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The Battalion
Friday, September 3,1993
A&M ready
for youthful
Tigers' roar
By Michael Plumery
Mary Macnwnus/Thc Battalion
I senior placekicker Terry Venetoulias legs out a kick recently in a practice session on the grass field near Kyle Field.
The Battalion
Preseason expectations turn into regu
lar season realities for the Texas A&M
football team on Saturday at Kyle Field
when Louisiana State comes calling at
2:30 p.m. in both teams' openers.
The fifth-ranked Aggies, pegged by
most observers to win a third straight
Southwest Conference crown, will have a
chance to prove their supporters right
and their doubters wrong as the 1993 sea
son gets kicked off.
But the Aggies will start the season at
a disadvantage. Five players were sus
pended by the school for accepting pay-
checks for work not performed last sum
mer.
Running back Greg Hill, wide receiver
Brian Mitchell, defensive back Billy
Mitchell, offensive lineman James Brooks
and linebacker Jessie Cox will the miss
the game, according to A&M head coach
R.C. Slocum.
A&M is currently awaiting response
from the NCAA on the players' status.
Senior linebacker Steve Solari has been
plagued by a hamstring pull and his sta
tus for the game is questionable.
Whether he plays or not will be deter
mined immediately before kickoff.
With all the uncertainties looming
overhead, A&M players said they are
looking forward to strapping on the hel
mets.
"We always want to get started again,"
noseguard Lance Teichelman said. "As a
team, we want to be productive, especial
ly after our showing in the Cotton Bowl
against Notre Dame."
Teichelman also said the game will be
meaningful because it is against the
Tigers.
"This game is a better rivalry than
most Southwest Conference games be
cause there are a lot of Texas and
Louisiana players on both sides," he said.
"We want to beat them because it will
give us confidence for the rest of the sea
son.
"Actually, we want to annihilate them
and show the (ABC) television audience
that we are a better team than the one
they saw in the Cotton Bowl last year."
But redshirt freshman Danny McCray
downplayed the rivalry aspects. Instead,
he said A&M needs to concentrate on
beating every opponent, no matter who it
is.
"Every game we play is big so getting
jacked up over this one would not do us
any good," McCray said. "We will be ex
tremely excited about playing and I think
there will be a much improved A&M
team from last year that takes the field.
"LSU is a big game for us but this sea
son I have a feeling all the games will be
this season because of our success."
A key to the game will be sophomore
quarterback Corey Pullig's performance.
A&M coaches have stated they expect to
throw the ball more this year and his con
tinuing development is important.
For Pullig and the running game to
have success, A&M needs a receiver that
can stretch defenses to open up the pass
ing lanes.
McCray, an All-Amercian sprinter last
spring, believes he can be the man.
"Last year, I had a real hard time ad
justing because I had to think a lot run
ning routes," he said. "But so far during
practice I have been relaxed and able to
see what is happening.
"The coaches brought me in here be
cause of my speed, and the more oppor
tunities I get, the better I will do."
Pullig expects McCray to be a major at
tribute to the team.
"He has settled down which is great
because he always had the talent and
speed to be a big game performer," Pullig
said. "He is explosive with a lot of speed
and the thing will be getting him the
ball."
With Hill's absence, redshirt freshman
Leeland McElroy and junior Rodney
Thomas are expected to pick up the slack
in the backfield. But the gjime could be
decided by Pullig's right arm.
"I expect (LSU) to sit back in the zones
and come after the passer," Pullig said.
"We can't throw the ball unless we com
plete passes. I think that is the key to us
having a successful season.
"We must be good at all facets of the
game and not get that feeling of compla
cency, which could happen. We will try
to better ourselves week-by-week."
Venetoulias reflects on career before bringing in senior season
By Nick Georgandis
The Battalion
In college football it is said that offense
»ins games and defense wins champi-
nships. But when a game is on the line,
Is the special teams that often turn the
ide for a team.
In the kicking area this season, the Ag-
Ijes have one question mark and one ex-
lamation point.
The exclamation comes in the form of
inior place kicker and All-American can-
idate Terry Venetoulias. Venetoulias en-
ts his final year as the most accurate
eld goal kicker in A&M history with his
17% sucess rate. Venetoulias also ranks
nth in team history in career points
scored with 175.
Venetoulias, a life-long soccer player,
did not begin kicking footballs until he
was a junior in high school.
"The thought never even occurred to
me to go anywhere to college," Venetou
lias said. "My big deal was to be a soccer
player. I played since I was 3. I've
played on some national teams and a
semi-pro team.
"I tried kicking the football in high
school and really liked it."
Suddenly, recruitment letters started
coming to Venetoulias and he made a de
cision after visiting the A&M campus.
"The thing that made me come to
A&M was the overall atmosphere of this
campus," he said. "Everyone was so
friendly. They treated me as a person, not
just a recruit. I came to a game against
Alabama my senior year that A&M got
beat pretty bad.
"I looked up into the stands and didn't
see anybody boo or leaving in the third
quarter. It was great."
Venetoulias said he has set lofty goals
for himself this season: 80% sucess rate
on field goals and a 100% sucess rate of
extra points.
After his graduation this year, Vene
toulias doesn't see a let-down in the kick
ing game next season when sophomore
Keith Waguespack attempts to take over
the kicking chores.
"Keith is getting better every year,"
Venetoulias said. "He's doing really
good, he's been here for a couple of years,
he's experienced and I think he feels com
fortable around here. He has worked
hard and I think he will get the job done."
The question mark in the kicking game
regards the graduation of consensus All-
SWC punter David Davis. Davis led the
conference last season in punting with a
stellar 43.8 yard average per kick (39.3
yard net average). As the first game
against LSU quickly approaches, a starter
has yet to be named.
The two candidates battling for the job
are sophomore Sean Terry and junior
James Bennett. Of the two, only Terry
saw action with the Aggies last season,
averaging 28.0 yards on just two kicks.
Terry lists his strengths as a punter as
having both good hang time and a quick
release, a key to getting the ball away be
fore the on-rushing defense has time to
breach the line.
Terry said he believes with more expe
rience in games and more reps in punt
ing, he will continue to improve.
Bennett said his main strength is his
tremendous leg power.
Being only a sophomore, Terry sees
himself in a no-lose situation.
"If I'm out there as the starting punter,
that's good. But if it's back-up row. I'll
still be learning and I've got three years
left here", he said.
A&M head coach R.C. Slocum said he
won't make a decision on who will be the
starting punter until gametime.
Qand A with A&M coach R.C. Slocum
Selected questions and answers
Pm A&M head coach R.C. Slocum's
'usday press conference.
PVDid you guys have a bad off-
^week because you dropped
fourth to fifth in the polls?
A I guess the main question is
Twhat kind of week did the
‘•iters have. I really don't pay
filch attention to it. I told the
it was a credit to you that we
J’we ranked that high. We are
oncerned about the final poll.
a
How big is the A&M-LSU
jjame?
j\The LSU-A&M rivalry is a big
*V.game for both teams because
‘theneighborhood that the states
^in. They have been fired up to
% the Aggies every year. Last
e y, they were better than people Slocum
^ethem credit for. It seems they
i°ton a downward spiral which
Qey could not get out of last year. LSU is a talented
E ^m. This season, they have changed their scheme
a 4-3 and they can do a lot of different things.
Jthof us have got guys who we have no idea how
% will play or respond.
A We are better prepared at quar
terback. Last year, I had grave
concerns because Jeff was coming
back from baseball and I didn't
have anyone who had any experi
ence. This season I have more
questions about the defense. For
instance, do we have a big-play
linebacker. (Steve) Solari is injured
and he needs to assume the posi
tion Buckley vacated. Punter is an
other question mark because those
guys have not been under the gun.
Those are areas I am anxious to see.
QA What new players do you
think will perform well?
I think Leeland (McElroy) is
one. You never know for sure
what will happen but we expect
good things from him. I have a
high opinion on Ray Mickens. I am
anxious to see him in a game be
cause he has had great practices.
How will you keep the team focused?
$
What is the difference between this year's
team and last year's team?
Q
A That is the hardest part of coaching. Our guys
expect to win a championship so we are ap
proaching it with cautious optimism. A high majori
ty of our players expect to win and out of that char
acter evolves. The fans have high expectations so if
we go 7-4 and go to a bowl game people would still
think that would be a disappointment.
LSU's Hallman revisits familiar ground
By William Harrison
The Battalion
The ghost of A&M's Cotton
Bowl past comes back to Kyle
Field Saturday, wearing a
Louisiana State cap and trying to
haunt the Aggies' national cham
pionship dreams.
LSU head coach and former
A&M student Curley Hallman re
turns to his old campus, bringing
back the gridiron experience built
in part from 12 years as a player
and coach at Texas A&M.
Hallman's Aggie ties run deep,
having begun his coaching career
at A&M under Gene Stallings.
Hallman also coached under for
mer A&M coach Paul "Bear"
Bryant at Alabama and Jackie
Sherill when he coached at A&M.
Hallman coached the defensive
backs at A&M from 1982-87 and
helped Sherill initiate the "12th
Man" kickoff coverage tradition.
Hallman said he can't wait to return to A&M.
"I think any time a coach has been around a
place where you played, graduated, or spent sever
al years, when you go back it's exciting, and it's
due more to the positive experiences and the
friends he's got," Hallman said.
But then it's time for business after the pleas
Hall
antries are exchanged.
"When you get closer to that
game and that kickoff, all that
stuff is out the window because of
the importance of playing a ball
game and putting your players in
a position to win," he said.
"To be competitive - that's the
focal point."
Hallman brings LSU into its
100th season against the Aggies,
and Hallman said his team must
get off to a good start, as LSU is
loaded with youth on its roster.
"We're (bringing) probably 22
true or redshirt freshman, 14-15
true sophomores that are either in
a starting role or a playing role, so
these youngsters need to do some
things to make some things hap
pen," Hallman said.
"LSU has a great tradition and
great expectations, and we're in a
rebuilding situation going into
this 100th year," He said. "It's
taken a lot of pride and commitment to restore that
reputation.
"It is a special year, but the bottom line is it's
time to play football."
This season, Hallman's A&M connection will
continue, relying on newly-hired offensive coordi
nator Lynn Amedee, who coached at A&M with
See Hallman/Page A4
man