Sports
Wednesday, October 6,1993
The Battalion
Page 5
How
yon? listen|
county
5, a senior jo» ! J
member oft
Commit^]
V' saic1; LI-■
to the pt 0 ® \
iduality.
Aggie spirit
offers change
for the better
A s a
transfer
student
from Califor
nia, it has been
rough adjust
ing to a new
school and
state.
1 didn't
know what to
expect from
Texas A&M
University at first. But the one thing I
did know was that along with great
academics, A&M's football program
is second to none.
Well I'll confess, when I applied to
A&M I really didn't know our foot
ball team was so good. My older
brother, educated me on that fact.
My brother is a former college
football player who lives for his daily
supply of sports pages. He's the self-
proclaimed Tsar of college football.
"Junior, I didn't know you applied
to Texas A&M," he said to me with a
big smile on his face. "Their football
team is damn good. You are going to
love it there."
They can't be better than UCLA, I
thought. I love the Bruins.
My brother is an avid USC fan
and I was shocked to hear him talk
highly about another team.
"You'll be surprised," he said.
"They really have some great tradi
tions."
In his own shady way, he some
how knew all about Texas A&M's tra
ditions that revolve around the foot
ball squad.
"They have some 12th Man thing
that if the Aggies score you get to
scam on your date," he said. "I wish
all fans were as great as A&M's."
I was astonished. The Tsar, an Ag
gie from New Mexico State Universi
ty, was actually praising something
that was going to be a part of my life
for the next two years.
But even with his enthusiastic de
scriptions, I wasn't going to be con
vinced until I verified the facts.
So now, everything the Aggies do
on the field I compare to my Bruins.
After all, I did grow up watching
UCLA on the tube. And as far as be
ing a traditional football power, very
few schools rate with the university
just twenty minutes away from my
house - USC.
When I visited USC and saw all of
the Heisman trophies they gathered
over the years, I was overtaken by the
spirit of Tommy Trojan. But, little
did I know in those days about the
Spirit of Aggieland.
Games at USC play second fiddle
to games at A&M as part of the 12th
man. A game at USC means merely
watching. But Aggies have the op
portunity to feel like they are part of
See Ortiz/Page 6
A&M secondary ready to tackle UH offense
By David Winder
The Battalion
For the first time since the 1986
season the Texas A&M secondary
will face a University of Houston
football team that likes to run as
much as they pass.
First year Houston head coach
Kim Helton has started the
process of phasing out the run
and shoot offense, opting instead
for a more balanced attack. The
Cougars' passing game is not
gQne, however.
"We (the secondary) have to be
ready to defend the pass," defen
sive backs coach Trent Walters
said. "They are still throwing the
ball, but not as much as they did
last year.
"They have the same quarter
back (Jimmy Klingler) and the
same receivers and they're still
throwing the ball well. Ron Peters
and (Keith) Jack are excellent re
ceivers and they'll give us a tough
time."
The Cougar offense did more
than give A&M a tough time last
year as Klingler passed for 488
yards and three touchdowns in
the Aggies 38-30 victory. Houston
receivers Sherman Smith along
with Peters each had over 100
yards receiving for the game.
"I'm looking forward to it (Sat
urday's game) because we embarrassed
ourselves last year," cornerback Ray
Mickens said. "All those yards they got
on us really embarrassed us last year, so
we're looking to play a good game this
year."
Kyle Bumett/THE Battalion
said.
"They are running the ball
pretty well and also throwing
it, so that's double trouble for
us because we have to defend
the pass while at the same time
be alert to defend the run."
A&M strong safety Michael
Hendricks feels the key to shut
ting down Houston is getting to
Klingler.
"We have to get pressure on
the quarterback," Hendricks
said. "Last year we had no
pressure on the quarterback
and they gave us a tough game.
"I think the way the defen
sive line plays will also be a key
to the game."
Reserve cornerbacks Dono
van Greer and Andre Williams
will also see time against the
Cougars' passing attack.
"We're working on getting
them ready this week," Mick
ens said. "We're trying to get
them ready for this game by
telling them of our past experi
ences.
"I'm pretty sure that they're
going to do real well this
game."
Glenn said he sees this Sat
urday as a defensive challenge
Junior defensive backs Michael Hendricks (right) and Junior White bring down a Missouri receiver while regardless of the type of offense
junior outside linebacker Reggie Graham gets ready to assist during the Aggies' 73-0 win on Sept. 1 8. the Cougars run.
"I'm still expecting it to be as explosive „ Houston plays A&M hard
as it was last year" every year, Glenn satd. Even when I
Walters said Houston's new offensive
attack places more responsibility on the
shoulders of the secondary.
"They are a little more diversified this
year than they were last year," Walters
Houston (1-3), which is coming off a
24-3 victory over Baylor last Saturday,
sometimes uses a two-back set or a tight
end in special situations.
"Anytime you play a team like UH
you are going to go against an explosive
offense," cornerback Aaron Glenn said.
every year,
wasn't here I could see that Houston
played A&M hard.
"It's going to be another tough game
on the defense. We're just going to have
to go out there and make sure we keep
our intensity up."
Lady Aggies take on Rice, try for eighth straight win
By Julie Chelkowski
Mary MacmMus/The Battalion
Outside hitter Sheila Morgan spikes past an opposing
blocker. Morgan leads the SWC in hitting average.
The Battalion
The Lady Aggie volleyball team will try to boost its
15-3 record and seven game winning streak as it takes
on Rice University at G. Rollie White Coliseum at 7
p.m. Wednesday.
Although the Rice Owls are only 8-7 this season, and
Texas A&M has dominated the series between the two
teams by 26-4 since 1976, the Aggies are not taking the
game lightly.
"They're going to come in fired-up," setter Suzy
Wente said. "We can't take anybody for granite. We
have to play our game because anybody can get beat if
they're not ready,"
Assistant coach Jon Roberts said the Owls' record is
no direct reflection on how they have played in the past
and will play against A&M.
"I saw them play Texas and they weren't afraid of
them," he said. "I don't think they will be afraid of us.
But, he said, the Aggies are ready for a challenge.
"They're a younger team, so sometimes younger
teams don't play as consistently," he said. "I'm hoping
they play real well because I think we need a competi
tive match.
"We've been stomping teams lately and I think we
need to get into a match where we have to fight it out."
The Aggies are currently in the middle of their sea
son and the coaches said they have noticed a slight de
crease in the level of intensity in the team.
"We're kind of going through that (stage) now,"
Roberts said. "We're in the mid-season blues, the hon
eymoon is over."
Assistant coach John Corbelli said the "blues" may
be a result of the long winning streak they have been
experiencing.
"We're trying to protect ourself from getting com
placent about the wins we've been getting," he said.
"We need to keep ourselves focused on the end of the
season and being a better team at that point and keep
making progress." **
But senior outside hitter Sheila Morgan said the
team is capable of pulling out of any slump, especially
with the help of their fans.
"The fans are really, really great," he said. "We've
had diehard fans that have kept with us all through the
years.
"It really makes us feel good knowing that all these
long hours in the gym (pay off)."
The Lady Aggies' success has landed them at num
ber six in the South Region rankings which Morgan
said is an honor. But, she said, the team needs to con
tinue to improve upon their current level of play as
they meet Rice and other teams in the future.
"In the four years that I've been here, we haven't
been ranked at all, in any poll," she said.
"To finally reach that is really nice, and it says a lot
about our coaching staff and our team that we can turn
around and do some great things, but we need to keep
it up,"
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