Thursday, November 10,1988
The Battalion
Page 13
weeney
DALLAS (AP) — Kevin Sweeney has
to produce against the Minnesota Vi
kings on Sunday as starting quarterback
of the Dallas Cowboys, or Steve Pelluer
could have his job back.
■‘Tm getting my shot, and that’s all
I’ve ever asked for,” Sweeney said.
“I’m not going to say I’m out there to
Jrrorize the NFL. I just hope the players
ral ly with me and we can win the next six
Mmes. ’ ’
■He added, “I have to face the test be
fore I can give the answers. ’ ’
■ Pelluer said he wasn’t surprised at
Tom Landry’s decision to replace him.
“I will be as supportive of Kevin as I
n. But I have the confidence I can do
; job if I get it back. This is just one
step back in my career,” Pelluer said.
■ Landry announced on Tuesday that
Sweeney, whom he once cut after train-
Hg camp, is his starter for the time be-
¥
■“Kevin earned the start, but the worse
'thing that can happen is for people to ex
pect him to be a miracle worker against
the Vikings,” Landry said.
■With the Cowboys trailing 26-0,
Sweeney — a seventh-round pick in
Photo by Jay/:
game of the Lad;l|
in.
season and 4-4 in
:nce play. The L
>-12 and 5-3.
•am set records fa
s -('439). Lori
with 33 digsofhei
c Julie Gates also
ose tackle
luspended
or 30 days
HOUSTON (AP) — Houston Oil-
krs nose tackle Doug Smith has been
[uspended 30 days for violating the
klFL’s substance abuse policy, the
league told the Oilers in a statement
/ednesday.
Smith was placed on the Oilers’
hon-football injury list and will not be
flowed at the club’s practice facility
the 30-day period which started
Tuesday, the NFL statement said.
Smith was having the best season
[>f his four-year career and will miss a
linimum of four games.
Oilers officials said today they
vould have no comment on Smith’s
Suspension.
Smith; who was tested under the
Jeasonable-cause portion of the
league policy, becomes the 22nd
player disciplined by the NFL this
Season.
Hal Gamer of Buffalo also re
ceived a 30-day suspension today.
The Oilers will be able to replace
Smith on the roster. He will be placed
pn the reserve non-football illness
list.
record was even
msidcring she wasp
ore shoulder and as
ggies/Page 13
Because the tradipg deadline
assed last month, the team probably
will have to sign a nqse tackle to play
reserve role until Smith returns.
Smith was embroiled in contro-
d team" record off ® ,ers Y in early September when he had
consecutive unexcused absences,
bach Jerry Glanville sent him home
when he showed up for practice.
After meeting with General Man-
iger Ladd Herzeg, Smith returned to
practice the next day and said he had
jassed the league-administered drug
:est.
Glanville and Herzeg refused to
omment.
Smith was in the lineup for the sea-
son-opening victory at Indianapolis
and has played near peak form during
17-3 season.
Under terms of the league’s policy,
f: a 30-day suspension means the player
has tested positive before.
^ f If Smith tests positive a third time,
te will be banned from the NFL for
ife but could seek reinstatement after
< a year.
must make most of his shot
1987 — came off the bench to replace
Pelluer for the second half of Sunday’s
game with the New York Giants. Swee
ney threw three touchdown passes, and
Dallas lost only 29-21.
Dallas has lost its last six games in a
row and is 2-8 for the season under Pel
luer as a starter.
Landry said starting is a lot more diffi
cult than being the relief quarterback.
“It’s a little different when you tee it
up from the first tee,” Landry said.
“Kevin is confident and I believe he will
get the job done, but we can’t expect
miracles. It will be interesting to see
what he can do.”
Sweeney started and won two games
last year as a member of the “Rhinestone
Cowboys” replacement team.
“The players have a lot of respect for
him,” Landry said. “He is exciting and
he has the ability to throw deep. Some
say he isn’t mobile enough but when you
run for your life you can get pretty fast. ’’
Landry said Pelluer took his demotion
in stride.
“He was fine,” Landry said. “He is a
team player.”
Asked if he was influenced by club
president Tex Schramm, a longtime
Sweeney backer, Landry quipped “No,
Tex lets me dig my own graves.”
But Schramm was clearly pleased
with the choice.
‘ ‘The fans are anxious to see some ex
citement. I’ve said all along, it’s up to us
to create the excitement,” Schramm
said. “There was just something special
about Sweeney in the replacement
games. Of course, once he starts, he has
to perform like anybody else. ’ ’
Asked how long he thought a fan hon
eymoon with Sweeney would last,
Schramm said, “Oh, probably about two
interceptions.”
The player reaction was immediately
positive.
“Why not give the guy a shot?” asked
linebacker Steve DeOssie. “He’s played
great and deserves it. It will get the team
pumped up, that’s for sure. It will be ex
citing.”
Injured quarterback Danny White said:
“I just hope there isn’t too much pres
sure on Kevin. I hope he can handle it.”
Landry said Sweeney must earn the
starter’s job from week to week.
“Pelluer is tough enough to handle
this,” Landry said. “If Sweeney keeps
playing well, then he has a chance to stay
as the starter. He’s the starter now, but
that doesn’t mean anything in the perma
nence of the position. I’m not disap
pointed in Steve at all.”
Landry’s announcement at his weekly
press conference immediately lit up the
Cowboys’ ticket switchboard for Sunday
night’s nationally televised game with
the Vikings.
“We’re getting a lot of calls, that’s for
sure,” ticket manager Steve Orsini said.
“We still have plenty of tickets left.”
Dallas had 18,500 tickets for sale
when Landry made the announcement.
Officials said about 100 tickets were sold
Tuesday morning, before the news of
Sweeney’s scheduled start, and about six
times that many were sold Tuesday af
ternoon.
Sweeny found out about his promotion
while shopping for his wife’s birthday
present.
“I’m excited,” he said. “All I ever
asked for was a chance.’ ’
Sweeney said he felt for Pelluer.
“I hope we can still be good friends,”
Sweeney said. “I believe we can still
work together. ’ ’
Highsmith over fumble fear
HOUSTON (AP) — Houston Oiler
fullback Alonzo Highsmith hopes he
never loses his fear of losing, but he’s
overcome his fear of fumbling.
“The first half of the season, I found
myself, if I took a toss sweep, the first
thing I was worried about was fumbling
the football,” Highsmith said. “When
you’re a running back you can’t think
like that.”
Highsmith, the Oilers’ No. 1 pick last
season, came with a reputation as a pow
erful blocker but he was tagged early as
being fumble prone.
But the past two weeks, the Oilers
have gone to Highsmith in key situations
and he’s responded with strong running
performances.
“I’ve said to myself the second half of
the season, ‘Alonzo, do yourself a favor
and just run, regardless if you fumble or
make a mistake,”’ Highsmith said.
Highsmith gained 75 yards on eight
carries in a 41-17 victory over Washing
ton and in Monday night’s 24-17 victory
over Cleveland, he got eight carries for
40 yards.
The Oilers went to Highsmith on a key
third down play in the first quarter Mon
day when Highsmith took a direct snap
and gained 8 yards for a first down.
Highsmith scored on a 1-yard run in
the second quarter for his first touch
down of the season.
“I’m going to be the back that I can
be,” Highsmith said. “I’m just a step
away from taking one 50 or 60 yards.
I’m one game away from where I left off
last year.”
The 7-3 Oilers are back on the road
this week, where all three of their losses
have come this year.
Lady Aggies
(Continued from page 12)
The records weren’t limited to the
Lady Cougars. A&M’s Yvonne Van
Brandt, who came in to the game leading
the SWC in digs average, set a school re
cord with 38 digs. Senior Vivian Viera
set a school record with 75 kill attempts.
A&M Coach A1 Givens said, “The in
dividual efforts are nice for the girls, but
they (the records) lose a little bit of their
luster because of the loss.”
A&M started off slow but was able to
come back in the first two games. The
Lady Ags fell behind 5-0 in the first
game before going on a 15-5 run.
The Ags found themselves down 11-5
in the second game before they rattled
off 10 of the next 11 points to go up 2-0.
A&M fell behind again in the third
game, but this time they were unable to
overcome Johnson and Gates as the Cou
gars won 15-6.
Houston Coach Bill Walton said, “I
felt we could win the third game since
A&M was up 2-0 and might relax. I
thought the crowd would get back in the
match for Game 4.”
The Lady Cougars didn’t give the
crowd that chance. They raced to an
early 7-3 lead, and thwarted a Lady Ag
gie charge to win the game on six con
secutive points.
Givens said, “The loss was very dis-
sappointing in that we stopped serving
aggressively in the third game and that
let them back in the game. If we had con
tinued to serve like we did in the first two
games, we would have won in three.”
In the deciding fifth game A&M
jumped to an early 3-0 lead.
But Houston came back to dominate
the game for a 15-8 win and the match.
A&M’s next game is Friday night in
G. Rollie White Coliseum at 7:30 p.m.
against Louisiana State.
Espinosa
(Continued from page 12)
shrugs off any praise and credits his suc
cess at tennis and in the classroom to the
tough public education system in Mex
ico.
“In Mexico it’s very different from the
United States,” Espinosa said. “There
sports aren’t stressed at all. Studies are
the most important thing, and they don’t
care if you are doing well at sports if you
aren’t doing well in your classes.”
Espinosa said he noticed the differ
ence in education when he started his
collegiate career at Alvin two years ago.
“High school in Mexico is like college
in the United States,” Espinosa said.
“You have to decide what you are going
to do earlier in life. When I got to Alvin I
realized how far I was ahead academi
cally. But here at A&M it is much hard
er.”
Espinosa has his sights set on playing
professional tennis some day. However,
if that doesn’t work out, he wants to go
back to Mexico and work in the stock
market.
“I like the stock market,” Espinosa
said. “I like all facets of it and I like to be
where things are happening.”
Gus has made a lot happen this fall for
the Aggies and hopes he can help the
team compete for the SWC title this
year.
“I think that we have a chance to win it
if we keep improving,” Gus said. “We
play Arkansas here this year and we’ve
done pretty well against the other teams
so far in the early tournaments.”
A&M has competed in several tourna
ments this fall in which other SWC
teams have appeared. The Aggies have
had some success against the conference
teams, including Texas, Rice and TCU.
Arkansas is the one SWC team which
has stopped the Aggies in those tourna
ments.
When talking about the Aggies’
chances in the SWC and against the Ra-
zorbacks, Gus was typically confident
and upbeat.
“We have a chance if we play to our
potential,” Gus said. “We play (Arkan
sas) here this year, and we’re really ex
cited about our chances.”
■v
ids)
until
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