The Battalion
SPORTS
9
Wednesday, October 25,1989
Sports Editor Tom Kehoe 845-2688
Rasmussen
throws flags
on SWC refs
Clay
Rasmussen
Sports Writer
It’s become a real problem in the
Southwest Conference.
The players won’t talk about it, the
coaches won’t discuss it, so that leaves it
to the sportswriters to shed some light
on the subject.
I’m talking about the officiating in the
SWC.
Those of you that have attending any
of the A&M games know what I’m
talking about. It would be different if it
was one bad call, or even one bad game.
But this year, the officials have screwed
up game after game.
And this is not just another Aggie fan
complaining about some bad calls. Ask
Southern Methodist Coach Forrest
Cregg.
“I think the officiating this year in the
SWC has become a problem,” Gregg said
in his weekly show.
Gregg’s not the only coach to question
some of the officials calls. Several
coaches around the league, while being
more discreet than Gregg, have
questioned calls publicly.
And so have spectators and sports
writers.
Going back to the A&M-Tech game,
the referees whistled Tech quarterback
Jamie Gill down and took away an
apparent fumble from A&M that would
have preserved the Aggie’s 24-20 lead.
Instead, Tech threw a touchdown pass
the next play and won the game.
With the fear of sounding like a
whiney fan, take the A&M-Baylor game
(please!). Watching the game from Floyd
Casey Stadium, I saw a lot of
questionable calls, but then again I
See Rasmussen/Page 10
A&M defenses stay strong in 1980s
Aggies recruit big,
keep their players
hungry for success
By Richard Tijerina
Of The Battalion Staff
When you sit Texas A&M Coach R.C.
Slocum down and make him talk about Ag
gie defense, one word keeps coming up.
Stable.
It’s not surprising — A&M has produced
more “horses” on defense in the 1980s than
any other Southwest Conference team. And
that stability has made the Aggies one of the
most consistent defensive forces in the
SWC.
Since 1982, A&M has placed 11 de
fensive players on the All-SWC team.
Also, an Aggie has been voted by sports
writers as first-team All-Americas five times
— defensive end Ray Childress (1983-84)
and linebackers Johnny Holland (1985-86)
and John Roper (1987).
A third linebacker, senior Aaron Wal
lace, a preseason All-American and Butkus
Award candidate, is expected to make a
strong bid for post-season All-American
honors in 1989.
If he does, it’ll be another in a long list of
defensive stars that have worn Aggie ma
roon recently.
“We’ve been a pretty steady defense and
I think that’s because we’ve had a stable sit
uation defensively,” Slocum said Tuesday
at his weekly press conference. “It starts
snowballing — you’re coaching the same
thing, you recruit guys to play like that,
they play well and other guys come in and
want to play like those guys.”
Recruiting has been kind to the Aggies
for years. They bring in quality athletes
from good high school football programs,
mold them to A&M’s defensive philosophy
and by the time they graduate, they’re win
ners.
But last year the team went through ad
versity, on and off the field.
The team was placed on NCAA proba
tion which made it ineligible to compete for
its fourth consecutive Cotton Bowl.
The Aggies struggled early in the season
through a rigorous non-conference sched
ule and ended the year at 7-5. Then at the
height of the recruiting season, the Aggies
photo by Scott D. Weaver
Freshman defensive end Patrick Henry stops Baylor’s Lincoln Coleman
in a crucial goal line stand during Saturday’s 14-11 Aggie win.
found themselves without a head coach.
Jackie Sherrill resigned, and Slocum,
A&M’s longtime defensive coordinator,
quickly was hired.
However, Slocum and his new coaching
staff struggled in recruiting high school
players. As the recruiting wars were going
on with other SWC schools, it was unsure
whether or not the Aggies would receive
the NCAA death penalty because of rules
infractions. Most prep players found
A&M’s situation too risky, and signed else
where.
It showed. The Aggies recruited only 14
players — nine of those defensive. But de
fensive back Kenneth Norman from Sweet
water, regarded as the Aggies’ top overall
recruit, was drafted by baseball’s Cleveland
Indians in the amateur draft and signed a
contract with them.
However, the other eight signed with the
Aggies. Two, linebackers Marcus Buckley
and Jason Medlock, were Proposition 48
victims. The other five made the team.
Of those, 6-4, 270-pound defensive end
Tyler Harrison has played the most.
It was the lack of experience on the de
fensive front that had Slocum most worried
See Defense/Page 10
1989’s Ag defense
better than Slocum
thought it would be
By Clay Rasmussen
Of The Battalion Staff
The Texas A&M defense was supposed
to be anything but dominating this year.
Gone from the defense were linebackers
John Roper and Dana Batiste. Other high-
impact players like lineman Leon Cole and
defensive back Alex Morris were lost to
graduation.
The defensive outlook seemed grim for
the Aggies.
But the A&M defense has been anything
but ineffective this year. Half-way into the
1989 season, the Aggies lead the Southwest
Conference in rushing defense.
A&M has limited opponents to 99.9
yards of offense per game, and this after
playing the Houston Cougars, national
leaders in total offensive production aver
aging 57 points per game. The Aggies held
Houston to two touchdowns and have been
the only team to beat the Cougars thus far
this year.
A&M Coach R.C. Slocum is pleasantly
surprised.
“I was really concerned about the de
fense going into this year,” Slocum said.
“The defense has played better than I
ever anticipated.”
The surprise has come from the the Ag
gies’ defensive secondary. Before the sea
son, Slocum predicted his secondary to be
one of the strongest in the past few years.
Nagging injuries to strong safety Gary
Jones has hindered A&M’s passing defense.
The Aggies are ranked seventh in the
SWC in total passing defense, above Texas
Tech and Southern Methodist. They have
given up 1,436 yards on the pass, but have
recorded 12 interceptions (third in the
SWC).
The good news is the Aggies overall rank
fourth in total SWC defense. New names,
like William Thomas and Larry Horton
have emerged and are carrying on the tra
dition of “The Wrecking Crew.”
How re you going to do it?
A
“My t hem lab report is due Monday.
My English lit. paper is due Tuesday.
My economics paper is due on If ednesday.
And the big games tomorrow.''
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