■
The Battalion
SPORTS 10
The Battalion
Monday, September 11.1989
Sluggish Aggies no match
Aggie Aaron Wallace applies pressure to Washington quarterback Cary Conklin.
for Huskies in 19-6 defeat
Husky game plan too much for flat A&M team
By Tom Kehoe
Of The Battalion Staff
Although Texas A&M sailed into
Seattle with a new national ranking
and high hopes when game time ar
rived Saturday, it appeared they for
got to weigh anchor.
The University of Washington
combined strong running and pass
ing to cruise by 15th-ranked Texas
A&M 19-6 before 62,434 fans in
Husky Stadium in Seattle.
A&M Coach R.C. Slocum con
firmed that his team couldn’t get the
boat moving.
“We just never got in the swim of
things,” Slocum said.
And as the Aggies floundered on
the banks of Puget Sound, the
Huskies were able to keep their
heads above water and dominate the
Aggies on both sides of the ball.
Offensively, Washington piled up
386 yards, nearly doubling LSU’s to
tal from last week, a 28-16 Aggie
win.
“They did an excellent job of
keeping us off balance,” Slocum
said. “They mixed the run and pass
effectively.”
That mix included quarterback
Cary Conklin, who completed 23 of
37 passes for 224 yards, and running
back Greg Lewis, who methodically
churned out 133 yards on 29 carries.
Although Conklin was effective,
Slocum felt it was Lewis that sunk
A&M.
“The passing game is not what
beat us,” he said. “The key was that
we couldn’t stop the running game.”
But Washington’s passing did dis
rupt the Aggies’ defensive game
plan. A&M’s feared blitz was neu
tralized by Conklin as he frequently
employed two- and three-step drops
to flip quick passes to tight end Bill
Ames and wide receiver Andre Ri
ley.
“I knew they were going to blitz a
lot,” Conklin said. “Against A&M,
five steps and you’re on your back.”
But as Washington moved the
ball, the Aggie offense sputtered,
gaining just 14 first downs on the
day, compared to Washington’s 24.
Junior quarterback Lance Pavlas
felt A&M’s difficulty gaining first
downs was one of the stumbling
blocks.
“We just didn’t convert enough
third downs,” Pavlas said.
Pavlas passed for nine of the Ag
gies’ 14 first downs, as he totalled
182 yards passing, completing 18 of
30. He was frequently pressured and
chased out of the pocket.
“They had a pretty good pass
rush, but I had time to throw,” he
said. “I give credit to them — they
were more physical today than we
were.”
While the passing game sustained
what little offense A&M could gen
erate, the ground game was negated
by the quick pursuit of the Huskies.
Darren Lewis was stymied again
as he struggled to 52 yards on 15
carries. Fullback Robert Wilson, who
had a career-high 121 yards last
week, only was able to gain 24 yards
on but ten carries.
We just never got into
the swim of things.”
— R.C. Slocum,
Offensive tackle Matt McCall
blamed the line’s inability to clear
the way for Lewis’ difficulties.
“It’s not Darren’s fault,” McCall
said. “It’s mostly the blocking. The
blockers must catch up to him. We
didn’t execute today.”
With a big start last week, the Ag
gies were able to set a quick, con
trolled pace for the rest of the game.
They couldn’t do it Saturday,
though, as they failed to get a first
down on their first four possessions.
Washington was sluggish at the
start but managed to get things mov
ing on their third possession.
The drive, which started at their
own 15-yard line, included four
Husky first downs.
Husky Coach Don James com
bined Lewis’ blasts up the middle
with Conklin’s quick passes as Wash
ington moved to A&M’s 22.
On first down, Conklin lofted a
pass to the deep left corner of the
end zone to connect with split end
Mark Bailey for the game’s first
score.
Bailey got behind cornerback
Mickey Washington, who was hung
up in the middle as Conklin rolled
out, to score the game’s only touch
down.
“The quarterback scrambled, he
pumped, I froze and then he threw,”
Washington said.
A&M failed again to gain a first
down on their next possession but
got a break when Husky punt re
turner William Doctor was stripped
of the ball by Aggie Jeff Shanks. Eric
Moore fell on it to give the Aggies a
first-down-and-ten at Washington’s
21-yard line.
Darren Lewis took the carry on
the first play of the new possession
and rambled 12 yards to the Wash'
ington five, but the offense lailed
again.
Two running plays up the middle
were stopped cold and Pavlas was
sacked on third down for a 12-yard
loss by Husky defensive end Dennis
Brown.
Place kicker Layne Talbot came
on to hit a 32-yard field goaltogei
the Aggies on the board with 13:18
left in the first half.
Both offenses stalled on their ne\i
possesions. But with 8:22 left in the
half, the Huskies put together al3-
play, 47-yard drive that culminated
in John McCallum’s first field goalol
the day, a 35-yard kick.
A&M took the ensuing kickol
and managed to get only to then
own 30-yard line before they were
forced to punt. However, the
from deep snapper Mike Sullivan
was too high and punter Kevin Ellis
rolled out and attempted to pass
The pass failed and Washington
took over.
Five plays later, McCallum added
his second field goal with 25 seconds
remaining and the half ended will
Washington leading 13-3.
The Huskies opened the second
half with the ball at their own 2 r
yard line. Conklin began to enginees
a drive that brought Washingtontn
A&M’s 12-yard line. Two plays later,
a holding penalty left Conklin facinj
second and 17. T he Aggie defenst
didn’t allow Washington to advanct
and McCallum hit his third field
of the afternoon from 36 yard to pm
Washington ahead 16-3.
The next Aggie drive began
their own 25. With Lewis finally ablf
to find some daylight and Pavlas hil
ting Percy Waddle for 22 yards,
A&M found themselves at Washing
icon’s 25. But another Pavlas-to-Wad
die attempt failed and Talbot at
tempted a 42-yard field goal that
curved wide to the left.
After the change of possesion, the
Huskies began a drive that tool
them to the A&M 19 where McCal
lum collected his last score of theal
ternoon. His 36-yard kick ended a
15-play drive and brought the score
to 19-3.
SALES
So* 0
(i
CH/
‘Eye
Fr
sale
A&M took the short kickoff
advanced to the Washington nine,
was there that Slocum opted for tin
field goal instead of going for i
fourth and six. Trailing by 16 wil
14:09 left in the game, Talbot puta
27-yard kick through the uprights
bring about the final score, 19-6.
Lady Aggies beaten
in tournament final
Photo by Jay Janner
A&M’s Amy Cummings (6) attempts a block
against Weber State’s Lora Heissinger (8) in
Friday’s win.
By Alan Lehmann
Of The Battalion Staff
The Texas A&M Lady Aggie vol
leyball team chalked up their first
victory Friday, but had to settle for
second place in the Reebok/Hamp-
ton Inn Invitational held here over
the weekend.
A&M beat Weber State on Friday
15-13, 12-15, 15-9, 9-15, 15-7 to get
into the championship match.
However, A&M lost on Saturday
to Southwest Missouri State 10-15,
11-15, 15-10, 7-15.
In the consolation match, Rhode
Island swept Weber State 15-11, 15-
12, 15-5.
In Friday’s win, A&M came out
strong in the first game, taking a 6-0
lead behind two kills each by Kelli
Kellen and Sheri Hermesmeyer.
However, A&M lost their momen
tum, and Weber scored seven points
on an ace and six A&M errors.
Trailing 9-12, A&M scored six of
the next seven points to win the first
game.
The Lady Aggies looked flat in
the second game, falling behind 6-1,
before grabbing a 12-11 lead.But
W’eber scored four points on two
Aggie errors, an ace and a Molli Wil
kins kill to win the game.
In the third game, A&M trailed 9-
7 before scoring eight unanswered
points to gain a 2-1 advantage in the
match.
After losing the fourth game,
A&M came back to win the fifth.
Trailing 5-4, Amy Cumings keyed
the Aggie comeback with three kills
and a block.
Another of Friday’s highlights was
Yvonne Van Brandt shattering
Chris Zagota’s school career-assist
record. W’ith the remainder of the
season to play. Van Brandt now has
2,985 assists.
“Chris set a high standard,” Van
Brandt said. “Now, I just want to
help the team win and hopefully set
the mark higher for someone else to
come along and earn it.”
The momentum from Friday win
couldn’t carry A&M past SMSU Sat
urday night.
The Aggies fell behind 9-3 before
several Bear errors and a Kellen
block allowed A&M to pull to within
a point.
But SMSU used four Aggie errors
and kills from Laura Scafidi and Me
linda Bingham to end the game.
The Aggies scored the first three
points of the second game before
falling behind 7-6 on a Scafidi kill.
Trailing 12-8, A&M managed a
three-point run behind the strong
serving of freshman Raychelle Mich-
alke.
However, it was too late, and
SMSU used an ace and two Bingham
kills to take a 2-0 lead in the match.
Lady Aggie Coach A1 Givens then
juggled his lineup in an attempt to
give his younger players a chance to
play.
“We put a whole different lineup
on the court the third game and
were successful,” Givens said.
Freshman Elizabeth Edmiston,
killed three consecutive Bear serv
ices to preserve a 6-2 A&M lead.
A&M then played good defensive
ball to take a 10-^ lead. Van Brandt,
plaving attacker instead of setter,
added a kill and an ace to give A&M
a five point run, and their only win
in the match.
In the final game, the young Ag
gies held onto a 5-5 tie before giving
up six unanswered points.
Givens said he saw positive signs
in the loss.
“(SMSU Coach) Linda Dollar al
ways has a good team,” he said.
“They played great defense. Our
outside blocking was weak.
“We have plenty of talent, we just
need to execute. Some of our fresh
men will contribute for us.”
Two A&M players recieved hon
ors in the tournament. Van Brandt
was named the tournament's Most
Valuable Player. Junior Krista Hier-
holzer was selected to the All-Tour
nament Team.
Others on the all-tourney team
were Kengy Gardiner and Michelle
Drerup of Rhode Island, Scafidi and
Bingham of SMSU, and Kathy
Nickel of Weber State.
The Aggies’ next game will be
Tuesday night against Sam Houston
State in G. Rollie White Coliseum.
Tech victory the lone
bright spot for SWC
tlAF
Texas Tech saved the Southwest
Conference from total humiliation.
The Red Raiders sprang a 24-14
ambush on 20th-ranked Arizona
Saturday night before some 35,000
fans in Jones Stadium.
The SWC needed the win; the rest
of the teams lost on the road.
James Gray scored two touch
downs and had a career-high 234
yards rushing as the Red Raiders
stunned the Wildcats.
“It was an excellent 60 minutes of
football,” said Tech coach Spike
Dykes. “James Gray was just tremen
dous but so was the rest of the team.”
Gray has a school record 34
touchdowns and is just three yards
short of James Hadnot’s career rush
ing record of 2,794.
Defensive lineman Charles Perry
summed the game up for the Red
Raiders: “We came out and shocked
some people. There is nothing like
coming out and beating a Top 20
team to start the season.”
Arizona coach Dick Tomey said
Tech physically dominated the Wild
cats.
“Our missed tackles were Gray’s
determination,” Tomey said. “It was
quite a performance.”
Otherwise, it was a bad Saturday
for the proud SWC, which is cele
brating its diamond anniversary.
Oklahoma beat highly regarded
Baylor 33-7, Washington upset 15th-
ranked Texas A&M 19-6, Missouri
beat Texas Christian 14-10 andTii
lane nipped Rice 20-19.
Baylor coach Grant Teafl gavel
team a chewing out at halftime wi
the Sooners leading 28-0.
“The loss hit me like a ton o! $300
bricks,” Teaff said. “We played like
junior high team in the first
They ran up and down the fieldot $300
us.
$300
$200
Baylor linebacker James Francs
said, “I’ve never seen the coach thi
angry
Teaff added, “At least I'll slec $50
better after that second half. If al $50
we’d had was that first half, 1 thin!
I'd have jumped off the Tallahatchii 550
Bridge. The gate was shut longafa $50
the horse was out but at least we shtf $50 in
the gate.”
TCU’s “triple shoot” offense pi!
up 487 yards but the Horned Frog:
had trouble getting into the ei
zone against Missouri.
“They could have had 28 points! Lqq
the first half,” said Missouri coad fc^QQ
Bob Stull.
TCU dropped a dozen passes
Wacker said “if we make those
catches the game isn’t close. It’s
blowout.”
TCU may have lost running bad
Tony Darthard for the season. Daf
thard collapsed without bein 2
touched in the second period.
“We think he has a cartilage teat
said TCU coach Jim Wacker.
Rice missed a chance for its ill! 5400
consecutive victories since 19 '2*400 * * 1 * * * 7 * * * 11
blowing a lead and losing toTulafl !
Defending SWC champion d
kansas opens the season at 2
Saturday in Fayetteville ag
Tulsa.
$300
$300
$300
$300
3
$50
$50
$300
n $300
$300
$300
$300
$200
$200
$200
$200
$200 '
$200 ^
$200 p
$200 «
$400
$400
$400
$400
$400
$400
In other games, Baylor is
Georgia at noon. New Mexico is
Texas Lech in a roon game, 6
necticut is at Southern Methodist
7:30 p.m, and Texas A&M isatTC
at 7:30 p.m.