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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 18, 1994)
Tuesday* October 18, 1994 Texas A&M still masters of Southwest TOM DAY Sportswriter A fter thoroughly whipping a quality Baylor squad last Saturday at Kyle Field, the Texas A&M football team proved what never should have been an issue. They are still the cream of the Southwest Conference crop. Despite the NCAA’s probation sentence and television and bowl bans, the Aggies are doing just fine, thank you. In fact, this year’s team could be just as good as the great Aggie teams of the past. However, entering the season, the football writers thought differ ently. Many of them picked Texas and Baylor to finish ahead of the Aggies in the SWC standings. A&M’s young players were con sidered a talented bunch, but their unproven status and a lack of motivation during probation made their future look rough. But in a year when the lame- duck conference is experiencing a resurgence in power, the Aggies have proven the critics wrong. Once again, the Aggies find themselves at the head of the SWC class. The “Wrecking Crew” defense is as powerful as it has ever been, while A&M’s “unmotivated” play ers have made drastic strides on of fense in the last couple of games. In an attempt to balance its of fensive attack, A&M has gone to the air more lately. The team amassed 524 yards of total offense against Baylor, 269 of those through the air. The super-charged passing at tack also opened up the running game as Rodney Thomas and Lee- land McElroy each rushed for over 100 yards against the Bears. Judging by Rice’s upset of Texas and the Aggies thrashing of the Bears, it appears that neither UT nor Baylor is anywhere near A&M’s level. Will any SWC team have enough wins to qualify for the Cotton Bowl? Sadly, it’s a shame that a team inferior to the Aggies will repre sent the SWC in the Cotton Bowl. It’s conceivable A&M could go 11- 0 and only have a top five finish to show for it. But there are several positives that will be gained from this sea son for the guys in maroon. The team will pick up valuable game experience, have the honor of ex tending its conference and home winning streaks and the knowledge and belief that they are the best. When A&M finishes off the sea son 11-0, Aggie players and fans will know who the true champions are. We just won’t have that bowl game to show the rest of the nation. §r j§yf This day in Aggie football October 18, 1986: In one of the most exciting games in Southwest conference history, Texas A&M erases a 17-0 first- half quarter deficit against Baylor as Kevin Murray throws for 308 yards in a 31-30 Aggie victory over Cody Carlson and the 20th-ranked Baylor Bears at Kyle Field. SPORTS The Battalion • Page 7 volleyball Lady Aggies unable to hold lead Blue Devil rally secures wici By Kristina Buffin The Battalion The Texas A&M volleyball team thought they had sealed a victory against the 21st ranked Duke Blue Devils after winning the first two games 15-10 and 15-11. Hitting errors and a lack of experience though, caused the Lady Aggies to lose the last three games in front of a crowd of 350 last night at G. Rollie White Coliseum. “We’ve been able to maintain our play with top level teams,” head coach Laurie Corbelli said. “But if you haven’t seen it (go ing up 2-0 against top teams) it’s hard to believe it.” After strong play in the first two games, game three (4- 15) was a complete disaster for the Lady Aggies. “I think we had a lot of miscommunication,” setter Suzy Wente said. “I think we came out in the third game ex pecting it to happen. A lot of us thought it would happen without putting forth the effort.” 12 Lady Aggie hitting errors let the Blue Devils take the fourth game 15-13. “I’m looking for a night when all my hitters are ready to have a stat sheet like all the teams that are beating us,” Corbelli said. “You cannot beat a team at this level with more hitting errors.” Duke rolled to a 15-9 victory in the fifth game after Corbelli received a red card for protesting what she saw as a blatant lift. “I think in a fifth game the attitudes change by the ref eree,” Corbelli said. “They decided to kind of just let them play and the inconsistency affects both teams.” Wente felt there were numerous controversial calls that went against the Lady Aggies. “Once they start making bad calls it gets people upset,” Wente said. “We definitely didn’t have it going for us tonight, there were a lot of really crummy calls.” Middle blocker Cindy VanderWoude led Texas A&M with a career high 17 kills. Junior Dana Santleben led the team with a career high 30 digs. Outside hitter Jen nifer Bronner had an additional 20 digs to contribute to a team season high 108 digs. “Our hitters are getting a lot more confidence,” Wente said. “We’re trying to go out and do the best that we can. I’m trying to work on my setting and hopefully that will help the team.” Joe Tufts/ Special to Thk Battalion Dana Santlebean (#14) digs for the ball while Jennifer Wells (#7) looks on during the Duke game Monday night. Montana leads Chiefs in last second heroics DENVER (AP) — Even battered and bruised, Joe Montana is still the best. Montana threw his third touchdown pass of the game, a 5-yarder to Willie Davis with eight seconds left, lifting the Kansas City Chiefs over the Denver Broncos 31-28 Monday night. The score, which ended the Chiefs’ 11-game losing streak in Mile High Stadium, capped a wild finish that saw the two teams exchange fumbles with less than three minutes left and Denver’s John Elway run 4 yards for a touchdown, putting Denver ahead 28-24 with 1:29 left. Elway’s scoring run, on a quarterback draw out of the shotgun formation, came one play after his apparent TD pass to Cedric Tillman was nullified when the officials said Tillman had gone out of bounds before making the catch. Elway then scored even though the Broncos had only 10 men on the field. But Montana, who missed significant practice time because of sore ribs and a bruised hip this past week, completed 7-of-8 passes to drive the Chiefs (4-2) to the winning score. The last four plays on the 75-yard, nine-play drive were all completions — 11 yards to Kimble An ders, 12 yards to Derrick Walker, 19 yards to Tracy Greene and, finally, the 5-yarder to Davis. Davis extended his arms and caught the ball at the goal line, head ed toward the outside and slipped in side the end zone pylon just as he reached the sideline. After a scoreless first quarter, each team scored two touchdowns in the sec ond period for a 14-14 halftime tie. Late in the first quarter, Denver de fensive tackle Ted Washington tipped a Montana pass and teammate Dan Williams intercepted at the Kansas City 21-yard line. Three plays later, Leonard Russell ran 12 yards off the left side for a 7-0 lead with 14:16 left in the half. Ron Dickerson returned the ensuing kickoff 62 yards to the Denver 33, and although the Chiefs couldn’t capitalize when Montana threw incomplete on fourth down, they got the ball at the Denver 45 after Denver was called for a holding penalty and Elway was sacked for an 8-yard loss by Neil Smith. Anders ran for 14 yards on third- and-7, and Marcus Allen capped the drive with a 7-yard slant off the left side with 6:57 remaining. It was Al len’s 116th career touchdown, tying him with John Riggins for fourth place on the NFL’s career TD list. It also ended a Chiefs’ touchdown drought at nine straight quarters. Denver countered three min utes later, however. Lin Elliott’s kickoff sailed out of bounds, giving Denver possession at the 40. El way hit Anthony Miller on a 19- yard pass, then found Miller on a 27-yarder for the TD. The Chiefs then went 62 yards in nine plays. Anders caught a 9-yard pass on third-and-9, and Montana then passed 26 yards to Davis and 19 yards to Walker before hitting J.J. Birden on a 6-yard scoring toss in the rear of the end zone with 1:12 remaining. Rice in running for SWC crown, Cotton Bowl HOUSTON (AP) — Before the sea son started, the Rice Owls talked about playing in the Cotton Bowl. Few took them seriously, but no body’s laughing following Sunday night’s stunning 19-17 victory over No. 13 Texas that ended a 28-year losing streak to the Longhorns. If the Owls can beat those odds, why can’t they return to the Cotton Bowl for the first time since they lost to Navy 20-7 in 1958? The Owls have the momentum of a three-game winning streak and a 2-0 Southwest Conference record going into Saturday’s game against No. 6 Texas A&M at Kyle Field. “We made history,” defensive tackle Brynton Goynes said. “This is the biggest win in the history of Rice foot ball. But because of everything, because of the streak, because they had no re spect for us, a win never felt so good. I don’t know if another ever will.” n (3-2, 2-0) could lose to A&M (6- 0, 3-0) and still reach the Cotton Bowl because the three-time defending cham pion Aggies are barred from post-season /■Health ©uest THERAPY AND RESEARCH INSTITUTE ASTHMA? Earn up to $2000 Asthmatic men and women, ages 18-65, are needed for a clinical research study. Overnight stays in our facility are required. Medical evaluations, meals and accommodations provided free. For more information: CALL (512) 345-0032 saMgass; V; 4 play by NCAA sanctions. The Owls will face major obstacles against A&M. Rice hasn’t beaten the Aggies in 13 years and they’ve won only twice in 23 years. The Aggies also have the nation’s longest home winning streak of 24 games in a row. But the Owls have hope. “We’ve been talking all along that our goal was the Cotton Bowl,” guard Chris Cooley said. “We still have a great Baylor team to play, but this brings faith a little bit farther.” See Rice/Page 8 Five unbeaten teams cloud championship (AP) -- It’s college football’s night mare scenario: Five teams go unde feated in the regular season and none meet in a bowl game. How about Penn State in the Rose Bowl, the Nebraska-Colorado winner in the Orange, the Colorado State-Utah winner in the Holiday, Alabama in the Sugar and and Texas A&M on the sidelines? < Or, if Auburn beats Alabama, scratch The Tide and add the Tigejs to the list of unbeatens. Like Texas A&M, Auburn is on probation and can’t play in a bowl. Both teams are eligible for the na tional championship in The Associ ated Press media poll, although pro bation teams are barred from the USA Today-CNN coaches’ poll. Five unbeaten teams and no head-to-head competition to coni- pare them because of conference commitments or bowl bans. “It would be wild,” said ESPN conj- mentator Beano Cook. “There’d be ar guments in every bar in America.” The last time five Division I-A teams had perfect regular seasons was 1979, when Alabama, Brigham Young, Ohio State, Florida State and McNeese State did it. They all played in different bowls and they all lost except for national champion Alabama, which beat Arkansas 24-9 in the Sugar Bowl. The situation could be more con fusing this year because of the NCAA sanctions against No. 4 Auburn (7-0) and No. 6 Texas A&M (6-0). What happens if the probation teams are the only ones left without a loss after the bowls? Cook said he might vote for Auburn because the Tigers would have completed their second straight 11-0 season. They finished fourth in the AP poll last season behind a trio of once-beaten teams, including na tional champion Florida State. “If they’re allowed to play, their games should count,” Cook said. “You can’t ignore a team that goes two years without a loss” “Probation teams should not win the national championship because they can’t take the last step, which is winning a bowl game,” Cook’s ESPN colleague, Lee Corso, said. So who’s got the inside track to the title? Is it top-ranked Penn State (6-0), which leads the nation in scoring and just beat Michigan at Ann Arbor? Is it No. 2 Colorado (6-0), which has already beaten four teams that were ranked at the time they played. Is it No. 3 Nebraska (7-0), which continues to win despite the loss of star quarterback Tommie Frazier? How about No. 8 Alabama (7-0), which keeps winning close games with clutch plays? Nebraska-Colorado on Oct. 29 and Auburn-Alabama on Nov. 19 will serve as elimination games. And we’ll know more about Penn State’s chances following the Lions’ upcom ing three-game stretch against OJiio State, Indiana and Illinois. v In his preseason predictions, Cook picked Penn State to the win the national championship. He thinks the Nebraska-Colorado Win ner will take over the No. 1 ranking. Corso said Penn State, Colorado and Alabama would all have strong arguments if they go undefeated. “Colorado because of its tough schedule, Penn State because it beat Michigan more impressively than Colorado did, and Alabama because of its extra game (for the SEC championship),” he said. “You may have to flip a coin.” And what about the winner of Sat urday’s Western Athletic Conference showdown between No. 12 Colorado State (7-0) and No. 18 Utah (6-0)? ‘They don’t have a shot because they haven’t played enough stiff competition,” Corso said. 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