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Monday
September 4,1995
The Battalion
Sports
McElroy rewrites record books in first career start
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□McElroy rolled up a SWC-record
359 all-purpose yards in the Aggies'
33-17 win over LSU.
By David Winder
The Battalion
When offensive coordinator Steve Ens-
minger told Leeland McElroy he was going to
get the ball more than 25 times against
Louisiana State University, McElroy thought
he was joking. The joke, however, was on LSU
as McElroy ran the Tiger defense silly.
“He’s going to handle it (the ball) until he
tells us he can’t,” Ensminger said after the
Aggies’ 33-17 win over the Tigers.
Apparently the word “can’t” is not in McEl-
roy’s vocabulary as he car
ried the ball 35 times for
229 yards and three touch
downs.
He also had five catches
for 49 yards and three kick
off returns for 81 yards.
McElroy’s combined offen
sive output set a new
Southwest Conference
record for all-purpose
yardage with 359 yards.
“I think I did okay,” said
McElroy, acting as if Saturday’s exhibition
was just a normal day at the office.
It might have been normal for McElroy, but
it was hot for everyone else as the tempera
ture on the field reached 122 degrees.
Numerous A&M players fell victim to leg
cramps and intravenous fluids were more pop
ular than Gatorade after the game. But McEl
roy looked as strong on his 35th run as he did
on his first.
“Leeland has won our strength and condi
tioning program the last three years,” offen
sive guard Calvin Collins said. “He was the
only one not getting cramps. He didn’t even
look like he was breathing hard.”
Offensive tackle Hunter Goodwin said noth
ing McElroy does surprises him.
“He’s just unbelievable,” Goodwin said. “It
was pretty hot, and there he is in the fourth
quarter still giving all he had.”
McElroy said he did feel the heat, but noth
ing was going to stop him.
“I’d be lying if I said I didn’t, I did feel it,”
McElroy said. “But it didn’t matter. That’s
what I’ve been asking for: That’s what I’ve
been wanting from day one. Ever since I
stepped foot on campus. I’ve wanted to be a
starter and be able to carry the load.”
McElroy’s 229 yards rushing was the first
200-yard performance for an Aggie running
back since Rodney Thomas rushed 201 yards
against LSU in 1993 and the fourth most in
school history in a single game.
Although he is now in his third season on
the team, McElroy’s 229
yards were also the A&M
record for most yards in a
first start, breaking Greg
Hill’s record of 212 set
against LSU in 1991.
The 35 carries are the
sixth-highest in A&M’s his
tory, just six behind Roger
Vick’s record of 41 carries
against Texas in 1986.
It also moved McElroy
into 16th place on the A&M
all-time rushing list and placed him fourth in
Aggie history for most rushing yards in a
game.
“When we go back and look at this tape,
we’re going to say ‘It’s amazing he didn’t have
a couple of more big runs today,”’ A&M Head
Coach R.G. Slocum said. “He got into sec
ondary several times, and he was off balance
when he got to the safety, and he was not in
position to make a move, or he might have
had a couple of more long runs today.”
A couple of more long runs combined with
some more “normal” McElroy games, and
A&M opponents are not going to find certain
Aggie jokes funny anymore.
Nick Rodnicki, The Battalion
A&M junior tailback Leeland McElroy dashes around would-be tackier Troy Twillie towards the end zone
in the third quarter of A&M's 33-1 7 win over LSU at Kyle Field. McElroy rushed for 229 yards on 35 car
ries, the fourth-most yards ever by an A&M player in a single game.
New coach, same results for ’95 edition of Aggie ‘D’
J a . Nick Rodnicki, The Battalion
rs A&M freshman wide receiver Albert Connell approaches the end zone in Saturday's win over LSU.
as
□ A&M did not allow
LSU to score until the
third quarter.
By Nick Georgandis
The Battalion
One down, 10 more to go.
In sharp contrast to the
blowouts that Florida State and
Nebraska put up on Saturday af
ternoon, the Texas A&M football
team simply took care of business
against a tough Louisiana State
team, defeating the Tigers 33-17.
Although junior tailback Lee
land McElroy carried the brunt of
the load for the Aggies, with his
359 all-purpose yards including
229 on the ground, it was a collec
tion of little things that gave the
Aggies the victory.
“It was our first game, and we
wanted to execute well and have
very few penalties and turnovers,”
Offensive Coordinator Steve Ens
minger said. “We didn’t know
what to prepare for from them,
and I thought we did a good job.”
As good as McElroy and the of
fense looked, it was the A&M de
fense that kept giving the offense
good field position and plenty of
opportunities to score.
The Aggies’ first score, a 24-
yard field goal by sophomore Kyle
Bryant early in the second quar
ter was set up when the defense
pinned LSU within its own 10-
yard line. The defense got the of
fense excellent field position by
harrassing senior quarterback
Jamie Howard into three straight
incomplete passes.
Up 3-0 midway through the
second quarter, the defense took
the matter of scoring into its own
hands. On a third-and-five play,
Howard never saw junior line
backer Keith Mitchell blitz from
the left side. Mitchell blindsided
Howard in the end zone for A&M’s
first safety in two seasons.
“We had the blitz on, and I saw
him with the ball,” Mitchell said.
“(LSU tight end David) LaFleur
was supposed to block me, but he
missed, and then he tried to come
back at the last minute, but it was
too late.”
The defensive dominance con
tinued in the quarter when LSU
lined up for a field goal. Defensive
end Brandon Mitchell ended the
Tigers’ scoring threat with his
right arm. Mitchell busted
through the offensive line and
blocked the ball which was then
kicked and fumbled by several
players all the way back to LSU’s
29-yard line, where A&M took
possession.
“Eddie Jasper (A&M’s nose-
guard) told me to scoot over a lit
tle so there was only one guy
against us two,” Mitchell said.
Five plays later, senior quar
terback Corey Pullig hit fresh
man wide receiver Albert Connell
on an 18-yard touchdown pass to
give the Aggies a 12-0 halftime
lead.
Although the defense allowed
the Tigers to put up 17 points in
the second half, A&M Defensive
Coordinator Phil Bennett said he
was pleased with his unit’s per
formance.
“Fatigue was a problem, and
I’m a little disappointed we didn’t
handle it a little better,” Bennett
said. “But with 67 snaps giving
up only 252 yards and with a guy
like (LSU freshman tailback
Kevin) Faulk, who might be the
next Leeland McElroy, hell no,
I’m not disappointed.”
Despite his enthusiasm with
A&M’s overall performance, Head
Coach R.C. Slocum said he is
pleased that the team has this
week off so the coaches and er
rors can identify and rectify mis
takes made.
“So many times things can go
wrong, especially in the first
game that you just want to tell
the guys, ‘Just go out there and
win the ball game,”’ Slocum said.
“I’m very satisfied with today’s
effort. We wanted to win the first
game and have this week to
smooth things out. Now we have
a week to get everything worked
out and get ready for Tulsa.”
ke
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id
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Aggies remain No. 3 in AP football poll
(AP)Florida State re
mained No. 1 in The Asso
ciated Press college football
poll Sunday after beating
Duke 70-26, while Notre
Dame and Miami plummet
ed in the rankings after los
ing their openers.
Florida State received 38
first-place votes and 1,518
points from a nationwide
media panel. No. 2 Nebras
ka, which opened defense of
its national championship
Thursday with a 64-21 vic
tory over Oklahoma State,
got 14 firsts and 1,467
points.
The Seminoles gained
six first-place votes over
the previous week, while
the Cornhuskers lost one.
Texas A&M remained
No. 3, with Penn State,
Florida, Auburn, Southern
Cal, Tennessee, Ohio State
and Colorado rounding out
the Top 10. Texas A&M re
ceived four first-place
votes, Florida and Auburn
got two apiece, and Penn
State and Tennessee each
had one.
Texas A&M beat LSU
33-17, Florida downed
Houston 45-21, Auburn
topped Mississippi 46-13,
Tennessee defeated East
Carolina 27-7, and Col
orado beat Wisconsin 43-7.
Penn State, Southern Cal
and Ohio State did not play
Saturday.
Notre Dame nearly
dropped out of the Top 25
after losing at home to
Northwestern 17-15. The
Fighting Irish fell from No.
9 to No. 25, while Miami
plunged from No. 12 to No.
19 after losing to UCLA 31-
8.
Michigan rose two spots
to No. 11 after beating Illi
nois 38-14, and UCLA
climbed three notches to
No. 12.
Alabama was 13th, fol
lowed by Oklahoma, Texas,
Virginia, Arizona, Wash
ington, Miami, Virginia
Tech, Kansas State, Syra
cuse, North Carolina State,
Oregon and Notre Dame.
Team
Record
Pts
Pv
1. FloridaSt.(38)
1-0-0
1,518
1
2. Nebraska(14)
1-0-0
1,467
2
3. TexasA&M(4)
1-0-0
1,361
3
4. PennSt.(l)
0-0-0
1,298
4
5. Florida(2)
1-0-0
1,293
5
6. Auburn(2)
1-0-0
1,276
6
7. SouthernCal
0-0-0
1,168
7
8. Tennessee(1)
1-0-0
1,073
8
9. OhioSt.
1-0-0
1,018
10
10. Colorado
1-0-0
972
14
11. Michigan
2-0-0
951
13
12. UCLA
1-0-0
922
15
13. Alabama
1-0-0
852
11
14. Oklahoma
0-0-0
641
16
15. Texas
1-0-0
605
18
16. Virginia
1-1-0
554
17
17. Arizona
1-0-0
529
19
18. Washington
1-0-0
388
22
19. Miami
0-1-0
282
12
20. VirginiaTech
0-0-0
265
24
21. KansasSt.
1-0-0
203
—
22. Syracuse
1-0-0
195
—
23. N.CarolinaSt
.1-0-0
191
—
24. Oregon
1-0-0
187
—
25. NotreDame
0-1-0
157
9