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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 30, 1993)
3 xas A&M Football y te icy Strong Safety 40 MICHAEL HENDRICKS 6 Typail McMullen X ft Inside Lint Ini Larry Jackson Jason Andrus X ibacker side Linebacker )N ATKINSON s Colon sive End No ENGLAND Wallace 5S1 IN 711 le LESLEY >ks 0 Left Guard 55 TYLER HARM 72 Jeff Jones 0 ilGuard 19 kin Collins 11 Math! son Right Outside Linebacker 94 Steve Solari 46 Reggie Brown Right Defensive End Cornerback 95 SAM ADAMS 24 Ray Mickens 99 Kefa Chatham 26 Andre Williams Right Tackle 67 JASON MATTHEWS 76 Chris Ruhman Tight End 86 GREG SCHORP 88 James McKeehan Quarterback 4 COREY PUUK 14 TommyPrest# 13 Matt Miller Fullback 33 Clif Groce 44 Detron Smith o Flanker 81 Ryan Matthews 17 Gene Lowery Tailback 27 GREG fflU 20 Rodney Him 34 LeelandMcS >TES RETUI 'ER Defensive Preview Glenn •Defensive Backs* Senior cornerback Aaron Glenn had six interceptions last season to lead the team and is hailed as one of the best defensive backs in the nation...Sophomore Ray Mickens takes over for departed Derrick Frazier at the other cornerback after playing in the nickel defense last season...Junior strong safety Mike Hendricks had 56 tackles last season, his first as a starter...Free safety Junior White, a junior from A&M Consolidated takes over for Patrick Bates, who left for the NFL...Steve Kenney hopes to gain playing time at either safety position after missing last year with a knee injury ...Kyle Maxfield, Billy Mitchell and Wilbert Biggens will also push for playing time. Solari •Linebackers* A&M's linebacking core will be anchored by senior Butkus Award candidate Jason Atkinson who recorded 90 tackles last season...Juniors Jesse Cox and Larry Jackson will see time at the other inside spot...Senior outside linebacker Steve Solari had 3 1/2 sacks last season and hopes to increase those numbers as he takes over for Marcus Buckley...Junior outside linebacker Antonio Shorter moves into a starting position after recording 13 tackles last season...Sophomores Jason Andrus and Reggie Brown and junior Reggie Graham will also see action...Chris Colon moves to inside linebacker this year after playing last season in the secondary in nickel coverage. England •Defensive Line* Ranked as the best unit in the nation by The Sporting News, the defensive line will be spearheaded by junior defensive end Sam Adams, who had 4 1/2 quarterback sacks last season...After moving to nose guard last season, senior Lance Teichelman flourished by posting 55 tackles, 4 1/2 sacks and nine tackles for losses...Senior defensive end Eric England was a one-man wrecking crew in the 1993 Coton Bowl with 11 tackles and one sack...Adams and England are rated as the third-best defensive line tandem in America by Lindy’s...Seniors Larry Wallace and Kefa Chatham are expected to contribute at the end positions...Junior Tim Vordenbaumen will contribute at noseguard. Venetoulias •Kickers* Senior placekicker Terry Venetoulias thrives on pressure as evidenced by his field goal on the final play of the game to beat Texas Tech last season, 19-17...Either Bill Johnston, James Bennent or Sean Terry has the unenviable task of replacing AII-SWC punter David Davis...Venetoulias was tabbed as one of the top ten placekickers in the nation by Lindy’s while Terry was ranked as the seventh best college punter by the same publication...Sophomore placekicker Keith Waguespack was Parade All-American in high school...Freshman placekicker/punter Kyle Bryant, from A&M Consolidated, walked on but was awarded a scholarship after a strong showing in summer drills. Slocum •Coaches* R.C. Slocum enters his fifth season as A&M head coach and 21st season associated with the A&M program...Defensive coordinator Bob Davie begins his ninth year at A&M and was named an assistant head coach last spring...Offensive coordinator Bob Toledo has coached in two Rose Bowls...Wide receiver coach David Culley is beginning his third year at A&M...Outside linebacker coach Kirk Doll graduated Cum Laude from Witchita State in 1976..Defensive line coach Bill Johnson was a four year letterman at Northwestern State...Running back coach Gary Kubiak played for the Denver Broncos from 1983-1992...Mike Sherman coaches the offensive line while Sean Slocum handles the tight ends and speicalists...Defensive backs coach Trent Walters played in the CFL. arn ing game, l® improvement 5 landing of landing of the "He has a® 1 tg of what said justth :essful passifl? >etter underst are trying aid. ixecution i on the recei' Schorp was ^ year - a di ? ed for wid ! ga® r ants to utP passing Groce and ve above-a' ,f VlcElroy has as a receive! views theN cant proof assing gam 5 rove that lity to thro'' 1. ou don't ha" ootball, and if you'tf 's pretty h^ efense greets new starters, new strategy By Matthew J. Rush The Battalion ear's Texas A&M defense will u it the familiar names of Patrick ircus Buckley and Derrick Fra- "v monikers that will become A&M fans this season will be erm, Michael Hendricks, Steve Steve Solari ickens. defensive 'tor Bob aid he be ing the three vas crucial, he team has group of to choose at they can •id without Davie got a feus of players," Davie said, we didn't lose quantity, we jty. We've got some definite there." iver, defensive end Sam taking a more optimistic out- 'e losses of the three defensive pm a year ago. going to do the best that we v e're going to come back next do the best that we can dams said. "You can never let ;et down just because you lose lu have to become tighter and S up." pegged either Kenney or Ju te to replace Bates at safety, 'as pegged as a top defensive player before suffering a season ending injury against Stanford in the opener last season. Unfortunately, Kenney suf fered a pulled hamstring early in two-a- days and has missed several practices. As for Frazier's vacated spot, Davie has high praise for Mickens. "Around here, we as coaches don't pass out compliments very often," Davie said. "But I feel Ray Mickens will be an outstanding player for us and help us in a big way." Mickens hopes to make Davie a prophet. "I'm playing with a lot of confi dence," Mickens said. "The biggest thing is that we have to step our game up from last year." The other cornerback is solid as 1992 All-SWC pick Aaron Glenn is en trenched. Glenn, who transferred from Navarro Junior College before last sea son, will be seeing his second year of ac tion in an A&M uniform. Davie admitted that most players are prone to let-down or 'sophomoritis' but added that he thinks the preseason All- American pick will live up to his clip pings. "He is a special talent," Davie said. "I'm sure he's going to be all of that." Glenn said he might be a tad lonely at times. "I'm going to miss Derrick and Patrick because we were great friends on and off the field," Glenn said. "But I'm ready to make an impact." While the secondary departures are severe, the loss of Buckley at linebacker has left a murky situation at one outside spot. Steve Solari is expected to replace Buckley's big play abilities but the other side is undecided. Antonio Shorter and Reggie Graham are battling for their spot and Davie has given the slight nod to Shorter. "It is critical to find someone to be a marquee player," Davie said. "We need someone to emerge at linebacker." At inside linebacker, Butkus Award nominee Jason Atkinson is starting at one spot with Jesse Cox and Larry Jack- son pushing for playing time at the oth er position. Cox played outstanding football in the final three games of last season, reg istering 32 tackles, including a career high 17 against Notre Dame in the Cot ton Bowl but he is being dogged by NCAA allegations. Davie, though, is hopeful that Cox will return to give the defense even more strength. "I've seen Jessie go through the highs and lows," Davie said. "I hope for him that he can get all of this straightened out because he can be a heck of a player. T hope for hiffi pefsonally so that he can go out there and show how good he re ally is." There has been some speculation that the defense will line up in a 4-3 set and Davie said the Aggies have experiment ed with it in practice. But Davie said the change will only be feasible if Shorter and other younger players can progress quickly. In helping the younger players reach new heights, Davie said he will look for seniors Solari, England, Atkinson, Glenn and Lance Teichelman to take charge and provide a solid foundation for. the other players. "They've all paid their dues," Davie said. "We've definitely got good senior leadership." a Davie's Blitz sample FS SS CB ILB ILB CB OLB Texas A&M’s defense operates off of a base 3-4 alignment which enables an outside linebacker {Steve Solari) to rush as a “stand-up defensive end.” A&M has always employed a gambling defense that relies on its linebackers getting up the field by blitzing. However, a team that lives by the blitz dies by the blitz, so expect Coach Davie to mix up his base 3-4 alignment, coverages and stunts. The Aggies slacked off its blitzing style last season because of the presence of Patrick Bates. Without Bates’ intimidation of A&M’s opposing receiving corps, the 1993 A&M defense will instead put the heat on the quarterbacks with the rush and blitz. The diagramed blitz shows both outside linebackers pressuring from the outside with the weakside linebacker flying through the middle. The strongside linebacker and the secondary drop back into man-to-man coverage, an A&M strength.