled with re
newed intensity in the defensive line
helped A&M hold Baylor to a paltry 184
yards total offense, less than half of what
the Bears had averaged in their previous
five games.
The swarming Aggie defenders put a
clamp on the damp Bear offense, while
their own offensive teammates put some
points on the board.
Walker, who had taken over at quar
terback in 1973 and maintained the job
through 1974 before being red-shirted in
1975, settled the offense down and cut
out the turnovers that had cost A&M po
tential victories over Houston and Tech.
Running back Curtis Dickey gained
143 yards on 33 carries, and fullback
George Woodard bulled 62 yards on 18
carries and one touchdown even though
Baylor started two noseguards and only
three defensive backs.
But the catalyst for what turned out to
be one of the most dominating stretches
in A&M football history was the bare
foot boy himself.
Franklin’s 24 yard field goal helped
the Aggies take a 10-0 lead into the sec
ond quarter, but his next three-pointer set
the maroon world on fire.
After the Aggie offense failed to get
even one first down and faced a fourth
down at the Baylor 47 yard line, snickers
went through the drenched crowd when
Bellard sent Franklin onto the field to try
a “ridiculous” 64 yard field goal.
“Coach (Donnie) Wigginton asked me
before the 64-yarder if I thought I could
make and I said yes,” Franklin said.
“He told me to tell Coach Bellard. Bel
lard told me to go ahead. ’’
And so he did, smacking a low liner
that carried farther and farther through
the misty gloom until it barely cleared
the cross bar. Once it had, the crowd of
52,241 went wild, as did Franklin’s tea
mmates .
Deep snapper Matt Freeman and
holder David Shipman joined Franklin in
a happy dance near midfield until the en
tire Aggie squad descended on them.
“The kids went berserk,” Bellard
said. “No, I wasn’t surprised Tony did it
because he had kicked a few from 65
yards out during pre-game warmups.
When I saw that, I said, ‘Tony, come on
in. That ’ s enough. ’ ”
The Bears were stunned. Instead of
getting the ball back after stopping the
Aggies without a first down, they had
suffered the indignity of watching the
longest field goal in NCAA history.
And that was only the beginning of
bad news for the visitors, because at 9:07
of the third quarter, Franklin kicked a
shot through the uprights from 65 yards
out.
Unlike the previous record-breaking
field goal, there was no doubt that the
second one was going to easily clear the
cross bar. Ironically Baylor had declined
an illegal procedure penalty preceding
the second long field goal.
“On the 64-yarder I was tight,”
Franklin said. “I kicked the 65-yarder a
lot better because there was no pressure.
I think I could have made that one from
70 yards away.”
The 64-yarder broke the SWC record
of 61 that Arkansas’ Steve Little had
booted against Tulsa less than a month
earlier.
But Franklin’s moment at the top of
the NCAA charts lasted only a few min
utes, for Abilene Christian’s Uve Jo
hansson kicked a 69 yarder against East
Texas State University later that day.
The Aggies proceeded to go on a ram
page during the remainder of the 1976
season. For the first time in its history,
A&M scored 30 or more points in four
consecutive games.
A&M hammered Rice 57-34, setting
team records for most points scored in a
See Franklin, page 9
RLD
FOOD
DAY
INTERNATIONAL
TELECONFERENCE
Monday October 17th
11 a.m.-2 p.m.
Rm. 601 Rudder
Kick-off for:
Texas A&M Second Annual
Community Food Drive
for the
Brazos Valley
Dodgers beat Mets 6-0
for trip to World Series
Oakland not ignoring
practice before Series
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Los
Angeles Dodgers won the National
League pennant Wednesday night by
beating the favored New York Mets
6-0 in Game 7 behind Orel Hershis-
er’s five-hitter, completing one of the
greatest turnarounds in major league
history.
The Dodgers will host Game 1 of
the 85th World Series Saturday
against Oakland in a rematch of the
1974 Series won by the Athletics in
five games.
Hershiser, who finished the season
with a record 59 consecutive
scoreless innings, started Games 1
and 3 without getting a decision and
saved Game 4. Of the 65 innings
pitched by the Dodgers, Hershiser ac
counted for 24%.
He broke the major league playoff
mark of 22% innings, set in 1986 by
Boston’s Roger Clemens. The old
NL playoff mark was 18 innings by
Mike Scott of Houston, also in 1986.
It is the Dodgers’ ninth pennant
since moving to Los Angeles in 1958
and their first since 1981, when they
went on to beat the New York Yan
kees in the World Series.
The Dodgers scored first in six of
the seven games against the Mets and
made things easy for Hershiser by
scoring a run in the first off loser Ron
Darling. Los Angeles then chased
him with five runs in the second as
New York made three sloppy fielding
plays.
The Dodgers finished the regular
season 94-67, a 43-game im
provement over last year’s 73-89 re
cord. Only six times previously has
an NL team finished 15 games or
more below .500 one season, and ral
lied to finish 20 games or more above
.500 the next.
Ironically, the Mets were 73-89 in
1968 and went on to win the World
Series in five games against Balti
more a year later.
Steve Sax, 12-for-40 lifetime
against Darling, got the Dodgers
started with a single and moved to
third on Mickey Hatcher’s double
down the left-field line. Kirk Gibson,
hamstrung with a pulled left ham-
OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — One look
at the dark, fiery eyes of Tony La Russa
or a view of the Oakland Athletics’
workout is enough to wipe out any no
tion the American League champs are
settling into smugness before the World
Series.
No team in 19 years of major league
playoffs has had five days off before the
start of the World Series — five days to
get bloated with self-satisfaction and
stale on the field.
The Athletics worked out for the sec
ond straight day Wednesday, determined
to keep the edge that enabled them to win
eight of 11 after they clinched the divi
sion title Sept. 19, then swept the Red
Sox in four straight.
The team is relaxed and loose. No one
is pressing or looking anxious. But there
is no mistaking the determination to
complete the goal La Russa and the play
ers set early in the season: to win the
World Series and not just the division or
pennant.
Or, as La Russa describes it, to nego
tiate the final side of “the pyramid.”
La Russa never let this team ease up,
not when it won 14 straight and 18 of 19
early in the season and not when it was
string, then hit a scrifice fly to deep
center field.
The Mets and Darling self-de
structed in the Dodgers’ big second
inning.
Mike Scioscia and Jeff Hamilton
led off with singles and Darling mis
judged Alfredo Griffin’s bunt, allow
ing it to fall in for a single to load the
bases.
Hershiser hit a one-hopper to third
that rookie Gregg Jefferies hobbled
for an error, allowing Scioscia to
score and reloading the bases. Sax
followed with a two-run single to
chase Darling and bring on Dwight
Gooden, who started Game 4, It was
breezing to the AL West championship.
His players maintain the same focus
on winning the World Series and proving
they are the best in baseball.
The champagne party after the victory
over Boston was brief and somewhat re
strained. Jose Canseco had a few sips of
bubbly and declined another round. Car
ney Lansford sat by his locker, utterly
happy but holding back a little.
“I can remember winning a division
title with the ’79 (California) Angels,”
said Lansford. “We were so satisfied
with that, we died in the playoffs
(against the Baltimore Orioles).
“This year, nobody has said anything
about being satisfied. That includes right
now. We still have a job to do.
“I think our confidence level has been
extremely high, but we don’t try to get so
high to the point where we get arrogant
or we come in and take everything for
granted,” Canseco said.
“We’re going to work hard. We’re
going to come out here every day, run
ning, taking batting practice, the whole
works. We’re not going to lay off just
because we’re in the World Series.
There’s still a lot of work to be done. ’ ’
Gooden’s first major league relief ap
pearance.
After Hatcher advanced the run
ners with a groundout, the Mets
walked Gibson to load the bases and
set up a double play.
The strategy almost worked when
Marshall hit a grounder to second.
But Wally Backman’s flip to short
stop Kevin Elster was wild allowing
the fourth run of the inning to score.
John Shelby capped the scoring with
a sacrifice fly to left.
Darling pitched one-plus innings,
allowing six runs, four earned, and
six hits.
Beta Theta Pi
Presents
THE BOURBON STREET BASH
Featuring
XAVION
also appearing
THE KEROUACS
BOURBON
PROCEEDS BENEFIT
Special Olympics
OCTOBER 15, 1988
6:30-12:00 a.m.
Brazos County Pavilion
Tickets are $6.00; 8.00 at the door.
Cold beverages and Gideon’s Barbe-
que will be available
Tickets will be sold at MSC, Blocker
and Sbisa.
THE BASH IS BACK!