1990
Friday, November 30, 1990
i. ' ■■■ —
The Battalion
Page 9
Richardson returns to scene of injury
m
u'--
By RICHARD TIJERINA
Of The Battalion Staff
/The Battalim
ie.
'the Ataries
d the Lonf
npressed-
iking and fi
st six meet-
ludinga21
e Field,
do all tl«
illiams hhI
tad last yi
I The Memorial Stadium turf that
laimed Bucky Richardson’s left
ee since has been replaced, but
the memories still linger. Thanksgiv-
g night, 1988.
Richardson, A&M’s sophomore
rting quarterback, had led the Ag
es to an early 28-0 lead over Texas
hen Richardson’s world turned
black. The injury came on a simple
option play, the same play Richard
son has run so well so many times.
He rolled left late in the first quar-
Kr, looking for an opening in the
mont line. Richardson saw Darren
lliewis, waiting for the pitch, in the
ffiorner of his eye but decided to cut
npfield. ,
^ Then, it happened. Richardson
ent one way, his left knee went an
other. The pain that cut through
im was sharp, and he knew he was
rough for the night. What he
idn’t know was he’d be out for
much longer.
“I just tried to cut back against the
;rain,” Richardson said. “Nobody
it me. It was just one of those freak
ccidents where I planted my foot
nd my knee just buckled out from
Inder me. I knew I was hurt.”
It has been a long two years for
fichardson. He spent 1989 on the
delines, rehabilitating his knee and
atching Lance Pavlas become the
iggies’ starting quarterback. There
fere doubts that Richardson, the
ffensive Most Valuable Player in
Ihe 1988 Cotton Bowl win over
Hlotre Dame, would be able to return
Bampletely from the injury.
He did. Richardson returns to
emorial Stadium for the first time
nee that Thanksgiving night, and
be the Aggies’ starting quar-
:rback in their biggest game of the
■ going to h
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iggest game
tason.
A&M stands at a crossroads. The
ggies (8-2-1) face two top five
:ams in their last two games: Satur-
ay against No. 5 Texas and Dec. 29
Igainst No. 4 Brigham Young in the
a World Holiday Bowl.
A sellout crowd of 78,000 is ex
pected for Saturday’s game. Emo
tions should be high — A&M and
T players have been exchanging
verbal potshots at each other all
eek long — but Richardson said
the Aggies won’t be intimidated.
I “It’s the same type of atmosphere
when they come here,” Richardson
said “We’ve played in it before,
HUY THANH NGUYEN/The Battalion
A&M’s Bucky Richardson returns to Austin for the first time
since he suffered a career-threatening knee injury in 1988.
we’re used to it and we know what to
expect. We know what kind of play
ers they have — a lot of them are the
same players they had last year.
(A&M Head) Coach (R.C.) Slocum’s
been here a bunch of years, and he’s
played this game a lot of times. We
know what type of ballgame it’s
going to be.”
A&M has won the last six meet
ings between the two teams, but
hasn’t faced a Longhorn defense
during that streak as stingy at this
year’s. However, Slocum said the
Aggies wouldn’t have too many
problems moving the ball.
Slocum and (Offensive Coordina
tor Bob Toledo revamped the Aggie
attack midway through the season.
With Pavlas starting, the Aggies
struggled in consecutive games with
Louisiana State, Texas Tech, Hous
ton and Baylor.
Slocum said that after the Texas
Tech game, he and Toledo decided
to make the switch from Pavlas to
Richardson because they wanted
A&M to do what it did best: the op
tion.
“We were trying to be balanced,
but we weren’t completing passes,”
Slocum said. “And if we were, we
were completing them to the wrong
team. It didn’t matter that we were
getting guys open, and open deep in
particular, we weren’t getting the
oall to them. Let’s do some of the
things we are doing well, and know
we can do — shorter passing game,
more options.”
Enter Richardson, who has be
come A&M’s career leader in rush
ing yards for a quarterback. Pairing
him in the backfield with tailback
Darren Lewis, the SWC’s all-time
leading rusher, has given opposing
defenses a lot to think about.
“It’s very frightening from a de
fensive standpoint to see a quar
terback do the things Bucky does,”
A&M linebacker Anthony Williams
said. “He’ll take a good shot, jump
up and talk to you like he hit you.
You say, ‘What’s wrong with this
man? I gave him all he could and he
jumped right back up and told me
I’m not any good.’
“He’s a quarterback with a line
backer’s attitude. He’s going to take
some more hard shots, but he’s
going to bounce back up and laugh
them off, as usual.”
Slocum said Richardson would
have been a great wishbone quar
terback in the 1970s, and that the ju
nior’s confidence spills over onto his
teammates.
“He’s got a great temperment to
play the game of football,” Slocum
said. “He’s a competitor who’s confi
dent. When bad things happen to
him, he’s not affected beyond that
play. He’ll shake it off and come
back to fight you just as hard or
harder on the next play. He’s got a
great temperment to be a football
player at any position — linebacker,
running back, quarterback or whate
ver.”
Richardson is no stranger to the
Longhorns. As a freshman, he came
off the bench and scored the win
ning touchdown late in the fourth
quarter. With two crucial games left
this season, Richardson said it’s
make or break time for the Aggies.
“Whoever wins always ruins the
other team’s season,” he said.
“You’ve got bragging rights for the
year. You only get one shot a year.
You only get one shot a year, so
you’ve got to make the best of it.”
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