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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 29, 1989)
he Battalion PORTS 9 Friday, September 29,1989 Baylor’s defense carrying team, could lead squad to SWC crown WACO (API — The Bavlor Bears had the best nass Another interrentinn hv Blarkmon was erased hv a l^av- claim tsAs- 'Hon Ags, Eagles ready for game Kyle Field homecoming for USM coach Hallman By Clay Rasmussen Of The Battalion Staff Southern Mississippi Coach Curley Hallman is more than just a little worried after looking at the Golden Eagle’s remaining 1989 schedule. After an impressive win over Florida State in the season opener, Hallman and his staff had high hopes that the Eagles would be able to repeat last year’s 10-2 season and gain another bowl bid. Mississippi State, Auburn and Texas Christian all had other ideas. The Golden Eagles have dropped their last three games and things don’t look like they’re going to get any better. In a telephone interview Wednesday, Hallman said he w'as concerned with Texas A&M be cause of Southern Mississippi’s showing against TCU. So. Mississippi at A&M • Site: 72,64A (72.S87 cap.) • Kickoff: 6 p.m. • Ranking: A&M (22nd), Southern ; Mississippi (—) I • TV/Radio: The game will not be ! televised: R EAM (AM 1240) “Our guys are a little frustrated (after the TCU loss),” Hallman said. “They are really working hard to get rid of some of that frustration, but A&M is not the best opponent to go and try to solve all your problems.” But what worries Hallman the most is the week off the Aggies had to lick their wounds. Nagging injuries have weakened the Ag gies’ offensive line, and the week off has given A&M new strength. “My biggest concern is that they had two weeks to get ready for us,” Hallman said. “They’ll have all their people healthy.” For the first time since starting two-a-day practices, A&M Coach R.C. Slocum watched on Monday all his starting offensive line run through practice together. “I think (the week off) really helped us from the standpoint of getting some guys healthy,” Slo cum said. The Aggie coaching staff has See Game/Page 11 WACO (AP) — The Baylor Bears had the best pass defense in college football last year. This year they may be even better. This stingy unit is so good it could lead the Bears to their third Southwest Conference football championship in Grant Teaffs 18 years as coach. “We’re hopefully getting in position where we can be a good team,” said Teafo whose teams won titles in 1974 and 1980. In 1988, Baylor allowed only 117.8 yards a game passing and a completion rate of 40.9 percent. But last Saturday's 46-3 victory over Kansas ranks among the all-time pass defense performances for a team that in recent years has turned out such pro de fensive backs as Vann McElroy, Ron Francis and Thomas Everett. Kansas quarterback Kelly Donohoe, ranked No. 4 in the nation in passing proficiency, threw 13 passes against Baylor and completed only three for seven yards. He was sacked twice and intercepted twice, by safety Robert Blackmon — setting up a Baylor touchdown — and by safety Mike Welch for a 25-yard touchdown. Another interception by Blackmon was erased by a Bay lor offsides penalty. What made the Baylor coverage more impressive was that Donohoe bought time by scrambling but still could not locate free receivers. His sub, Ron Page, had even less success, throwing once for an interception, which Baylor linebacker Curtis Halford returned 28 yards to the Kansas 5-yard-line to set up Baylor’s final touch down. The pass defense, coach Teaff said, smiling, was “aw fully good.” “We were quite concerned about their passing at tack,” he said. “They had been a real big play team. But the coverage was there. And w'e tackled real well.” Teaffs concern before the season was that Welch might not be fully recovered from a knee injury that kept him on the sidelines in 1988. That concern laded in the first half of the season opener against Oklahoma. “He (Welch) came back and pelted some people,” Teaff said. “He’s really good and so heady back there. He doesn't make any mistakes.” It’s give and take when SWC action put in 6 Lehmann’s terms’ Football widows beware: it’s gonna be a busy weekend. For the first time this season, all eight Southwest Conference football teams, nine if you count SMU, will compete Saturday. The most interesting of this week’s matchups will be played in the Astrodome. Temple won’t make a game of their date with Houston, so the fun will be watching the scoreboard light up. Temple will have a chore putting double digits on their half of the board, but the big problem will be keeping Houston from putting triple digits on their side. Houston squashed UNLV 69-0 in their season opener, and then ran up 744 yards in trouncing then-undefeated Arizona State on the road. The punchline is that the Cougars turned the ball over seven times and were flagged for 23 penalties. It won’t be pretty w hen they square off against the Owls, who are 0-4 after being drubbed by perennial poweihouses 4*% fpp ^ IJf \ I Alan Lehmann Sports Writer Western Michigan and Virginia Tech. Houston might become the first NCAA team to gain 1,000 yards in one game. The line is Houston by 41. Take the Cougs, and give 60. One hapless team not enough for you? There’ll be two on the field when Rice travels to Wake Forest. Rice has managed to lose to Tulane and Southwest Louisiana, while Wake Forest is 0-3 after bowing to mighty Appalachian. The line is Wake Forest by 1 1. Save your cash, this one could go either w'ay. Want to see two hapless former champions stumble around the arena, but can’t wait for the George Forman-Gerry Cooney fight? Then travel to Austin for the Texas- Penn State game. Last year the Longhorn secondary had a vision problem. They could only spot receivers from behind. Way behind. After playing only run-happy Colorado and the SMU Punies this season, the Horns haven’t had a chance to see how awful they can be. The line is Penn State by 1 point. Don’t put money on it. With these two, anything can happen. In another mismatch, Arkansas faces Texas-El Paso in Little Rock. The Hogs haven’t passed as much as coach Ken Hatfield promised, but who needs to pass when you’ve got a behemoth offensive line? UTEP, who has lost to Tulsa and Lamar, put up a good fight in their 43-26 loss to Air Force last week. Since Air Force is a running team, UTEP should stay within four touchdowns. The line is Arkansas by 27 points, so take UTEP and the points. The two SWC matchups on tap for Saturday feature SMU at TCU and Texas Tech at Baylor. Although the Punies hung with the Longhorns for 30 minutes last week, they won’t last long against TCU. The Horns were overconfident. TCU has no reason to be. This might be the weekend that the Frogs stop shooting themselves in the foot with their “triple-shoot” offense. If SMU does win, who on this side of Dallas will care? The Tech-Baylor game should be the closest of the day. The real question is: Does anybody outside of Waco or Lubbock care? If you do, Tech is still unbeaten after upsetting Arizona and Oklahoma State. Baylor has lost contests to Oklahoma and Georgia on the road. For some reason, the Bears are favored by four and a half. Take Tech. You won’t need the points. Finally, the one you’ve all been waiting for: Southern Mississippi at Texas A&M. No doubt about it, the Aggies will win. They might even cover the 13-point spread. USM has a greal quarterback in Brett Favre, but the Aggies handled LSU’s Tom Hodson pretty well. Favre probably will throw for 200 yards, - but the Aggie offense will simply be too much. Take A&M. And give the points. e e Sta: a l alvei’ lations nee of eopen jeniK UNITED COLORS OF BENETTON. 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