The Battalion
SPORTS 7
Tuesday, November 21,1989
Sports Editor Tom Kehoe 845-2688
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This year’s Ags
may mirror 1987
Historians and coaches will tell you
history repeats itself.
Wait a minute. Coaches say that too?
Texas A&M Coach R.C. Slocum does,
anyway. He sees the events of 1987
occurring again this year.
Two years ago, A&M was a preseason
Southwest Conference favorite, coming
off its second straight Cotton Bowl
appearance. Early in the season, the
Aggies were 2-1 under Coach Jackie
Sherrill and were confident after back-
to-back wins against Washington and
Southern Mississippi.
Everything looked bright heading
into the Texas Tech game in Lubbock.
Coming out was a different story.
The Red Raiders dominated the
Aggies in a 27-21 upset.
Then defensive coordinator, Slocum
recalls meeting his 12-year-old son, John
Harvey, at the airport after the game.
“I got off the plane and John met me
at the airport,” Slocum said. “He was all
hurt and depressed.”
John was upset not only at A&M’s first
conference loss, but the Aggies dropped
out of the polls and could ill-afford a
second SWC loss. The conference race
was predicted to be tight. More than one
loss would decide who could go to the
Cotton Bowl.
“I told him the only thing the team
could do is to go back to work and try to
improve,” Slocum said.
Work hard and improve wasjust what
the Aggies did. A&M won its seven final
games and earned its third consecutive
Cotton Bowl trip.
And where are the parallels between
1987 and 1989?
This year A&M and Arkansas were
both preseason SWC favorites. The
Aggies tore through their opening
schedule, winning three of their first
four games, and winning them big.
A&M beat Texas Christian 44-7 and
Southern Mississippi 31-14.
But once again, the Aggies had to
march through Lubbo'tk and Texas
Tech on their way to a winning season.
And once again, the Red Raiders
pulled off the unthinkable, upsetting the
Aggies 27-24.
“We had to live that all over again,
which is something that happens all
through life,” Slocum said. “Those
stories keep repeating themselves.
“After the Tech loss this year, we just
said, ‘Boy, have we got a tough time
ahead of us.’ You have no choice but to
go to work and not feel sorry for
yourself.”
A&M did just that, working hard to
stay in an ever-tightening conference
race. After the loss to Tech, the Aggies
bounced back and upset nationally
ranked Houston, 17-13. They have won
four straight games and must at least tie
See History/Page 8
Reserve Frazier reserved about starting role
Backup cornerback must fill big shoes
when he plays for injured Washington
Photo by Phelan M. Ebenhack
A&M cornerback Derrick Frazier (3) starts for injured senior Mickey
Washington Friday night in a key SWC showdown with Arkansas.
By Richard Tijerina
Of The Battalion Staff
Reserve cornerback Derrick Frazier may
find himself in a strange position Friday
night — starting at left cornerback for in
jured senior Mickey Washington. But it’ll
be an all too familiar one for Texas A&M.
Washington, a first-team All-Southwest
Conference selection in 1988 by the Dallas
Morning News, fractured his scapula in the
third quarter of the Southern Methodist
game while returning a punt.
Arkansas at A&M
• Site: Kyle Field <72,387 cap.)
• Kickoff: 1:30 p.m.
• Ranking: A&M (14th), Ark. (9th)
• Records: A&M (7-2), Ark. (8-1)
• TV/Radio: The game will be na
tionally televised by CBS-TV;
K.TAM (AM 1240)
Washington is third in team tackles in
1989 with 52. He has one interception and
four quarterback sacks.
Now, with A&M’s last two crucial games
against Arkansas and Texas left, Washing
ton will be on the sidelines and Frazier will
be starting for the first time.
“Mickey will still be on the field,” Frazier
said. “He’ll just be a leader off the field Fri
day night. He’ll be on the sideline helping
out. He’s been trying to make me become a
better player so I can play a better game.”
But crucial injuries at cornerback are
nothing new to the Aggies.
In the last game of the 1987 season, se
nior cornerback Chet Brooks broke his an
kle against Texas. He missed the Cotton
Bowl game against Notre Dame, and the in
jury was considered a devastating one to the
Aggies.
Brooks, a consensus All-SWC selection
and an 1 Ith-round draft choice of the San
Fransisco 49ers, was charged with covering
Notre Dame’s Heisman Trophy winner —
wide receiver Tim Brown.
With the injury, Brown was expected to
burn the Aggies throughout the game, but
reserve cornerback Gary Jones, now A&M’s
starting safety, came in and shut down
Brown in the Aggies’ 35-10 vittory — the
last time the Fighting Irish lost a game.
Now, it’s Frazier’s turn to step into the
spotlight.
“Derrick’s played nine games, so he’s not
a freshman anymore,” A&M left cor
nerback Kevin Smith said. “He’s really like
a sophomore anyway because he redshirted
last year. When this season’s over, he’ll be
finished with his second year.”
Frazier has been Smith’s back-up all sea
son. He has 21 tackles and two intercep
tions — only Smith has more pickoffs with
seven.
“They might try to come to me early in
the game to test me,” Frazier said. “They
might put (flanker Derek ) Russell on me
one-on-one to go deep to see what I can do.
“It’s for all the marbles.”
Russell ranks ninth in career receiving
yardage at Arkansas, and his 20.8 yards per
catch average is the second best in school
history.
The winner of Friday’s game most likely
is headed for the conference championship
and a Cotton Bowl berth. Frazier said the
Aggies would receive a big lift from playing
at home. A&M has won 19 consecutive
SWC games at Kyle Field, dating back to
the 1984 season.
“You’d rather play at home,” Frazier
said. “Our crowd really gets us up to play at
home. We have one of the best home
crowds in the nation, and it helps the team.”
Smith said the Aggies benefit from good
depth on the bench in the secondary, and
Washington’s injury won’t affect them.
“It’ll hurt us not having Mickey — he’s a
leader,” Smith said. “But we have some
guys below who can replace the starters.
With Derrick and Steve Lofton, we can go
two or three deep. It won’t hurt us.”
Frazier said the key for the A&M defense
is to stop Arkansas’ long drives. The Razor-
backs have the reputation of eating up large
amounts of the clock.
“My main responsibility is to play the
pass first,” Frazier said. “We have to con
centrate on not giving them the big play
and making them earn what they get to
drive down the field.”
It’ll be a tall task for Frazier.
“You have to concentrate on every play
of the game,” he said. “When you don’t,
that’s the play you get beat on.”
Washington will be missed more for his
leadership in the secondary, Smith said.
“We haven’t played without Mickey, but
we still have Gary Jones and (safety) Larry
Horton out there,” Smith said. “We all have
responsibilities and we expect things out of
one another.
“Mickey was the one who tied it all to
gether. Mickey’s leadership will be missed,
but I don’t think it’ll slow us down at all.”
Frazier said he’s ready to step in and take
Washington’s place in A&M’s most impor
tant game of the year. The winner takes all,
the players are saying — the winner of the
game will go on to the Cotton Bowl. But
Frazier’s just hoping for a good game.
“Every player wants to start,” he said. “I
just hope I can contribute to the game. I’m
not nervous.”
Ags at No. 14; No. 1 Irish lay top rank on the line
FROM STAFF & WIRE REPORTS
Texas A&M will get its chance Friday
night to knock off its third Top Ten-ranked
team of the year when they host No. 9 Ar-
kansas
A&M beat former No. 7 LSU and No. 8
Houston earlier in the year.
The Aggies, ranked 14th in Monday’s
Associated Press Top 25 College Football
Poll, play the Razorbacks in a nationally
televised game from Kyle Field. The Aggies
haven’t lost a Southwest Conference game
since 1984 — a 19-game winning streak.
But Slocum was quick to downplay Mon
day the significance of A&M’s win streak at
Kyle Field.
“Our players aren’t concerned about the
winning streak here,” Slocum said. “That’s
all been played up by the students, in stories
and by the fans. But we’re not overly con
cerned with it.”
The winner of Friday’s game most likely
will win the SWC championship and a trip
to the Mobil Cotton Bowl Classic Jan. 1. It
would be A&M Coach R.C. Slocum’s first
conference championship and the Aggies’
fourth Cotton Bowl appearance in five
years.
The Razorbacks would be returning to
the Cotton Bowl for the second consecutive
year. Last season, Arkansas lost to UCLA
17-3.
The Aggies need victories over Arkansas
and Texas on Dec. 2 to claim the
championship. The Razorbacks need to
beat the Aggies Friday and then defeat
Southern Methodist in their last regular
season game.
The winner of the SWC probably will
face Southeastern Conference runner-up
Tennessee, ranked eighth in the nation, in
the Cotton Bowl. The loser of Friday’s
game most likely is headed toward an ap
pearance in the John Hancock (formerly
Sun) Bowl.
Elsewhere in the nation, Michigan State
is back and Fresno State is out of the foot
ball poll, while Notre Dame remains on top
for the 12th straight week.
The Fighting Irish, who beat Penn State
34-23 Saturday, received 57 of 60 first-
place votes and 1,497 of a possible 1,500
points from a nationwide panel of sports
writers and broadcasters.
Notre Dame puts its 23-game winning
streak on the line Saturday at No. 7 Miami.
Win or lose, the Irish are expected to re
turn to the Orange Bowl for a New Year’s
battle against second-ranked Colorado.
Colorado, a 59-11 winner over Kansas
State, received the other three first-place
votes and 1,439 points Monday after com-
See Poll/Page 8
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