955
>T
L
:as
\
i
&
>/
/
1
/
/
>
b
Kl
i; r
ai
in
3
1
he Battalion
PORTS
Sports Editor Tom Kehoe 845-2688
Collision in College Station: Aggies, Hogs
Inside track to SWC
crown to be decided
Battalion file photo
A&M running back Darren Lewis carries two Arkansas defenders in last year’s 25-20 loss in Fayetteville, Ark.
Lewis will lead A&M Friday against the Razorbacks, as A&M hopes to take the inside track to the Cotton Bowl.
Wednesday, November 22,1989
fs
1
Richard
Tijerina
Assistant Sports Editor
12th Man may be
biggest asset Ags
have against Hogs
Q: What do you get when you have a
crucial matchup involving Texas A&M
at Kyle Field?
A: Trouble. Decibels worth.
Friday’s A&M-Arkansas matchup is
for all the marbles this year in the
Southwest Conference. The two teams
practically are even on paper, but the
Aggies have a decided advantage.
Specifically, A&M will have about
66,000 reasons why they’ll have the edge
Friday against Arkansas.
The 12th Man.
How many times has a Top Ten
opponent visited Kyle Field this year in a
big game against the Aggies? And how
many times has Kyle Field’s faithful
thrown the other team off balance? And
how many times has A&M turned that
home field support into an upset?
Let me count the ways.
• Sept. 2, 1989. Louisiana State,
ranked seventh in the country, traveled
to College Station to play unranked
A&M in the first game of the season.
There was 61,733 at the game, and
LSU’s offense unraveled in the fourth
quarter with the game within reach. The
Aggies went on to win, 28-16.
• Oct. 14, 1989. In what was
considered A&M’s most important game
of the season until Friday’s matchup
with Arkansas, Houston brought its
explosive Run-and-Shoot to College
Station. No. 8 UH was a nine-point
favorite over unranked A&M. The
Cougars were called for delay of game
penalties because of the crowd noise
several times, including a crucial one in
the final minute that sealed the Aggies’
17-13 upset.
That’sjust this season. Let’s also
remember 1987, when Arkansas and
Texas traveled to College Station. The
home field advantage always has been
crucial in the A&M-Arkansas series, and
I it held up in the Aggies’ 14-0 win.
The win gave the Aggies the inside
track to the Cotton Bowl. The
Razorbacks who were there still
remember the noise at Kyle Field.
“Kyle Field is the worst place to play
for an opposing team,” Arkansas
cornerback Anthoney Cooney said.
“Their fans are loud but you can’t get
caught up watching the fans. You have
tojust play your game. A&M will do a lot
of things to distract you.”
Arkansas Coach Ken Hatfield said he
thinks the noise at Kyle Field is going to
be something the Razorbacks will have to
deal with Friday.
“It’s loud, no doubt,” Hatfield said.
“When you’ve got more than 70,000
people down there screaming for A&M,
it tends to drown everything else out.
“But I heard how nice and hospitable
A&M plans to be Friday. Tell (the Aggie
fans) to eat some extra turkey and
See 12th Man/Page 6
By Clay Rasmussen
Of The Battalion Staff
It was earlier this year in August. The
1988 Southwest Conference Coach of the
Year, Ken Hatfield, said he had one goal
for his Arkansas Razorbacks in 1989: A vic
tory on Jan. 1, 1990.
“That’s our goal, to win the Cotton
Bowl,” Hatfield said during the SWC media
tour this fall.
And three months later, the No. 9 Razor-
backs (8-1) are well on their way to repeat
ing their 10-1 regular season finish and
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;
KTAM (AM 1240)
Cotton Bowl appearance of 1988.
The only thing standing in Arkansas’ way
is No. 14 Texas A&M.
A&M meets Arkansas Friday afternoon
at 1:30 at Kyle Field in a matchup that
could decide who will capture the SWC title
and make the coveted trip to Dallas on New
Year’s Day.
And A&M Coach R.C. Slocum wouldn’t
have it any other way.
“(A&M or Arkansas) can take the confer
ence championship and the Cotton Bowl
berth, lay it out there on the middle of the
field and go after it,” Slocum said. “That’s
what makes this game so important and so
exciting.
“This is the way (football) is supposed to
be.”
The two teams mirror each other and are
so evenly matched in ability, size and speed
that the game could go down to the wire.
Factors that might be small in other games,
with other opponents, are magnified.
Hatfield believes the difference in the
game could come down to the kicking and
special teams.
“When you’ve got two really good de
fensive teams fighting it out, that limits the
offense’s outputs,” Hatfield said. “That
makes the kicking game real important.”
Hatfield credits the Aggies with the bet
ter kicking game, but believes his team has
the ability to perform just as well.
“Our kicking game isn’t as strong as
A&M’s,” Hatfield said. “We’re capable of
kicking better, but we just haven’t been able
to do it consistently.
“We’ve got a great field goal kicker in
Todd Wright. He’s 16-of-18 and has done a
good job of kicking all year.”
However, the Aggies have a great kicker
of their own in Layne Talbot.
Talbot is having an outstanding year,
converting 69.2 percent of his field goals
and 100 percent of his extra points. He is
the team’s second leading scorer behind
Darren Lewis with 60 points.
Another critical factor Arkansas must
face is A&M’s home field advantage.
The Aggies haven’t dropped a SWC
game at Kyle Field since 1984.
Still, Slocum tried to downplay the Ag
gies’ good fortune in home games.
“We" don’t talk about that stuff,” Slo
cum said. “I’m sure other teams talk about
it, but we don’t think it’s that important.
“We just happen to play well at home be
cause we get such great support here.”
Both A&M and Arkansas base their phi
losophy around an aggressive defense.
“A&M has great team speed and they at
tack the ball well,” Hatfield said. “They’ve
got everything a good solid defense needs
to have a team succeed.
“I believe A&M has one of the better de
fenses in the league.”
IJatfield should know. His Razorbacks
have been able to muster only 2 offensive
touchdowns against the Aggies’ defense
over the last two years.
Last year, A&M kept Arkansas out of the
endzone all day, but gave up five field
goals. The Razorbacks’ defense also logged
a touchdown on a blocked punt. Arkansas
won 25-20.
However, Hatfield isn’t concerned about
his offense’s poor showings over the past
two years.
“I’m not worried about our teams that
were on the fifeld two years ago,” Hatfield
said. “These guys are a totally different
bunch of players.”
Razorback quarterback Quinn Grovey
also has learned first hand about the Ag
gies’ aggressive defense.
Grovey was knocked out from a vicious
hit by A&M safety Gary Jones last year.
A&M offensive coordinator Bob Toledo
sees Arkansas’ defense much like Hatfield
sees A&M’s.
“They’re a sound defensive team,” To
ledo said. “They don’t do a lot of things
scheme wise, but what they do, they do real
well.
“Arkansas has been noted for its defense
the last few years, and this year is no excep
tion.”
Toledo has instilled some of his respect
for the Razorbacks into Aggie quarterback
Lance Pavlas.
“They’re a very sound defense,” Pavlas
said. “They’re not going to make mistakes
and they’re going to force you to either beat
them or beat yourself.”
A&M plans to mix up its running and
passing games equally to counteract Arkan
sas’ defense.
“We’re going to have to have a balanced
attack,” Pavlas said. “The most important
thing is when we have the ball, we’re going
to need to put some points on the board.
“We need to score when we have the
ball.”
Slocum said it was vital that the Aggies
make the most out of every possession.
“Arkansas eats up so much time off the
clock when they have the ball,” Slocum said.
“They’ll let the 30-second clock wind down
to 15 seconds before they run in a play and
Grovey will wait till the clock gets to two sec
onds before he snaps the ball.”
A&M will rely heavily on its offense to
take control of the game and keep the ball
away from Arkansas.
Both Slocum and Hatfield are somewhat
concerned, wondering whether or not their
teams will come out in top form or play flat.
Although Slocum is thankful for the two
weeks off, he worried about pacing the
team. He did not want the team to lose in
tensity, and at the same time he didn’t want
to run them into the ground practicing
them too hard.
“Preparing for the game, we tried to pace
ourselves over the two weeks off,” Slocum
said. “We came out practicing in full pads
this week and we will continue to have live
scrimmage-ype drills up to Thursday.”
However, Hatfield is a little more as
sured that his team will come into Friday’s
game with the intensity they’ve played with
all year.
“The team has shown every indication of
being up for the game,” Hatfield said. “The
intensity is definitely there.”
The A&M-Arkansas game has been a
conference deciding game four of the last
five years. While the game may decide the
conference championship and Cotton Bowl
berth, both teams, if they win Friday’s
game, still must win their final games to
clinch the SWC.
They’ll both be playing as if this game
were the final one of the season.
“We’re going to go all out,” Slocum said.
“We will not hold anything back Friday,
worrying about Texas.”
Hatfield and the Razorbacks face a big
challenge Friday. If they’re to accomplish
their preseason goal of two consecutive Cot
ton Bowls, then they’ll have to go through
Slocum and his Aggies. Aggie conerback
Derrick Frazier said it best.
“This game is for all the marbles.”
$100 $100 $100 $100 $100 $100 $100 $100 $100 $100 $100 $100
$!oo Cold Study $]oo
$100 Individual 18 years & older with active cold symptoms to partici- $100
$100 P at e in a 1 day Cold Study with an over-the-counter cold medica- $100
$100 l' 011 - N° blood drawn. $100. incentive for those chosen to partici- $100
$100 P ate $100
$100 $100 $100 $100 $100 $100 $100 $100 $100 $100 $100 $100
$300
$300
$300
$300
$300
$300
$300
$300
$300 $300 $300 $300 $300 $300 $300 $300
HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE STUDY
Individuals with high blood pressure, either on or off blood pres
sure medication daily to participate in a high blood pressure
study. $300 incentive for those chosen to participate. BONUS:
$100 countdown incentive for patients chosen to participate
and who complete study. (7 days left)
$300 $300 $300 $300 $300 $300 $300 $300
$300
$300
$300
$300
$300
$300
$300
$300
$100 $100 $100 $100 $100 $100 $100 $100 $100 $100 $100 $100
*!“> FEVER STUDY
$100 Short at home study to evaluate individuals 17 years and $100
$100 older who have a temperature over 100° f. $50. incentive for $100
$100 those chosen to participate. Nights and weekends call 361- $100
$100 1500. $100
$100 $100 $100 $100 $100 $100 $100 $100 $100 $100 $100 $100
CALL PAULL RESEARCH
INTERNATIONAL
776-0400
ITAMU SNOW SKI CLUB
presents
COPPER MOUNTAIN
and
SKI THE SUMMIT!
January 4-10,1990
$449 Includes Roundtrip Airfare
6 Nights Ski In/Ski Out Lodging
4 Day Lift Pass/5th Day Optional
EVERYONE WELCOME!
Final Payment Due
Monday, Nov. 27
Hurry to reserve space!
Call or come by CUBE
2nd Floor Pavillion
845-0695
or call
Todd Reeves 764-6437
or
Laynee Jones 696-8759]
FREE FLYING LESSONS
With Purchase of Radio Control Air Plane Set
10% discount on any R/C airplane, car or
Helicopter set with this coupon
-Stunt Kites
-Plastic Models
-Balsa & Bass Wood
\/>enU>
Hobbies & Crafts
823-0916
-R/C Headquarters
-Boats & Trains
-Art Supplies
You say
you can’t afford
a new car.
you can.
Introducing Volkswagen’s Financing Assistance Plan.
Attention Graduating Seniors
Are you graduating in the next 4 mos.
or have graduated in the past 12 mos.
You Can Qualify for a New Car from Wayne Thomas
Volkswagen. Your Job is your Credit.
WAYNE THOMAS VOLKSWAGEN
111S. Texas Ave.-Bryan 775-VOLK
Hj