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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 13, 1991)
Page 8 Battalion Gameday Saturday, September 14, 1991 Richardson son said. "I'll never for get that. Everytime I go home, the coaches put that tape in. I hate watching that. It stays with me." Two things have stayed with Richardson in his four years at Texas A&M: the competitive fire that fuels the Aggie offense, and his Baton Rouge roots. Both come into play Saturday when A&M hosts Louisiana State. LSU split end Todd Kinchen, who broke the Aggies' backs in last year s 17-8 loss in Baton Rouge, has known Richardson since high school, when he once considered transferring to Broad moor. "Bucky wants to be the best at what he does," Kinchen said. He wants to help his team because that is a big chal lenge - to help your team night in and night out, play after play. What comes from being competitive is just trying to be the best. Bucky wants to do that. Richardson arrived in College Sta tion as an anonymous recruit in former coach Jackie Sherrill's banner 1987 class. Running backs Darren Lewis and Randy Simmons grabbed the national headlines. All Richardson did was claim the starting quarterback job when he wasn't supposed to. He found himself the third string signal caller at the start of the season behind senior Craig Stump and herald ed redshirt freshman Lance Pavlas. But Sherrill rolled the dice in the third game of the season and Richardson, who had been told he would redshirt his freshman year, responded. He broke an 82-yard touchdown run against Southern Mississippi and was the starter by the sixth game. He quickly made an impression on the Southwest Conference. Richardson led the Aggies to the SWC champi onship in 1987 and has gone on to es tablish a 14-5-1 record as a starter. A&M is 25-8-1 in games he's played in. He also has become known as one of the SWC's most dangerous quarter backs. "Bucky is a great competitor," UT head coach David McWilliams said. "He came off knee surgery a year ago and it was not sure how well he'd play, or even if he'd play again - especially in an option offense. "He'll jump back at you if he's down. We had (A&M) down a couple of times last year in Austin and he kept com ing back. He just won't die. He's a tough, tough competitor." Richardson may be known more for his style than his accom plishments. Opponents have said he plays quarterback with a linebacker's attitude. Teammate Kevin Smith says tackling Richardson is like trying to tackle a truck. It boils down to tough ness, and Richardson will get his yards - whether that means running around a tackier or over him. It's something Richardson says does not go unno- ticed."When I'm out there, they believe in me and I believe in them," he said. "They see me doing everything I can. I don't run out of bounds. I don't hook slide. I don't do things that a quarter back is supposed to do. I just don't be lieve in doing that stuff. "People say, 'Well, the older you get, the smarter you'll get.' It aggravates me when people tell me that. I don't think I'll ever quit doing that. I don't care if I play until I'm 90. The way I approach the game is very aggressive." The Aggies return only two offen sive starters, and he said having a young player look up to Richardson in the huddle - and know what the se nior has accom plished - is crucial. "Your linemen are out there diving around and butting heads every single play to protect you," Richardson said. "The least I can do is respect them and do everything I can to move the ball and get in the endzone. They realize that. When they see me doing everything I can for them, in turn they do it for me. We just end up patting each other on the back." Richardson already owns the A&M record for career rushing yardage for a quarterback (1,647 yards). Considered the SWC's second best quarterback be hind Houston's David Klingler, Richardson's fierce competitiveness Continued from Page 6 makes up for the lofty statistics he gives up to the UH Heisman Trophy candidate. "I've been in battles with both of them," Rice head coach Fred Goldsmith said. "Bucky actually had better stats than David at one point in last year's game. He executes the option very well. He's just very, very competitive. They're both winners." Rusty Price, Richardson's high school coach at Broadmoor, remembers the night of the loss that the Aggie quarterback can't forget. For all the winning Richardson has done in an Ag gie uniform. Price doesn't let him for get that November night in Broadmoor Stadium. Leesville 8, Broadmoor 7. "We remind him of it constantly," Price said. "He's a super kid and a good friend to have around. The thing about Bucky was that he always made everybody around him play better. He's a fighter." A&M offensive coordinator Bob Toledo knows that too well. He arrived at A&M in 1989 when Richardson was redshirting and rehabilitating his in jured knee. Richardson first met Toledo when he came to the coach's office, wondering where he would fit into Toledo's pass attack. "He was about as low as a person could be," Toledo said. "He talked in terms of me being the third offensive coordinator he'd had in three years, and that he was considering transfering and maybe getting out of football. He was just torn apart. "At that point, I told him to just give me a chance and to wait and see if we could work this thing out. Obviously, he's worked it out pretty well." Richardson knew people thought he would transfer. He knew people thought Toledo would not let him run the option. He knew people thought the A&M coaches might try to convert him into a safety when he returned from his injury. And he knew he didn't care what people - outsiders, he calls them now - thought. Losing is never an option. Nor a memory. Leesville 8, Broadmoor 7: "I'll never forget that. They were a lot bigger than us, but we weren't scared. It stays with me." Teammate Derrick Frazier beats him one day at ping pong: "I might have to go out and get me a ping pong coach. And there were other people watching, so that made it worse." Baylor plays A&M to a 20-20 tie last year at Kyle Field: "We felt sick. They were happy with the tie. I know if it had been us visiting somewhere else, we would have tried to win the game. If you don't get that 'W', you feel emp ty-" When he loses, he remembers. "I don't like to lose. I don't do some thing just to do it," Richardson said. "I try to be the best I can at it, and hope fully that's good enough to win. I've al ways been competitive. It's a good thing. It all comes back to being confi dent in yourself. I've never been scared to do things that a lot of people think I'm not capable of." Guaranteed Student Loans as simple as 1.2.3., See if you qualify for a guaranteed student loan. Now is the time to pick up the GSL Packet at your institution's financial aid office. Completed, approved applications must be filed by October 1,1991, to receive money for the Fall 1991 semester. Absolute deadline for receiving money for the fall and spring semes ters combined is March 1,1992. Select a lender. Come in or call Margo Clark, Banking Officer Student Loans, at (409) 569-8251 at Commercial National Bank, on the downtown square, for more information. You need not have another account at Commercial National Bank to apply. Pick up the check. When the loan is guaranteed, the bank cuts the check and sends it to the financial aid office at your institution. Commercial national Bank tn rtacog&ocftcs 40Q/369-B25I [*hsrtt*gT rT>tC An exjuai credit opportunity tenxter. I don’t like to lose. I don’t do something just to do it. I try to be the best I can at it, and hopefully that’s good enough to win. It all comes back to being confident in yourself. -Bucky Richardson on winning and losing Saturday, September 14,1991 Sports Page 5 A&M opens season with Louisiana State Youth springs eternal by Steve O'Brien Battalion Gameday Last October, the Aggies strolled into Death Val ley the eleventh ranked team in the country. Hours later, they limped home to College Station with a 17- 8 defeat at the hands of Louisiana State University. The loss, played at LSU's Tiger Stadium, is almost a year old, but head coach R.C. Slocum remembers it well. "Last year's game was pretty much an even ball game," Slocum said. "With 11 minutes to go it was 3-0, and we were playing without Darren (Lewis)." Lewis, an all-Ameri can tailback, was ejected from the game for throwing an elbow to the head of an LSU player. "The series he got kicked out we had driven down and had second and five on the 25 yard line," Slocum said. "He was ejected from the game, and it put us back on the 40. Then it was second and 20. We threw an interception on the next play." When the Aggies and Tigers face off Saturday, .i mi • c i_„j. game. The Aggies hav^e ^ P^ a y ec ^ at Kyle Field, where the And this tim tu* 0n ^ t ^ ree games in five seasons, and have Enin know who there leader is Last year aI?/™* ar T ni ? him ' was comine: nff ^ quarterback Bucky Richardson Aggies were f 3 ^ 6ar ^ nee re habilitation, so the their ability tn ° rcec * to kance Pavlas, limiting west Confirm r Y ri option with one of the South- After faltp C - e S bost backfield tandems, and Baylor a § a * nst LSU and then Texas Tech went on to was re P la ced by Richardson, who Now * he next seven 8 ames - son is a year older 8 ^° ne t0 ^ raduation ^ Richa rd- wished^TwonM^ 1 diff u erent '" Slocum said. "I We were cai u • dave Ranged earlier last year too. and he ^ ^ a situation where we had Lance, "We we ° n 61§ht §ames with him - Bucky who hadT ing b ? C £ k and had a youns man know Ens. u-i ^ een out ^ or a year and you didn't throup-E r £ 1S knee would hold up. He couldn't go A f § ll aCtin th e spnng." Mnw if' ^ dm , e ' quarterback to use was Pavlas. Now Us time for Richardson. • .v 00 . ing back last year I was kind of sitting back ., waiting to get a chance," Richardson 3i ,. s a whole different concept when you know you re going in and they're counting on you to do the job. I m ready. I've been waiting for a long time." for 1991 Another difference from last is the experience fac tor. Last season it was A&M who had all the seniors and returning starters. On Saturday, the Aggies will field two returning offensive starters, including Richardson, and five on defense. The Tigers return 20 starters, including nine on offense and their entire defensive unit. The younger players need to go out and have fun and not worry about making mistakes, Slocum said. "You would like for them to come off the field and things go good and start getting a little confi dence going on the field," Slocum said. "We've spent some time talking to the younger guys about just going out and playing and not putting a big bur den on themselves to try and make it all happen at one time." Freshman Greg Hill will be the Aggies' starting tailback and freshmen wide receivers Wilbert Biggens and Ryan Mathews should see extensive playing time. But Slocum said he's not going to be conservative because of his young team. "We're going to do some things for down the road and we're going to start building a team, " he said. "We're going to play young guys.and after they play they'll be better after this week." TViey'll be more experienced and better next week. "A young player needs to go out and get his feet wet." (io ahead, 22® Wl hi: didn't do homnmlL 7:30 & 9:45 'FM ’attmeUuf J4t& :30 & 9:45 FM A rlnmiQcimn Rudder Auditorium For more information call the Aggie Cinema Hotline at 847-8478 Ue wt ftfuC Ayfte Ci'kimol meeting he, Monday, tke 76tk in Rudder* Touien at 7:00PM. Who what where when and why? TUDENT NMENT UNIVERSITY '91-'92 COMMITTEE APPLICATIONS ROOM 221 PAVILION DUE BY 5:00 PM SEPTEMBER 16 to become a part of BIG EVENT BLOOD DRIVE CENSUS & RESEARCH CONFERENCE ON STUDENT GOVERNMENT ASSOCIATIONS (COSGA) ELECTION COMMISSION FRESHMAN PROGRAMS HIGH SCHOOL PUBLIC RELATIONS AND RECRUITMENT (HSPR*) LEGISLATIVE STUDY GROUP (LSG) MUSTER PARENTS' WEEKEND PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICE (PIO) TRADITIONS COUNCIL UNITED WAY AND MANY OTHER SGA COMMITTEES