The Battalion
SPORTS
Monday, December 4,1989
Sports Editor
Richard Tijerina 845-
Vince
Snyder
Sports Writer
Reserve backs
for Ags shine;
Lewis still fine
When you think about the Aggies’
running attack, you think about Darren
Lewis.
But the Aggies proved they could still
run the ball Saturday despite the loss of
Lewis in the backfield.
Lewis, who was the nation’s top
returning running back after being
ranked second nationally last season,
paced the sidelines in street clothes
Saturday due to a sprained knee.
Lewis’ injury came in last weeks 23-22
loss to Arkansas with just over five
minutes left in the third quarter.
With the Aggies’ preseason Heisman
candidate out for the day, the running
back position was left open to
sophomores Keith McAfee and Randy
Simmons.
Although McAfee had seen more
playing time than Simmons, Simmons
rose to the occasion when called upon by
Texas A&M Coach R.C. Slocum.
“I know I don’t get many chances,”
Simmons said. “I know I’ve got to give
100 percent every time I’m out there.
“I don’t ever want to go to the film
room and have someone say I didn’t
work hard.”
But work hard he did with a career-
high 16 carries for 58 yards. On the
Aggies’ last possession, Simmons busted
through tackles and moved the ball
down to the one-yard line, which set up a
touchdown trot for fullback Robert
Wilson.
McAfee, who didn’t have his best
game of the year but was a key factor to
A&M’s offense, carried the ball 11 times
for 23 yards and a touchdown.
So, with these two explosive and
capable reserve running backs, how
drastic was the loss of Darren Lewis for
the Aggies?
See Snyder/Page 11
Varsity’s horns sawed off sixth straight tim
A&M makes big play when needed,
holds off Texas for 21-10 victory
By Clay Rasmussen
Of The Battalion Staff
Photo by Jay Janner
Aggie running back Keith McAfee (5) dives over the top for a one-yard
touchdown in the first quarter of A&M’s 21-10 win over Texas Saturday.
The Longhorns started out trying to end
an old Aggie tradition, but ended up taking
part in a more recent one.
Texas tried to keep A&M from singing
its school song before Saturday’s game. UT
should have been more concerned with its
performance and less concerned with its
pride.
A&M downed Texas for the sixth
straight year, 21-10, in front of a crowd of
76,803, the third largest in Kyle Field his
tory.
A pre-game midfield brawl broke out as
Texas taunted A&M players and coaches
who had gathered to sing the “Spirit of Ag-
gieland,” a tradition the Aggies have ob
served for years.
As the Aggies approached the center of
the field in what tne Longhorns saw as an
intimidation ploy, words passed between
the teams and soon after, fists were flying.
The No. 16 Aggies survived the pre
game brawl and bounced back from an
emotional 23-22 loss to No. 9 Arkansas to
finish their season 8-3, 6-2 in Southwest
Conference play.
Texas, after surprising many critics early
in the season with wins over Arkansas and
Oklahoma, finished the year with a losing
record.
The Longhorns ended up 5-6, 4-4 in
SWC play. This is the first time that Texas
has recorded back-to-back losing seasons
since 1938.
The Aggies struggled early and trailed
the Longhorns for most of the game, but
A&M Coach R.C. Slocum was still pleased
with the play of his team.
“That was a great win for the team,” Slo
cum said. “We had guys playing hurt and
we didn’t have our starting tailback or
noseguard.
“To beat your arch rivals under those cir
cumstances is very satisfying.”
The Longhorns, coming off a devestat-
ing 50-7 loss to Baylor last week, played like
a team possessed.
Texas Coach David McWilliams, disap
pointed with the loss, was still very happy
with the play of his team.
“I was pleased with the effort,” McWil
liams said. “We had an opportunity to win
the football game, but we didn’t get it done.
“When our players look back, thets
going to see how close we were. Thereiuj|^(
ways a play or two that makes a differenceT
There were two plays that standout*
making the difference between an A0|
win or loss.
The first play that made a differentil
came with less than five minutes togoinlln^i
first quarter.
After the Aggies stalled on their ownBl
yard-line, punter Sean Wilson fumbledtlitIT
snap and the Longhorns recovered at tin ft.
A&M 18.
However, the Longhorns were unableiol
take advantage of the A&M miscue.Tbnbpi
were penalized for having 12 menontlitl*-
field during the punt.
The penalty gave the Aggies a firstdow I
and took away an excellent opportunityloT
the Longhorns to extend their lead.
“That was a big turnaround on thatpt
nalty,” A&M quarterback Lance Pavlassatii
“We had some trouble gettin things goitit
offensively, and that gave us anotherdiatt
ce.”
The second crucial play came withita
seconds left in the third quarter. m\
barely beat the game clock and burn«
Texas on a 45-yard touchdown pass.
“We told our guys to hang in there anf
keep playing their hearts out,” Slocumsaid
“I’m very proud of this group becausethe
fought back and scrapped to the vet vend,
An emotional 23-33 loss last week at th
hands of Arkansas took its toll on the Ay
gies earlv in the game. A&M wasunablet
capitalize on two Texas interceptionsai!:l
the Aggie offense was unable to sustainac I
drives.
H
A&M trailed early and was in daneero
falling further tiehind when the Longhorn]
let an excellent opportunity to pull aw I
from A&M slip away.
The f umble recovery on the Aggie pur:I
that was called back for the penalty nurttlil
Longhorns, McWilliams said. It wass
a case of missed communication.
“We got conf used and somebody wkj
shouldn’t have been out there was,” McVij
Hams said.
Eight plays and 67 yards later, A&M is.
See Six Straight/Page 11
Snowball
Oilers edge Steelers in icy weather,
move into first place in AFC Central
Ags brawl, then maul Longhorns;
UT streak continues for seniors
PITTSBURGH (AP) — The weather
outside was frightful, but the Houston Oil
ers — who usually play in the climate-con-
trolled comfort of the Astrodome — found
it downright delightful.
Lorenzo White ran for 115 yards and a
game-winning 1-yard scoring run with 21
seconds left after Warren Moon threw two
touchdown passes in the final 1:54 of the
first half during a driving snowstorm, giv
ing the Oilers a 23-16 victory Sunday over
the Pittsburgh Steelers.
The cold weather-tested Steelers were
supposed to have a decided advantage in
the numbing wind and blowing snow, but it
was the Oilers (8-5) who overcame a 10-0
deficit, three fumbles, and a minus 25-de-
gree wind-chill factor to take over first
place in the AFC Central Division. Cincin
nati’s 21-0 victory in Cleveland knocked the
Browns (7-5-1) out of the lead.
“Pittsburgh was saying we couldn’t play
in the cold — well, we did,” said Moon, who
played numerous bad-weather games in the
Canadian Football League. “I knew we
could. We played well in Cleveland last year
in bad weather in the playoffs, and we knew
we had everything going for us.”
White, who didn’t start, said the only
time he played in worse weather, “was my
sophomore year at Michigan State, when it
rained and hailed and snowed at Iowa. I al
ways seem to have big games in the bad
weather. I had my two best games in college
in bad weather.”
The Steelers (6-7), who twice settled for
field goals after driving to first downs at the
Houston 2-yard line, lost for the first time
in three games to all but end their chances
of making the playoffs for the first time
since 1984.
“The Steelers have a young team and this
was their first big pressure game, and they
played it like a playoff game,” Oilers coach
Jerry Glanville said. “It wasn’t real pleasant
out there, but you couldn’t tell it by the way
they played. But our goal-line defense was
great... it changed the game.”
“For some reason we just couldn’t get it
in when we got it close,” said the Steelers’
Tim Worley, who had 103 yards for his first
NFL 100-yard game. “We just couldn’t get
it in.”
After Gary Anderson’s third field goal
made it 16-16 with 5:43 to play, Moon hit
Haywood Jeffires for 37 yards to the Steel
ers’ 27 and White, who didn’t start, ran 26
yards on two carries ahead of his own go-
ahead touchdown on a second-and-goal
play.
“We had a long way to go against the
wind, but we did it,” Moon said. “I threw
that ball to Jeffires with all I had. I didn’t
think I couldn’t complete a long pass under
those conditions.”
The Oilers then intercepted Bubby Bris-
ter’s desperation last-play pass on a snow-
covered field to preserve their third consec
utive victory in Pittsburgh and sweep the
season series.
In a game that Look more than SVz hours
to play because of the snow and frequent in
stant replay reviews, the Oilers were able to
weather the awful playing conditions, but
the Steelers couldn’t overcome their inabil
ity to score from close range.
“We had chances to win it, chances to
punch it in but we couldn’t do it ... it was
frustrating,” Brister said. “When you have
as many opportunities as we did from in
side the 2, you’ve got to cash ’em in, but we
didn’t.”
Moon hit Curtis Duncan on an 18-yard
touchdown pass on a third-and-18 play with
1:54 left in the second quarter, making it
10-7. The score ended a 57-yard drive and
came a play after Moon was sacked by Greg
Lloyd for a 12-yard loss.
Then, after forcing Pittsburgh to punt,
the Oilers — playing for the first time this
season in frigid weather — drove 68 yards
on seven plays for Moon’s 27-yard touch
down pass to Drew Hill with 10 seconds left
in the naif and a 14-10 lead.
Hill, according to Glanville “one of 14
guys we had who were playing hurt,”
played for the first time in three weeks de
spite a painful back injury.
Anderson kicked his second field goal
early in the third quarter, but the Oilers
tackled punter Harry Newsome in the end
zone for a safety following a hobbled snap
for a 16-13 lead.
Houston later forced Pittsburgh settle
for Anderson’s tying 18-yard field goal with
5:43 to play after the Steelers had driven 78
yards to a first down at the Oilers’ 2. Merril
Hoge gained just a yard on two carries and
Brister couldn’t find a wide-open Worley in
the end zone on a third-down incomple
tion.
On their first possession of the game, the
Steelers took Anderson kick’s 18-yarder
and a 3-0 lead rather than gamble on
fourth-and-inches after Hoge and Tim
Worley were stopped for no gain on the two
preceding downs. Worley’s 12-yard run
had given the Steelers a first down at the 3
ahead of Hoge’s 2-yard run.
A&M and Texas players exchange pre-game taunts, which led to a brawl.
Photo by Phelan M. Ebenhack
By Richard Tijerina
Of The Battalion Staff
Texas A&M senior tight end Mike Jones
walked off the field Saturday night wearing
a Longhorns baseball cap. It probably be
longed to a Texas fan, but that didn’t mat
ter after the Aggies’ 21-10 victory.
He owned it now.
Funny in a way. The Aggies seemingly
have owned the Longhorns for the last six
years.
The last time the Longhorns beat the Ag
gies, a 45-13 victory in College Station in
1983, A&M quarterback Lance Pavlas was a
sophomore at Tomball High School, fight
ing for playing time behind senior Robbie
Legg-
Pavlas, who threw the crucial last-minute
interception in last week’s 23-22 loss to Ar
kansas that eliminated the Aggies from the
Cotton Bowl race, was named ESPN’s
Player of the Game against Texas.
The junior completed 13-of-25 passes
for 187 yards and one touchdown. In his
first full year as A&M’s starting quar
terback, Pavlas has led the team to a 8-3 re
cord and a Dec. 30 John Hancock Bowl ap
pearance against Pittsburgh.
Pavlas made the play of the game against
the Longhorns when he connected on a 45-
yard touchdown strike to a wide-open Percy
Waddle with no time left on the clock to
end the third quarter.
That proved to be the game-winner, as it
put the Aggies up 14-10 going into the
fourth quarter.
The victory is the longest Aggie winning
streak in series history.
Texas still owns the series’ longest win
ning streak with 11 victories from 1940-
1950. A&M has won seven of the 10 games
this decade.
“It’s always good to beat Texas,” A&M
senior linebacker Aaron Wallace said. “It
was really important to this group of se
niors to go out by keeping the streak alive.”
Wallace was the Aggies’ leading tackier
with 13. He also had three sacks of Texas
quarterback Donovan Forbes, including a
big 10-yard sack on a second-and-10 late in
the fourth quarter.
Aggie senior linebacker Jeroy Robinson,
who finished with 10 tackles, said he saw
former A&M linebacker Todd Howard Fri
day night at Bonfire. Robinson said How
ard kidded him about having to keep the
winning streak alive.
“Coming into the game, most of the se
niors had a lot of pressure on us,” Robinson
said. “We knew we had a streak against
them. We didn’t let it try to worry us tothf
point where we were careless.
“We knew the offense was going tocorit
through, so we kept working hard.”
The tone of the game was set evenbefotf
the first whistle blew, as a fight erupted!'
midfield.
As the Aggies lined up at midfield tosisf
the “Spirit of Aggieland,” Longhorn pla'
ers lined up directly in front of them
Words were exchanged.
Then shoves.
Then fists.
Soon, Fights were breaking out all ovf [
the field, and it took officials.a few min#
before order finally was restored.
A&M Coach R.C. Slocum said hewase*
barrassed and disappointed about the alif
cation. The Aggies always go out tosinglltf
song, he said, and the Longhorns kne*
that.
Pavlas said the fight showed the Lonf
horns had “no class.”
“Every game we come out and singoif
school song,” Pavlas said. “They didt'^
show any class by what they did. I didn’tajt 'im,
preciate it. I thought the game was plaf
See Brawl/Page 11