The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current, October 28, 1996, Image 7

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    Monday • October 28,
Page 7
Monday • October 28, 1996
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Stew Milne, The Battalion
[tnior tailback Byron Hanspard, who is an ordained minister, leads the Red Raiders in prayer and reflection on the 50-yard line after Tech's 1 3-10 defeat of the Aggies Saturday at Kyle Field.
analyses of their regi
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\ eld. Like Colorado and Kansas
kers at a lower cost.”
Ross Perot
Yes. We must make con
with OSHA standaif ed gathering of A&M support-
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11 businesses.”
By Tom Day
The Battalion
ike pouring salt on an open
wound, the Texas A&M Foot-
iball Team’s season went from
eld. Like Colorado and Kansas
ate before them, the Texas Tech
td Raiders showed little regard
rthe Aggies and another fren-
pulling out a 13-10 victory in
es are already overbutt sellout cr o wd °f 70,147.
Tech quarterback Zebbie
thridge’s 81-yard touchdown
rike to freshman fullback Sam
orris with 6:20 remaining in the
by without creatinjJ^g stunnec j crowc i and
[nt the Red Raiders to the top of
12 South standings and to
their first victory at A&M since 1984.
A&M Head Coach R.C. Slocum
said the Aggies can stop worrying
about the conference race and just
concentrate on winning games.
“It’s been a long time since I was
in this situation,’’ Slocum said.
“There are some conversations that
you’re no longer in. You let some
one else talk about the conference
race and we worry about our team
and our next opponent.”
Suffering back-to-back home
losses for the first time since 1984,
A&M dropped to 3-5 overall and 1-3
in the Big 12 South. The Aggies must
now win all four of their remaining
games to be eligible for a bowl bid.
However Slocum said that is
the least of the team’s concerns.
“Bowls are not in my worries
t.
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Rudder Auditorium
Stew Milne, The Battalion
snior linebacker Larry Walker II displays the helmet of Tech
uarterback Zebbie Lethridge after sacking Lethridge on the goal line.
il styles o!
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right now,” Slocum said. “I’m
concerned about getting back
and trying to win a game next
week. We certainly took a big
step backwards.”
The Aggies left Tech running
back Byron Hanspard’s Heisman
Trophy hopes unharmed as the ju
nior ran free for 198 yards on 41 car
ries. Lethridge, not recognized for a
keen passing ability, also torched
A&M for 181 yards through the air.
But the Aggies’ latest setback
was characterized by the same
problems that have plagued them
all season long — costly turnovers
and a failure to make big plays
when they needed to.
In the Aggies’ favor, they were
impressive defensively inside the
red zone. Having recently strived to
improve on stopping opponents in
side the 20-yard line, A&M was giv
en ample opportunity to do so.
Up 3-0 and driving with just
under three minutes left in the
opening quarter, the Red Raiders
moved the ball down to the Aggie
3-yard line. On first down, A&M
kept a rushing Hanspard out of
the end zone. The junior plunged
across the goal line a play later,
but a Tech illegal procedure
penalty nullified the score.
The Aggies took advantage of
the lucky break on the next play,
sacking Lethridge on the roll and
forcing a fumble on the six that
was recovered by inside line
backer Dat Nguyen.
A&M turned back another
Raider touchdown opportunity in
the second when it stuffed rushes
by Hanspard and Lethridge at the
8-yard line. Following a sack by
sophomore outside linebacker
Warrick Holdman, Tech attempt
ed a field goal, but came up emp
ty when kicker Jaret Greaser’s 27-
yard kick banged the right
upright and fell away no-good.
The Aggies had already forced
Tech to settle for field goals after the
Raiders were stopped by A&M on
the Aggie 28 and again at the 26.
However, the Aggies gave up the big
play with Tech pinned back in their
own territory with the game on the
line. Lethridge faked a handoff to
Hanspard and the entire A&M defense,
including Morris’ cover man, corner-
back Donovan Greer, bit on the decoy.
Lethridge hit a wide-open Morris for a
way-too-easy touchdown pass.
Senior noseguard Eddie
Jasper said that play typified the
Aggies’ season.
“Mistakes have kept us down
all year long,” Jasper said. “I don’t
think we’ve piayed a team better
than us, but we always find a way
to self-destruct.
“I’m not shocked, I’m mad. Two or
three plays and this season could be
the other way around. It wasn’t just
that pass. We made mistakes
throughout the game that we should
n’t have made — things we go over
every day in practice like fundamen
tals. The season is halfway over with
and you don’t need to make those
kind of mistakes this time of year, but
we keep making them.”
The A&M loss cancelled out
a stellar performance by tail
back Dante Hall who scam
pered to a career-high 186-yard
rushing performance.
The Aggies were unable to fully
capitalize on Hall’s biggest moment
of the day, a spectacular 74-yard, sec
ond quarter run that moved A&M
down to the Tech 6-yard line. Tailback
Sirr Parker lost a yard before a Stewart
sack and incomplete pass forced
A&M to settle for a r
Kyle Bryant 31-yard
field goal.
After scoring the
game’s first touch
down on a 28-yard
run by Hall with 6:23
remaining in the
third quarter, the Ag
gies had a 10-6 lead
and seemed to have
the momentum.
The Aggies
would start another
drive, marching 50
yards to the Tech
seven before a Hall fumble gave the
ball back to the Red Raiders.
However, the A&M defense
tightened, forcing Tech backwards
to a fourth down situation at their
own 1-yard line. With Tech pinned
back and facing straight into a 15
mph wind, A&M called their final
two timeouts in the waning sec
onds of the third quarter to force
the Raiders to punt into the wind.
The ploy worked and A&M re
gained possession after a short Tech
punt was downed at the 29-yard line.
But the Aggies once again
could not move the ball and were
forced to punt.
Dave House, The Battalion
A&M Head Coach R.C. Slocum pleads his case about whether A&M
linebacker Larry Walker M's sack of Zebbie Letheridge was a safety.
“I don’t think weVe
played a team
better than us, but
we always find a
way to self-destruct.”
Edward Jasper
Senior noseguard
“I thought we had good momen
tum,” Stewart said. “I thought we
could hold them on defense and pos
sibly put another touchdown in or
just eat up the clock.”
But the offense could not get the
job done, giving the Raiders new
life in the fourth.
Facing a 3rd-and-l
situation on their
own 40 with just
over seven minutes
remaining, the Ag
gies were whistled
for a delay of game
penalty. Hall’s two-
yard run on the next
play was not enough
for a first down and
A&M was forced to
punt, setting the
stage for Morris’
heroics.
Following the touchdown,
Tech seized control of the game
and snuffed out a last-ditch A&M
scoring drive when Stewart was
sacked on 4th-and-3 after moving
the Aggies down to the Tech 43.
The final numbers were not any
prettier than the final score for A&M.
The Red Raiders outgained the Aggies
by 110 total yards, and Stewart could
only muster 54 yards on 6-of-19 pass
ing. A&M wideout Albert Connell, the
Big 12’s leading receiver entering the
contest, did not catch a pass.
“They played well on defense to
day,” Stewart said. “They covered
our receivers well, played hard and
didn’t make any mistakes.”
Having already lost five games
in a season for the first time since
1988, this season has been a long,
hard fail for the Aggies.
Slocum said the team’s change
in fortune hasn’t caused him to
change his style.
“I haven’t all of a sudden started
coaching differently and we haven’t
changed a bunch of things — we just
have not gotten it done,” Slocum said.
“If you’re not winning, that’s about as
bad as it can be if you’re a coach. The
expectation level that I have for our
team makes it even worse.”
Tx.Tech 13, Texas A&M 10
Tx. Tech 3 3
0 7
— 13
A&M 0 3
7 0
— 10
A&M
Tx. Tech
First Downs
15
23
Rushes-yards
41-260
64-242
Passing yards
54
182
Comp-att-int
6-19-0
10-25-0
Return yards
33
52
Punts-avg.
8-44
7-34
Fumbles-lost
3-2
2-2
Penal ties-yards
8-46
4-25
Time of possession 22:48
.37:12
A&M Volleyball sweeps Kansas, Kansas State
By Jeremy Furtick
The Battalion
The Kansas Jayhawks stormed into G.
Rollie White Coliseum Sunday looking to
upset the lOth-ranked Texas A&M Volley
ball Team, but were swept in three games,
15-10,19-17, 15-0.
The Lady Aggies ran their record to 18-3
overall and 9-1 in Big 12 Conference play,
while improving their home record to 11-0.
They moved into a tie for first place in
the Big 12 after Texas Tech upset Nebraska
Saturday, giving the national champion its
first loss of the season.
Kansas came out firing in the first
game, grabbing an early 6-3 lead over
A&M, but could only manage four
more points as the Aggies cruised to a
15-10 win.
It seemed that A&M had put any Jay-
hawk upset thoughts to rest, but in game
two Kansas jumped on top early again.
The Aggies struggled and the mo
mentum had swung completely in
Kansas’ favor. The Jayhawks were in the
middle of a big run when sophomore
outside hitter Stacy Sykora made a div
ing dig.
The play wasn’t significant to the
score, but it was to the Aggies. Syko-
ra’s momentum-shifting play was a
preview of bigger plays to come from
the sophomore.
Sykora said she was feeling confi
dent on defense and knew the team
needed a lift.
“We needed a big play and I was
looking to make it,”
Sykora said. “I wanted
that dig ... I would have
dove across the gym to
get it.”
The Aggies fended off
five Jayhawk game
points, and rode Syko-
ra’s hot hitting to a 19-
17 victory in a game
that saw nine ties and
five lead changes.
The third game was
all Texas A&M as the
Aggies rolled to a shut
out victory.
A&M Head Coach Laurie Corbelli
said the Jayhawks gave A&M every
thing they had in the second game,
but ran out of steam for the third.
“Kansas fought hard to win the
second game,” Corbelli said. “After
losing that one, I think they got that
‘given-up’ feeling.
“Our focus has
been on individ
ual intensity. This
match (Kansas)
helped that.”
Laurie Corbelli
A&M Head Coach
“I don’t think my speech after the sec
ond game had anything to do with it (the
game three shutout)! We talked about
some strategy and played game three with
more intensity.”
Sykora was the star of the match,
recording team-highs in kills (19) and
digs (14). More important
ly, she made the plays the
Lady Aggies needed at key
moments of the match.
“Stacy was ready to play
today,” Corbelli said.
Junior outside hitter
Kristie Smedsrud also had
a big day with 14 kills and
11 digs. Junior setter Farah
Mensik recorded 52 as
sists, and junior middle
blocker Cindy Vander-
Woude finished the match
with 11 kills.
As a team, the Aggies outhit Kansas
.336 to .154 and posted 61 kills to the
Jayhawks’ 40.
Corbelli said the victory gives the Aggies
some positive things on which to build.
“Our focus lately has been on indi
vidual intensity,” Corbelli said. “This
match helped that. Anything can
happen in this conference. Kansas
played above their heads, but we
raised the level of our intensity and
won the match.”
In the first game of the Lady Ag
gies’ sweep of 23rd-ranked Kansas
State Friday night, A&M took an early
6-1 lead, but the Wildcats outscored
A&M 4-0 to tie the game at 11. After
exchanging sideouts, junior outside
hitter Cindy VanderWoude served
one of A&M’s season-high 11 aces,
and Sykora sealed the deal three
points later with a kill to give A&M a
15-13 win.
In the second game, the Lady Ag
gies outhit the Wildcats .333 to .034
and reeled off seven points before the
Wildcats could score. A&M led 7-2 be
fore going on an 8-0 run to win the
match 15-2.
A&M had to overcome a 12-5
deficit in the third game to pull off
the sweep. With KSU ahead 13-6, the
Lady Aggies scored two consecutive
points on kills by junior Kristie Smed
srud and VanderWoude. Smedsrud
later clinched the match with a game
winning kill.
The Aggies will hit the road Nov. 1 for
a road trip to Iowa State Friday and Mis
souri Saturday Nov. 2.
Pat James, The Battalion
Sophomore Stacy Sykora kills the ball
over Kansas defenders on Sunday.