Sports
The Battalion Monday, Nov. 14, 1988 Page
The argument is settled: Arkansas 25, A&M 20
Mistakes, turnovers fatal to Aggies in big game
By Hal L. Hammons
Sports Editor
Fayetteville, Ark. — Darren Lewis
stood in the Arkansas visitor’s locker
room, probably still unsure of what had
happened to the Aggies in the past three
hours.
“It hurts to be a loser,” he said.
And that’s what it boils down to.
Texas A&M was beaten by the Arkansas
Razorbacks.
You can blame it on the bad luck that
plagued the Aggies all day. You can
blame it on the wind that worked against
A&M all the first half, giving the Razor-
backs a big edge in field position. You
can blame it on the spectres that seem to
haunt the Aggies in the state of Arkan
sas.
But, in the end, none of that matters.
As A&M Head Coach Jackie Sherrill
put it, “It doesn’t matter what happens
the first sixty minutes, it’s what’s on the
scoreboard at the end.”
The scoreboard read, “Arkansas 25,
Texas A&M 20.”
The really frustrating thing about the
game, especially for the Aggies, was that
in a game with so much to be proven on
both sides of the ball, all of the big ques
tions remained unanswered.
Arkansas didn’t prove it could play
strong football against a quality oppo
nent. The Razorbacks didn’t score on the
Aggie defense all day.
A&M didn’t prove they had improved
enough during it’s five-game winning
streak to beat a Top 20 team like the ones
that beat the Aggies in the first three
games of the season. The Aggies com
mitted four turnovers, which led to 11
Arkansas points.
Personal achievements were some
what different.
Lewis proved he could run on the top
ranked defense in the country, racking
up 192 yards on 34 carries, including 92
in the first quarter.
John Bland proved Arkansas’ offense
doesn’t live and die with Quinn Grovey.
After Grovey went out in the second
quarter with a concussion and shoulder
sprain, Bland came on to complete four
of eight passes for 88 yards. He also
rushed for 60 yards, many of which
came in critical situations.
Kendall Trainor proved he is the best
kicker in the conference. His five field
goals on the day gave him 23, breaking
the Southwest Conference record set by
A&M’s Scott Slater in 1986. It also ex
tended his streak of successful field goals
to 22.
But the biggest question was still de
bated: Which of the two teams is the best
in the SWC?
Bucky Richardson said he still thought
the Aggies were the better team.
“They didn’t stop our offense for four
quarters,” he said. “Our defense played
great, just like they have all year. They
gave up some big plays, but you’re going
to have big plays in a big ballgame.
“I can assure you they’re not a top 10
team. We’ve played three top 10 teams
this year, and I can assure you Arkansas
couldn’t stay on the field with them.”
The Arkansas players, on the other
hand, said they felt they had proven the
Aggies couldn’t back up all their talk
about sending the second-best team in
the conference to the Cotton Bowl.
“The second-best team is staying ho
me,” Trainor said. “Hopefully people
will take note of what is going on. The
Hogs are for real.”
Bland said, “I’m not sure we would
have played as great a game if they had
not done so much talking. We might not
have been as fired up.
“We wanted to prove we are the best
team in the conference, probation or
not.”
Arkansas did get some help early on in
the game —from the weather and from
the Aggies themselves.
Lewis fumbled the ball over to the
Hogs on the A&M 47 on the fourth play
of the game. Grovey led Arkansas to a
field goal seven plays later.
A 15-yard punt by Sean Wilson into a
stiff wind gave the Hogs the ball at the
A&M 37, and Trainor added another
field goal five plays later.
On the next drive Richardson threw
his first pass of the day two feet over
Gary Oliver’s hands right to Arkansas’
Patrick Williams. Williams returned it
47 yards for a touchdown.
A two-point conversion run by Joe
Johnson gave Arkansas a 14-0 lead with
less than six minutes to go in the first
quarter. The ball had not been on the Ar
kansas side of the field.
The Aggie offense hit full stride at the
end of the first quarter. Four carries by
Lewis brought A&M to the Arkansas 22.
But Robert Wilson fumbled the ball
away after a seven-yard gain.
But Richardson took the Aggies 99
yards for a touchdown on the next drive.
He completed all three of his passes for
43 yards and finally ran the ball in him
self from four yards out.
But A&M was unable to execute its
two-minute offense after stopping the
next Arkansas drive.
Instead it was Arkansas that added a
late score, driving with the wind that had
now switched directions.
Bland’s eight-yard run on fourth-and-
six extended the drive, and his eight-yard
run at the end of the drive took the ball to
the A&M 25.
A&M running back Darren Lewis is tackled by Arkansas linebacker
Kerry Owens in the first quarter of A&M’s 25-20 loss to the 11th-
ranked Razorbacks Saturday. Lewis gained 192 yards on the day.
See Hogs, page 11
Radio wave football game proves frustrating for Aggie fan
The Texas A&M-Arkansas football game
competed with my INXS cassette tape this
weekend. But that goes with the territory
when listening to the Ags through the
wonders of radio.
It was the third Aggie game I have
listened to instead of watching, and I’ve
decided that radio is a big disadvantage for
someone raised in the television age.
Granted, radio reception beats not
receiving any coverage of the game, but
radio is just not up to par with my
expectations. I’ve discovered that
visualizing the plays is a very difficult task. I
blame television for my untrained ear,
which is unable to pick up all the details of
the game.
Radio just doesn’t have vivid visual
elements that a television broadcast
Cray
Pixley
Assistant
Sports Editor
commentators just doesn’t have the impact
of visual action.
Oh, you might say I could have paid to
view the game at a local establishment, but I
was headed out of town with only the car
stereo as a link to the Aggies and Hogs.
that I was very pleased that no highway
patrolmen saw my Mad Max
impersonation.
That’s where the trouble started.
There is nothing worse than listening to
your football team play a losing game to an
upstart team on the radio while driving a
car.
When the Aggies are losing, the play-by-
play commentary becomes excruciating. It
was significantly more so this Saturday
because the Aggies had so many miscues
that they essentially gave the Cotton Bowl-
bound Hogs an easy victory.
posseses.
There isn’t any slow-motion shots or
instant replays. Kyle Field doesn’t have this
either but at least we have the chance to see
where the Aggies are going. Darren Lewis’
brilliant runs are far more appealing when
one can see all his quick tiny steps and speed
as he breaks for the endzone.
‘Lewis is at the Aggie 30-yard line, to the
40, the 50...’ shouted by frenzied
Every time the Aggies fumbled or threw
an interception my foot slammed onto the
gas pedal, and I closed my eyes in agony.
Listening to a football game on the radio
is like being held captive.
This is not a good way to drive a car —
unless your the Road Warrior. Fortunately,
I had a passenger who wasn’t quite so
caught up in the game who frequently had
to jolt me out of my stupor. Not to mention
A&M’s Bucky Richardson may have
dropped back for a pass but it was
maddening trying to imagine where that
pass would end up. Would it be in the
hands of an A&M athlete or in a crowd of
six Razorbacks all over the back of an Ag
receiver?
My mind whirled with the possibilities.
Every time the Aggies started a decern
drive some monumental mistake wot
happen. After every miscue, in woulc
the cassette tape.
I needed a musical break from the
football trauma before ejecting the tape
listen to what corner the Ags had got
themselves into next. My tape playerhac
workout.
I suppose the real clincher of thegamt
was the way in which Arkansas racked up
most of their points: the field goal.
Field goal attempts are especially
unnerving on the radio.
The radio announcers try to set upthi
situation in a visually stimulating fashion
but it tends to fall flat.
This happens because there are those
four or so seconds when no one, not even
the people watching the game, knowiftk
See Radio, page 12
(Htf* Hmtor of
^ fib
Tf Honorable Mention Awards of $500
NOMINATIONS FOR NATIONAL
PHI KAPPA PHI GRADUATE FELLOWSHIPS
1989
Criteria for selection:
- Scholastic achievement and test scores
- Leadership
- Participation in university and community activities
- Evaluations by instructors
- Expression of study plans and career goals
- Honors and enrichment programs
Graduate Fellowships up to $6,000 for first-year
graduate or professional study.
i
1
1
1
i
1
[U
B
Graduating seniors with outstanding academic
and leadership records should contact the Phi
Kappa Phi Public Relations Officer, Virginia P.
McDermott at Agricultural Communications,
Texas A&M University (2112), 845-2858 for addi
tional information.
Texas A&M
Flying Club
the ‘Best to J-Cy the Best
Interested people are urged to attend our meeting
Tuesday, Nov. 15 at the Airport Clubhouse
For information
Call Julie Scott 846-1279
7:00 p.m.
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SpOT
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