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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 8, 1990)
990 lie Battalion SPORTS 9 Monday, October 8,1990 Sports Editor Nadja Sabawala 845-2688 at? :ture ptist SWC presidents pass harsh eligibility requirements DALLAS (AP) — Southwest Con- erence presidents on Sunday en- cted the stiffest academic require- nents for student-athletes in the eague’s 76-year history. he policy, set to take effect next all pending review by SWC lawyers, oes beyond the NCAA’s ever-stiff- ning standards. It requires recruits and walk-ons pass college entrance tests and lave at least a 2.0 high school grade >oint average in core classes. Failure meet those requirements upon en- ollment would disqualify student- ithletes from competing in athletics luring any remaining years at the chool. Current policy requires student athletes who do not meet both benchmarks to sit out of competition during his or her first year, but al lows students three years of athletic eligibility if grades improve. SWC Commissioner Fred Jacoby said he was confident the new rules, adopted at a meeting of SWC presi dents here, will stand up to any legal challenges. Southern Methodist, Texas Chris tian and Rice already have similar policies. Jacoby said the new rules will mean higher graduation rates. The conference presidents “have the firm feeling that most of the stu dents are not graduating,” said Ja coby, who described the meeting among the nine school leaders as cordial. “In their own particular situ ations, they feel very strongly that the kids are not graduating if they don’t qualify.” The presidents also rubber- stamped a Sept. 20 decision by con ference athletic directors to keep Ar kansas football in the SWC fold dur ing the 1991 season. Arkansas, a charter member of the SWC, voted Aug. 1 to bolt to the Southeastern Conference by 1992 in all sports except football. The school had a change of heart for 1991 when it discovered the dif ficulty of trying to schedule football games for the eight SVV^C slots they would be losing. But the hottest topic at the meet ing was the stiffened academic re quirements. Decisions in recent years to stiffen eligibility rules have drawn the ire of minority leadership, which contends the moves are racially biased. Georgetown basketball coach John Thompson is a leading critic of the trend. “I think there will be some neg ative reaction out there,” Jacoby ac knowledged. “But I think the presi dents want qualified students who have a reasonable opportunity' to graduate.” Jacoby said the presidents had considered the ruling for more than a year. “This is not something they just drummed up,” he said. Among other actions, the presi dents on Sunday: • Issued no immediate plans to expand the conference. But the presidents said the SWC will con tinue to groom affiliations with the Big Eight and a group of Eastern seaboard schools in football and bas ketball. • Officially changed home gate receipts from a 50-50 split so that the home team would retain all gate rec eipts in football and basketball be ginning in 1992. Schools would be allowed, however, to work out mini mum guarantee packages with one another. • Changed fees for teams partici pating in bowls. Teams will now get to keep $500,000 off the top before the SWC splits the remainaer. The current figure is $300,000. The move will take effect after this year’s games. • Allowed SWC teams to keep 80 f iercent of their television receipts or non-conference national TV games with the remainder going to the conference. The current for mula is a 50-50 split. • Changed the take from 40 per cent to 50 percent on regionally and nationally televised games between conference teams. The other half will go to the conference. 1 ...y.,. A&M survives Red Raider assault. 28-24 Tough matchup prepares Aggies for UH air attack By RICHARD TIJERINA Of The Battalion Staff 1 crowd group menu mselvK ed W dates. ■ntniost up tlit ms tot flusitt ed in alter. ,n Part’ ear-olds artunii) zens o! hat tlif 1 rid pid Ogdfl Conner in i Brat® value os e futd decided l.C ndidate rwonui res Barto: Preparing for No. 13 Houston and its Run-and-Shoot blitzkrieg can drive an opposing team batty, but Texas A&M head football coach R.C. Slocum said Sunday the Aggies won’t have to make large-scale adjustments. No. 19 A&M (4-1, 1-0 in the South west Conference) has beaten Houston (4-0, 3-0) for the last five years, includ ing the last two in the Astrodome. ‘So many people play them and have to make major changes in their scheme,” Slocum said. “With our style of defense, there’s no changes. We use the same for mations and schemes against them as we use against everyone else. “We’ll use them more against them — blitzes and things — but we don’t have to change the things we’ve been doing. It’s the basic part of our personality. Playing man-to-man coverage and blitzing has always been a part of our defense.” Aggresive defense played a familiar role in A&M’s 28-24 win over Texas Tech Saturday: it saved the Aggies in a tight game. A&M, which had averaged almost four sacks a game before the con test, finished with just one against the Red Raiders. But it was a big one. Junior linebacker Quentin Coryatt sacked Tech quarterback Robert Hall at the A&M 15-yard line late in the game with the Aggies clinging to a four-point lead. Two plays later, cornerback Kevin Smith picked off Hall’s fourth-down pass to clinch the game. “We’ve won a bunch of games through the years where we’ve stopped a team at the end to win,” Slocum said. “We did what we were supposed to do today. “I was disappointed that it came down to the very end like that. But I felt like we deserved to win the ballgame. I don’t think we stole one from them.” Still, as the Red Raiders drove down the field on their way to what could ha- vee-winning touchdown, visions of Lub bock danced around the Aggie sideline. Last year, Tech burned A&M on a third down pass with under a minute to play. The Aggies responded this time. But See Aggies/Page 12 Kevin Smith %l|fgl.iw , ■ jiijgi ^ M Photo by Jay Janner A&M’s Darren Lewis stiff arms a Texas Tech defender for seven of his career-high 232 yards in the Aggies’ 28-24 win. Smith steals way into A&M record books By DOUGLAS PILS Of The Battalion Staff Giving credit where credit is due, Texas A&M cornerback Kevin Smith gave the ball from his school record- breaking intercep tion to his mom, Ora Smith. Smith’s intercep tion of Texas Tech quarterback Robert Hall with 2:12 left in the fourth quarter not only sealed the Aggies’ 28-24 vic tory, but it also made him A&M’s all-time interception leader with 15, breaking a tie with Lester Hayes (1973-76). Smith said the ball will be part of his mom’s collection of trophies in Orange and he’ll be lucky if he ever gets to lay his hands on it again. “I’ll have a hard time getting that ball when I move out of the house,” Smith said. “Mine, my sister’s and all my other brothers’ have trophies all over the house and all of them are hers. “She’ll claim that ball, put her name on and won’t let me touch it.” As soon as the game-winning inter ception was made, Smith ran off the field and took the ball to his mother in the stands behind the Aggie bench. Now that the junior from West Orange-Stark has eclipsed the A&M re cord, Smith can now set his sights on the Southwest Conference record of 18 held jointly by Russell Carter of SMU (^BO SS) and Ronald Fraley of TCU (1951- 53). Smith missed two other opportunities earlier in the game including one pass where it looked like he could have gone 97 yards for a touchdown with about 10 minutes left in the game. “I’d rather had that one than the one I got at the end,” he said. “But it’s satisfy ing because it won the game for us.” Currently, Smith is tied with TCU’s Falanda Newton (1985-88) for seventh place on the all-time SWC list. After the defense gave up 24 points, See Smith/Page 12 \ Welch, A’s shut down Red Sox, 4-1 BOSTON (AP) — Maybe Babe [uth still has a curse on the Boston led Sox, and maybe not. But the lakland Athletics sure do. , Bob Welch shut down the Red Sox for 7 1/3 innings and Dennis Eckersley finished them off Sunday f light as the Athletics won 4-1 for a J-0 lead in the American League plavoffs. Two days, two wins for the Athlet- |s. They won their eighth straight bstseason game. Too little talent for the Red Sox, bparently. They tied a record with jpeir sixth straight loss in the play- joffs, including a four-game sweep Igainst the Athletics in 1988. ■ Once again, Boston hung tough, ■hey led early, as they did in Satur- |ay night’s 9-1 loss, but again the led Sox bullpen could not hold it. I Harold Baines’ RBI grounder put lakland ahead in the seventh and lakland added two runs in the ■nth for insurance, as if Eckersley pen needs it. Welch, a 27-game winner in the See A’s/Page 12 Pokes stampede Bucs; 49ers slip Oilers Rookie Smith leads Co.wboy run assault IRVING (AP) — After Sunday, the Dallas Cow boys could finally say they don’t miss Herschel Walker anymore. Rookie Emmitt Smith put up Walker-like rushing numbers and scored the game- winner on a 14-yard run to rally the Cowboys to a 14-10 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Smith rushed for 121 yards on 23 carries and said he felt like he should have done better. “I showed myself a little today,” said Smith, the 17th pick in the first round out of Florida. “But I didn’t get an opportunity to shake and bake like I like to do. I think I can do much better.” Smith missed all of the Cowboys’ training camp and had 104 yards on 37 carries before the game began. “It shows what Emmitt can do if he just has a little bit of room to run,” Dallas quarterback Troy Aik- man said. Dallas (2-3) broke a three-game losing streak and snapped Tampa Bay’s three-game winning streak, dropping the to 3-2. Smith’s yardage was the most by a Dallas running back since Walker gained 134 yardsagainst Cleve land on Dec. 4. 1988. Walker was traded to Minne sota last year. See Dallas/Page 12 NFL Standings By The Associated Press American Conference Team W L Pet GB Miami 4 1 .800 - Buffalo 3 1 .750 1 Indianapolis 2 3 .400 2 N.Y. Jets 2 3 .400 2 New England 1 4 .200 3 Cincmnati 4 1 .800 . Houston 2 3 .400 2 Pittsburgh 2 3 .400 2 Cleveland 1 3 .250 3 LA Raiders 4 1 .800 - Kansas City 3 2 .600 1 Denver 2 2 .500 2 Seattle 2 3 .400 3 San Diego 1 4 .200 4 National Conference Team W L Pet. GB N.Y. Giants 4 0 1.000 * Washington 3 1 .750 1 Dallas 2 3 .400 2 Philadelphia 1 3 .250 3 Phoenix 1 3 .250 3 Chicago 4 1 .800 . Tampa Bay 3 2 .600 1 Detrort 2 3 .400 2 Green Bay 2 3 .400 2 Minnesota 1 4 .200 3 San Francisco 4 0 1.000 w Atlanta 2 2 .500 2 LA Rams 1 3 .250 3 New Orleans 1 3 .250 3 Oiler miscues push 49ers to 24-21 win HOUSTON (AP) — A most untimely timeout did in the Houston Oilers and helped the San Francisco 49ers set an NFL record for consecutive road victo ries. After struggling the entire game to catch fast starting Houston (2-3), Joe Montana got the break he needed and threw his third touchdown pass, a 46-yarder to John Taylor for a 24-21 victory and the record 12th consecutive road win. Montana hit the winning touchdown on the first play after backup quarterback Steve Young came into the game and fumbled. The Oilers’ Ray Chil dress recovered but it was nullified because Hous ton called time out before the play started. Montana, shaken up on the previous play, re turned and found Taylor, who broke away from cornerback Cris Dishman at the Oilers’ 43 and ran into the end zone with6:51 left to play. Oilers coach Jack Pardee said time was called to set up Houston’s defense. “With Young coming in, we weren’t sure who else was in the game,” Pamee said. “We were expecting Young to bootleg for the first down and we weren’t sure of our own personnel. It was such a key play we See Houston/Page 12 Texas-OU hasn’t lost much flavor DALLAS (AP) — After a bad stretch of several years, the luster has returned to the annual Texas- Oklahoma football clash, which will be played before a sellout crowd Sat urday in the Cotton Bowl. This series produced four na tional champions from 1969-85 and four times placed both schools in the final top 10 from 1972-78. The game has been on network TV since 1961 in every year that both teams were eligible for live telecasts. But last year was a downer. Neither team finished in the final Associated Press rankings, and the game wasn’t shown on national TV Because Oklahoma was on NCAA probation. And Texas put together consecutive losing seasons for the second straight year. Most of Oklahoma’s headlines la tely involved player arrests, NCAA probation and the resignation of coach Barry Switzer. However, going into Saturday’s game, fortunes of both teams are again on the rise. See UT-OU/Page 12