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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 12, 1989)
■ V • . ' r s The Battalion SPORTS 11 Thursday, October 12,1989 Sports Editor Tom Kehoe 845-2688 S led a Seems like old times? A&M hoping to recapture the formula that beat UH in 1988’s defensive romp By Richard Tijerina Of The Battalion Staff 236-24. That’s how much the high-pow ered offense of No. 8 Houston has outscored its opponents in 1989. Its Run-and-Shoot offense has run over and shot through more defenses than Texas A&M Coach R.C. Slo cum would care to think about. But now he has to. A&M hosts Houston on Saturday. Playing at Kyle Field could be a defi nite advantage for the Aggies. UH has won only once away here — a 17- 14 thriller in 1979. A&M leads the series 13-11-3. Kyle Field has been generous to the Aggies in the past few years. Since losing to Baylor in 1984, A&M has won 17 consecutive SWC games at home. During that span, it is 24-2 in all games at Kyle Field. The Aggies will need all the help they can get this weekend, as the Cougars bring their explosive of fense and national ranking to town. Not a lot of people have given the Aggies much of a chance to stop the Run-and-Shoot, or, as has been the case in 1989, the Score-Some-More. But last year, A&M found a way to beat the Cougars in Houston. It was one of only two conference games UH lost in 1988. Aside from A&M’s 30-16 win over them, UH also lost to eventual conference champion Ar kansas 26-21. 2 p.m • Ranking: A&M <—), Houston (8ih) • TV/Radiot H5£ (Ch. 25)tape de lay at 10:30 p.m.; KTAM (AM 1240 So, how did the Aggies do it last year, and can it work again? Slocum, then the defensive coor dinator, used a dominating pass rush and complex defensive schemes to confuse the UH quar terbacks — David Dacus and Andre Ware. Blessed with a talented group of linebackers, Slocum sent A&M de fenders into the UH backfield so of ten that UH Coach Jack Pardee must have thought they all had Cougar uniforms on. The Aggies had eight sacks on the day — two-and-a-half less than A&M’s total so far in 1989 — and forced one fumble. UH had a 6-0 lead at the end of the first quarter on two Roman An derson field goals. But A&M took a 7-6 lead on its first possession of the second quarter on a one-yard touch down plunge from quarterback Bucky Richardson. UH led 9-7 at halftime on another Anderson field goal, but the Cou gars must have seen signs of things to come. Although UH had a clear advantage in passing yards — Dacus had 229 yards compared to A&M’s 94 — Houston had only 10 yards rushing the ball, compared to A&M’s 95. In the second half, A&M held the ball on offense and kept UH’s Run- and-Shoot off the field. The Aggie defense also stepped it up a notch, blitzing Ware and Dacus almost on See Last Year/Page 12 Pardee looking for sweet return to A&M, this time as UH coach By Clay Rasmussen Of The Battalion Staff Houston Cougars coach Jack Pardee returns to his alma mater this Saturday to face Texas A&M, but don’t expect him to give the Aggies any quarter. Pardee, Class of ’57, returns to College Station for only the second time as the head coach of the Uni versity of Houston. While he still recalls the good times at Texas A&M, Pardee also is also quick to swear allegiance to UH. “A&M is part of my past and the Aggies are now my opponent,” Pardee said in a telephone interview Wednesday. “You get very loyal to the people who sign your paychecks.” Nevertheless, Pardee is always excited at the op portunity to return to A&M. “It’s exciting to come back — I played and coached there,” Pardee said. “I’ve always enjoyed the tradition and excitement. The kind of crowds and the enthusiasm that the Aggies show motivates me to bring in my Houston team and try to do well. “You never want to embarrass yourself in front of friends and people you’ve worked with.” Pardee shouldn’t have many problems impressing the Aggies, their coaches or their fans. After Saturdays game, the Association of Former Students might want to consider striking Pardee’s name from their records. The Cougars are 4-0 (1-0 in SWC play) coming into Saturday’s game. They are fifth nationally in de fense and their offense averages 59 points a game. This, against an Aggie defense that is bruised and battered, could provide another big outing for Cou gar quarterback Andre Ware and his Run-and-Shoot wrecking machine. Pardee tends to downplay the seemingly huge ad vantage that the Cougars have entering the game with the Aggies. “We’re not worried about running up the score,” Pardee said. “I just want to get out of Kyle Field with a win.” Pardee’s good fortunes with a Houston program that was embroiled in scandal is no fluke. His success within the realm of football extends far back to his playing days at Texas A&M. As an Aggie, Pardee spent 1957 as a fullback and linebacker playing for the legendary Paul “Bear” Bryant. He was named to the All-Southwest Conference team, the All-American team and was an academic All-American. During his senior year, with Heisman Trophy winner John David Crow at his side, Pardee and the Aggies went undefeated. The only blemish to their record came in a 14-14 tie with the team he was later to coach — the Hous ton Cougars. Pardee then spent 15 years in the pros, amassing honors such as the NFL’s Defensive Player of the Year. He led the Washington Redskins defense as an All-Pro linebacker as they marched to the 1972 Su per Bowl. Pardee began his coaching career in 1973 with the Redskins as an assistant. But he was not content with See Pardee/Page 12 The common man’s guide to the Cowboys’ Hickspeak dialect If you’re not a Liberal Arts major you probably haven’t experienced the joy of learning, or attempting to learn, a foreign language. And even if you have, Spanish, French and Italian have nothing to do with the language I’m about for explain to you. It’s Pokian, the official language of the Dallas Cowboys. It’s a language much like Latin, once useful in ancient times, but as history unfolded it became deader than the USFL. Cryptic phrases like “best available athlete,” names like “Hogenboom,” and a word most fans couldn’t figure out but all NFL offensive coordinators did: “Flex.” But like I said, that’s dead. It’s the new dialect that’s dangerous and even more confusing Yes, Hickspeak. It is spoken in terrifying phrases like “my kind of players.” As near as we can tell tliat translates loosely to “young, stupid and will only be around two weeks.” Another phrase sprung from Hickspeak is, “We’re on track.” This actually means “Yes, we just got our butts kicked again but I’m going to cut three or four guys Monday and audition more losers during the week to join our traveling freak show.” And to the uninitiated, the JJ Boys’ language can be painfully deceiving. Remember talk about a “new era?” You thought it meant a return to former glory and a possible .500 season didn’t you? Many did, including myself. No, we were duped. I never did get a good handle on Spanish. But if I keep on my toes I could become bilingual thanks to Hickspeak. And that’ll look good on a resume. Because, you see, “new era” was never intended to mean a return to anything. It was just good PR lingo for, “Look out, we’re gonna be even worse than*last year.” So much for a new era. It’s actually just and old era. Welcome back to 1960. Should have guessed from the former roomies’ haircuts. But there’s a new phrase being recklessly run about in Dallas. It concerns Herschel Walker and The Trade. Jimmy Johnson said on Tuesday: “Herschel Walker is a great running back and can do what he wants to do. If he wants to stay here, I want him to stay here.” Translation: “As soon as I can get a good deal for him, Mr. I’m Not Carrying the Ball Enough is gone.” And can you translate the translation? I’m not quite proficient enough in this new dialect yet, but if I were going for the partial credit on a test I’d put this: “We’re giving up on this season and maybe the next two.” What else could it mean? Unloading Walker could only be to get future draft picks. You couldn’t get enough players in five ‘ trades to make a difference now. And it’d be cruel to take a halfway decent player off a contending team, the only kind that can afford a blockbuster deal for Herschel, and put him on America’s worst Team. Remember this. When the final seconds tick off in that 16th game on December 24, expect to hear the ultimate loser’s cliche. “Wait ’til next year.” Translate it to, “Wait ’til 1994.” Hey, I’m an optimist. SHOUT IT FROM THE ROOFTOPS/ ROTHERS BOOKSTORE !rOTHE bS >_ W # 0*0 # D*S*T»0 # N # E Giant Parking Lot Sale We’re overstocked, we’ve moved to the lot! m FRIDAY, SATURDAY, SUNDAY i « V- '*5 :>/'•. • : f ' - a mk i OCT. 13,14,15 10 a.m. - 6 p.m. 901 HARVEY RD JUST DO IT!