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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 7, 1994)
November 7,195:[Monday • November 7, 1994 SPORTS The Battalion • Page 7 e Christian Fellowship: ;essory prayer, worship, fel- iible study at 8 p.m. atthe/l . For more information cal 177 icycling Surveys andPeli with individuals about on ing and efforts to increase 3 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Rudder imons Lobby and MSC Hal a information call Cassandra ■ 845-0689. jieland picture at 9:45 p.ni more information call Aaron 7584. an Fisheries Society : Alan Rudd from Lone SI* lent and general meetinga! 4 Nagle. Fish fry tickets wi r more information call Cyn- 5. ms: You are invited to join se for fellowship and small on from 7-8:30 p.m. at n Church on FM 2818. For on call Jennifer Carlssonal ?r Self-Help Group: Free I support group for anyone effected by an eating disor- n. in the MSC, check moni- number. For more infer- na at 731-8044. istian Fellowship: Tues- rration at 7 p.m. in 102 p picture at 9 p.m. in ore information call Jared -8654. : A meeting to discuss and er tournament at Lake Lime end at 8:30 p.m. in 402 ere information call Jeff 1726. A general meeting will be n. in 215 Eng/Phys build- nformation call Jereomy 762. rticulture Society: We will eegin a winter vegetable i.m. in 104 HFSB. ment: Our third general reld from 7-8:15 p.m. in rer. Our guest speaker will of the San Antonio Spurs. Battalion service that student and faculty vities. Items should be iter than three days in desired run date. Appli- s and notices are not not be run in What's Up, questions, please call it 845-3313. Otis Thorpe Aggies dash Horns’ Cotton Bowl hopes Oilers’ answer 00 1 to QB trouble NICK GEORGANDIS Asst. Sports Editor STAFF SEMINARS RENCE OTHE NERS C IR 9 th NTER YOU ING 4G! trator for S28 million record in adership: Reserve - et. neering udget. :, Bryan, TX 77805 I watched the Oilers play the Steel- ers on Sunday afternoon, in a kind of euphoric stupor, still feeling the adrenaline rush from the Aggies 34- 10 trouncing of the Longhorns. That was a good thing, I found out, because I didn’t feel my heart wrenched from my chest each and every time the Oil ers screwed up(and if you didn’t watch the game, believe me, they screwed up plenty). So instead of weeping and curl ing up in the fetal position, I tried to work out a solution to solve the Oilers’ offensive woes. By the third quarter, I had determined that the Oilers definitely need a new quar terback. No, not just another punk off the waiver wire(yes, I mean you, Billy Joe Tolliver), I mean a bonafide field general. A guy that’s tough, that the other players can look up to, a guy that can take the hit and has a cannon for an arm. OK, you’re thinking, they’ll draft a Steve McNair or a Eric Zeier type and start rebuilding. No, no, no. I’m talking about right now. Today. The Oilers are sinking faster than the ratings of Models, Inc. They need a man the fans will rally around, and I’ve got the perfect candidate. Otis Thorpe. Yes, that Otis Thorpe. The one that starts at power forward for the World Champion Houston Rockets. Thorpe is the man for the job, just look how he fills the above wish list of quarterback characteristics. 1. Field General: Thorpe is the Rockets’ co-captain, along with Ha keem Olajuwon. He hardly ever com mits stupid fouls, and he knows his limitations(i.e. no vertical leaping over six inches). He won’t throw a lot of interceptions. 2. Toughness: For a while, Otis had the longest consecutive games played streak in the NBA, and only lostitwhen he had a major kidney bruise. Since then, he has played another 200 or so in a row. Plus, he went 35-40 minutes a night in the playoffs against Cliff Robinson, Charles Barkley, Karl Malone and Charles Oakley, four guys who have all made the All-Star team in the past. 3. Someone the guys can look up to: With Sean Jones gone to Green Bay, Ray Childress is the tallest Oiler at 6 feet, 6 inches. Thorpe is six feet, 11 inches and is more muscular than Arnold Schwarzenegger. The guys will respect him... or else. 4. Taking the hit: I’m tired of Cody Carlson limping around like he’s going to his death bed. Like it says in No. 3, Otis is used to get ting shoved around, punched, kicked and every other tactic used by the New York Knicks’ defense. Put a pair of pads on the guy, and he could be unstoppable. 5. Strong arm: You ever seen Otis throw one down court? He has great accuracy and superb velocity. Sure, every once in a while he’ll misfire and deck some jerk with front row seats who’s not paying attention, but with that ball speed, one of Thorpe’s interceptions could kill Rod Woodson or Deion Sanders, giving the Oilers’ Stew Milne/THE Battalion A&M receiver Brian Mitchell (18) looks on as running back Rodney Thomas (20) leaps into the endzone over Texas defenders Victor Frazier (7) and Ire Thomas (17) for A&M’s first score Saturday. By Nick Georgandis The Battalion Going into the 1994 college football season, the Uni versity of Texas realized that due to Texas A&M’s sea son on probation, they had a legitimate shot at the Cotton Bowl for the first time in three years. Despite an uneven 2-2 start to their Southwest Conference season, the Longhorns still had a shot to stay in the bowl race going into Saturday’s annual tilt with the Aggies. Not only could the Longhorns get back in the SWC race, they could prove they were le gitimate with a win over the ranked Aggies. The Longhorns proved nothing on Saturday in their 34-10 trouncing at the hands of the Aggies, except maybe that they are looking for a new coach. “This was the biggest game of the year,” A&M se nior running back Rodney Thomas said. “This win means more to me than any other game this year.” A week after tying Southern Methodist University at the AlamoDome, A&M was firing on all cylinders from the starting gun. At the end of the first quarter, the Aggies were up 14-0 and by halftime they were cruising at 24-0. The Longhorns did not reach the Ag gie end zone until the 40th minute of the game. “Our job each week is to keep the offense from scor ing,” senior linebacker Antonio Armstrong said. “We had control and kept putting pressure on them. We stopped the run and they had to start throwing the ball, which is playing into our hands.” Armstrong made a key play that truly broke the game open for the Aggies. In the second quarter, the Longhorns, behind freshman quarterback James Brown, had just recorded a first down at their own 48 yard line. As Brown rolled out to his right, he was crushed by Armstrong from his blind side. The ball slipped out of Brown’s grasp into the soft hands of defensive end Brandon Mitchell, who turned up field and rumbled 48 yards for a touchdown, to the great delight of the large A&M congregation standing in the seats of that end zone. When Kyle Bryant See A&M-UT/Page 8 See Georgandis/Page 8 McElroy gets kick start to return game A&M running back ends return streak, gets 89-yarder against Horns By Drew Diener The Battalion Leeland McElroy was frustrated. Ever since he ran back the opening kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown against Soutnem Mississippi September 24, opponents refused to let him return another kick. “He’s a freak of nature,” sopho more guard Calvin Collins said. “I can’t describe j him’p'h.'e- just makes things happen.” After going 0 for October, it looked like the sophomore from Beaumont was not going to get another chance to work the magic that made him the nation’s leading kick returner a year ago. After a 102 yard return by McElroy against them last Thanksgiving, the University of Texas was not going let McElroy touch the ball on a kickoff this year. No way. Following a 10 play, 80 yard touch down drive on their first possession of the second half, Texas was set to kick off. McElroy and senior Billy Mitchell were deep for the Aggies, ready to re ceive the kick. As Texas kicker Phil Dawson booted the ball in Mitchell’s di rection, the returnmen switched sides, and McElroy wound up with the football. Eighty-nine yards later, Longhorn special-teamer Victor Frazier caught up with the speedster and drug him down one yard shy of the end zone. “I was (surprised to be caught), but of course I had to break a few tackles, and I guess he (Frazier) was in a dead sprint while I was doing that,” McElroy said. “He had an angle on me, so maybe he was just that fast. “I really don’t know what the situa tion was.” Texas fie a 8 coach John’ Mackovic had issued a pre-game edict, stating that McElroy would not touch the ball on a return. McElroy said Mackovic’s statement was not playing through his mind while he was racing past Long horn defenders. “I was thinking about getting in the end zone,” McElroy said. “Of course, I thought I was going to score. It (not scoring) just happens that way sometimes.” McElroy’s return set up the Aggies fi nal touchdown of the day, which added the final nail in the Longhorns’ coffin. “We came out focused, and we weren’t going to let what happened last weekend happen to us again,” McElroy said. “Last weekend was sort of an eye opener, and it let us know that any team can beat you on any given day.” Aside from his special team heroics, McElroy provided the igniting spark to the Aggie running game. His 12 car ries for 74 yards and one touchdown led the team. “He’s unexplainable,” Collins said. “He’s got deceptive speed, and doesn’t look like he’s trying hard.” Going into the game, Texas was giv ing up an average of 183 yards rushing ii( per game, ^esmte this fact, McElroy said he believed Texas could have come out and stopped the run. “You go out there with a game plan, and you don’t expect to do too much be cause you might have to change it,” McElroy said. “Our plan was to go in there and use what we had, and if it worked, we were going to stick with it.” The plan worked as A&M amassed 294 total yards, including 133 on the ground. Despite a solid performance rushing the ball, McElroy said finally getting to return a kick was the high light of his game. “I owe it all to my personnel,” McEl- Stew Milne/THE Battalion A&M running back Leeland McElroy (34) racks up part of his 74 yards rushing Saturday. roy said. “I couldn’t go out there and do it all by myself. All 1 do is use my speed, hit the wedge, and once I’m through (past the defenders), it’s just me and the kicker.” SPORTS A&M basketball to appear in Aggie Hoops Fest 5 94 Just when you thought it was safe to go back on the hardwood.... Texas A&M head basketball coach Tony Barone will unveil the 1994-95 version of his men’s basketball team Tuesday night at the Aggie Hoops Fest-'94 at G. Roliie White Coliseum, beginning at 7 p.m. The festivities will include a short scrimmage between the maroon and white, a brief alumni game featuring former A&M players, a slam dunk contest, a three-point shootout and an autograph and photo session with all the Aggie players and coaches. Other activities will include face painting and balloons for the kids, a variety of fan participation contests and a performance by the Texas A&M Dance Team. Admission to the event is free, with doors opening at 6:30 p.m. Free popcorn and soft Barone drinks will be available to all fans in attendance. Aggie swim teams open season with wins over Rice The Texas A&M men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams both opened their home seasons off right last Friday, as both squads defeated the Rice Owls at the P.L. Downs Natatorium. Both teams won easily, with the men lapping the Owls 143-63 and the Lady Aggies dunking the Lady Owls 138-79. A&M head coach Mel Nash said he was very excited with the team’s overall performance. “I was very pleased with they way we raced today, “ Nash said. "Even though they might have been apprehensive ahead of time, our swimmers went in and got to it. I’m pleased with their focus after an extremely hard week of work. We didn't back off at all in workouts this week.” The swimming teams thoroughly dominated the Owis, finishing first in 17 of the total 19 events, including eight consecutive victories to open the meet. The diving competition saw freshman standouts Jodi Janssen and Jarrod Fiores taking first-place honors in both the one and three- meter diving competitions. Nash Justice Joe 14th Court of Appeals • Place 4 • 20 years judicial experience; 12 as Appellate Judge, 8 as Trial Judge. • He has authored over 1,200 legal opinions in the past I2 years. • First active judge to be elected President of the Houston Bar Association in 44 years. •Adjunct-Professor of Appellate Law at the University of Houston Law Center. • Graduate, U of H and University of Houston College of Law. • Member - Second Baptist Church of Houston. Paid for by the Committee to Re-Elect Justice Joe Draught] • Michael A. Craig, Treasurer P.O. Box 22285, Houston, TX 77227-2285 Justice Joe Draughn is concerned about the rights of crime victims and believes the courts should be more responsive to the needs of society than to convicted criminals. Justice Draughn has been voted “WELL QUALIFIED”by a margin of 18 to I over his opponent\r\ the Houston Bar Association Judicial Quali fication Poll. He is preferred 7 to I in the most recent Preference Poll. Justice Joe Draughn is endorsed by all major groups, including: C.L.E.A.T. (Combined Law Enforcement Association of Texas), Asso ciation of Women Attorneys’, Houston Professional Firefighter’s Asso ciation, Citizens for Qualified Judges, Mexican American Bar Associa tion, North and East Harris County Bar Associations, Pasadena Bar Association, Houston Police Patrolman’s Union, Harris County Council of Organizations, Baptist Ministers Association of Houston, The Texas Constitutional Coalition, Harris County Deputy Sheriff’s Association, The “C” Club, and Justice for All (A Victims' Rights Group), Houston Chronicle, and Bryan Eagle. Students shot These lucky students got their pictures taken for the Aggieland yearbook and are eligible to win Huge Dinner Sampler from Wings 'N More Restaurant! If you recognize your picture in this ad, come to AR Photography, across from Bonfire, to claim your prize. Or call 693-8183 There will be four new drawings each week, but you can't win if you don't get shot for the Aggieland! I ■*v Si: /"V .'■'a.* •TV;