nday • November 1i
tienl
The Battalion
Page 7
Monday • November 18, 1996
Institute of Pharim
es at the Universityo
Tom there, the mari
•d by airplane to
here the cigarettes a
; ired-up Aggies send message to Blake, Oklahoma, 33-16
Ags’ 2nd-half surge downs Sooners
By Tom Day
The Battalion
ruble
lars
chine, packed inci
ivered to medical cei
it patients to pickup.
entire operation cos: As Aggie wideout Albert Con-
10 a year. ;11 dove for a 31-yard touch-
i tiny — but thorniiwn grab with 2:24 remaining in
various agencies ir tui day’s game, the 66,161 fans
A, which adminis. esent at Kyle Field may have
m, and its parent,liald a big thud. And it wasn’t the
nt of Health and Arsons Mounted Cavalry firing
s; the National Ins: e lannon.
Duse, which acts as- It may have been University of
Drug Enforcemen klphoma Head Coach John
nust approve the ^ rake’s jaw dropping to the
ed substance. ound as the Texas A&M Football
Ha converted the unlikely pass
lay to cap off a 33-16 victory
/enthe Sooners.
Jlready up by 10 points and
eemingly content with running
net f 'I Jt F* ie by keeping the ball
yb Taillih the ground, A&M Head Coach
.C. Slocum went for the knock-
s ’96 as "a striking ut punch and called for the pass
)r a healthy spac N to Connell,
you can’t keep flai ®ie play was an interesting excla-
latlon point in the wake of corn-
left the ground, F len,s supposedly uttered by Blake
t could be Russii^OFt the A&M team earlier in the
eeable future. ee k' and also followed a heated ex-
ister rockets. The’^fg 6 between the two coaches
cientists on the p tiring pregame warm-ups.
ters last week. “I was complimentary all week
ssian space officia 1 t^Y comments about the Okla-
Id showcase their oma team and coaching staff,”
ting-edge proiec;l ocum sa id- “I said 1 thought their
he painful (imiurW 7 was much like ours in that
rogram. le Y started with some struggles,
;e compound ou nd as the Y ear has g° ne on ' their
lary hailed the"rr an ' bas progressed and has got-
eping Mir in orbi; :n better and I think they’re doing
eb. 20, 1986. n excellent coaching job.”
celebrated the 354 However, Blake was reportedly
made Yuri Gaga: uc, tcd as saying Slocum’s descrip-
h on of the Sooners was to “protect
le the proof that prirnself) in case something hap
Pat James, The Battauon
A&M safety Toya Jones blocks an Oklahoma punt in the first quarter of the Aggies' 33-16 victory.
:e space programi
nnovative feature
ite the evolutiono:
urface and the in
ienlists say there
ens,” and that the Aggies were
tore talented, but did not play as
ard as the Sooners for 60 minutes.
Slocum said he was angered by
Blake’s statement concerning the
Aggies and the Texas Longhorns.
“There was some question
(posed by Blake) about whether
our teams played hard or that they
were underachievers and I take ex-
ception to that,” Slocum said.
“We’ve won a few games around
here, and I’m very proud of my
players. Coaches have enough
problems that they don’t need to
be taking shots at each other.”
Although he would not say it
was a statement touchdown,
Slocum said Connell’s late score
was meant to show A&M was not
coasting home.
“They were going for it on
fourth down and were still trying
Stew Milne, The Battalion
&M linebacker Larry Walker fl takes down Oklahoma fullback
'wayne Chandler in fhe first quarter Saturday at Ky\e Field.
to make some plays,” Slocum
said. “I didn’t want it to look like
we were letting up in the fourth
quarter and not playing hard.”
Whatever was said between
Slocum and Blake on the field pri
or to the game, A&M outside line
backer Keith Mitchell said the al
tercation pumped up the team.
“Coach Slocum was really of
fended,” Mitchell said. “Coach
Slocum is a really laid back guy
and it was good to see him get in
coach (Blake’s) face like that. It
pumped me up personally and it
was something that got us started
and we came out ready to play.”
The fired-up Aggies jumped on
Oklahoma early. With winds gusting
up to 23 mph at their backs, the Ag
gies took advantage of great field
position in three instances to grab a
13-0 first-quarter lead.
A three-yard touchdown run
by sophomore tailback D’Andre
Hardeman and two chip-shot
field goals by junior place kicker
Kyle Bryant staked A&M to an
early advantage.
“We really wanted to focus on
coming out in the first half and
playing well like we did in the sec
ond half against Baylor (last week),”
A&M junior quarterback Branndon
Stewart said. “We scored early on
the first series and were able to put
some points on the board, but we
struggled until halftime.”
The Sooners took advantage of
the wind and the sputtering A&M of
fense in the second quarter to strike
back at the Aggies, putting 16 points
on the board to grab the lead.
However, the Aggies recharged
their batteries at halftime and
came out smoking in the second
half. The Wrecking Crew held the
Sooners to minus-one yard on 10
plays in the third quarter and the
A&M offense maintained posses
sion of the ball for over 20 min
utes in the second half.
A one-yard Hardeman touch
down run and two more Bryant
field goals put the Aggies up by 10
before Connell’s touchdown in
the closing minutes.
Hardeman finished the game
with 92 yards on 23 carries while
freshman Dante Hall carried nine
times for 47 yards.
Hall’s 18-yard run in the third
quarter put him over the 500-
yard rushing mark for the sea
son, as he joined Hardeman and
tailbacks Eric Bernard and Sirr
Parker as the only foursome in
school history to each reach the
500-yard barrier.
Hall also returned six Okla
homa punts for 102 yards.
Saturday’s contest also marked
the final Kyle Field appearance
for 11 A&M seniors.
“It was my last game here, and
having won the game, I wouldn’t
trade it for the world,” senior
guard Calvin Collins said.
Brandon Mitchell said up until
the final period, it was hard to
imagine it was his final home game.
“In the fourth quarter, I was
looking around at the faces in the
crowd,” Mitchell said. “I am really
going to miss playing ball here.”
By Sara Duesing
The Battalion
If anything can be concluded
following the Texas A&M Football
Team’s match-up with the Uni
versity of Oklahoma Saturday, it
would have to be that A&M has
simply dominated opponents re
cently — in the second half.
For the third straight week, A&M
found itself behind on the score-
board at halftime only to fight back
to gain victory late in the game.
As the Aggies rallied to defeat
the Sooners in the third and fourth
quarters in the face of winds up to
23 mph, A&M junior quarterback
Branndon Stewart said the team
was focusing on giving full effort
for the entire 60 minutes.
“We really did play the whole
game,” Stewart said. “We just didn’t
have some of the things go our way
early on. In the second half, we
played better and made some big
plays to keep up the momentum.”
After gaining only 80 total yards
in the first half, the Aggies im
proved in the second half, gaining
202 yards. The Wrecking Crew also
came through for A&M, holding
Oklahoma’s offense to just 34 yards
in the second half after a 221-yard
first-half showing.
A&M Head Coach R.C. Slocum
said A&M’s ability to move the
ball on offense and take time off
the clock in the second half
recharged the defense.
“It’s a part of football,” Slocum
said. “If you give them a little lead
to work with, most defenses do
play better. I thought we were in a
dangerous position, to be behind at
halftime and to be facing that stiff
wind in the third quarter. You’d like
to come out and take control early,
but it doesn’t always work that way.”
The Aggies’ sharp level of play
in the second half was in part
sparked by words of motivation
by seniors who were playing their
last game at Kyle Field.
Senior noseguard Edward
Jasper said the seniors really
wanted to finish with a win.
“Early in the game, it was just the
same mistakes that had been plagu
ing us all year,” Jasper said. “We had
a talk with all the seniors and we
said that since this is our last go
round, we couldn’t go out this way.
“In the second half, we came out,
fired up and ready to play, and we
knew we had to cut those mistakes.”
Oklahoma could only muster
one first down in the final 30 min
utes after recording 13 in the first
half as the A&M offense stepped
up for 20 second-half points.
“By the second half, we had a
feel for the game,” senior outside
linebacker Keith Mitchell said.
“We put a couple of blitzes togeth
er and really went after them.”
Sophomore tight end Daniel
Campbell said the Aggies’ famil
iarity with comebacks helped
them out again Saturday.
“It was a little frustrating to
come out that first quarter and
pound the ball like we hadn’t
done in a while, and in the sec
ond quarter have a little difficul
ty,” Campbell said. “But we’d
been in that situation before and
we knew we could come back
and win the ball game, and that’s
what we did.”
A&M 33, Oklahoma 16
OU 0
A&M 13
16 0 0
0 10 10
— 16
— 33
OU
A&M
First Downs
14
16
Rushes-yards
42-110
62-188
Passing yards
145
94
Comp-att-int
8-22-2
6-14-0
Return yards
26
102
Punts-avg.
8-39
8-37
Fumbles-lost
0-0
3-1
Penalties-yards 7-77
5-41
Time of possession 28:11
31:49
Stew Milne, The Battalion
A&M tailback Dante Hall slips past the reach of Oklahoma linebacker
Tyrell Peters Saturday. Hall rushed for 47 yards on nine carries.
fjUjgBig 12 South
icture
izan
(AP) — It was supposed to
come down to the post-Thanks-
giving Day duel between Texas
A&M and Texas. And it still might.
|| Texas claimed a share of first
ijace in the Big 12 South on Sat-
wday with a 38-17 victory over
Kansas. Meanwhile, Texas A&M
F »CODLE st ^ ed in the hunt by beating
t V" ■’^Oklahoma 33-16, knocking the
i So oners out of contention.
dStcBOnfl The A 8g* es ’ f ate is out °f their
liP nds next Saturday, though. A&M
U ^Jhpeds an Oklahoma upset over
PITS jO/^ Texas Tech to create a true title game
on Nov. 29 in Austin against Texas.
I A Tech victory leaves the Aggies
out in the Big 12 cold and keeps
Be Red Raiders alive. If Tech wins,
the cruel reality for the Aggies
Would be that the Red Raiders —
Be team that would have elimi-
A R D Rated them — would advance if
ft&M defeats hated rival Texas.
' . !ai 1 The Longhorns remain in the
■river’s seat through this idle
■eek: A win and they’re in.
. I “We took the hard road, but were
;here,” Texas guard Dan Neil said.
** ■ Baylor’s bowl hopes evaporated
hen Missouri outlasted the Bears
J9-42 in three overtimes. Baylor
(4-6, 1-6) collapsed in league play
fter starting 3-0 against weak in-
ffcrconference competition.
The Longhorns (6-4, 5-2) en
ured a bowl appearance with
leir win over fading Kansas, but
down to wire
their minds were on winning the
South, which they can do with
out help from anyone else.
As the weather turned
nasty in the second half, so
did the Longhorns.
“Our defense took total con
trol,” said Texas coach John
Mackovic of his team’s final two
quarters of shutout ball. “We
probably wore them down.”
The Longhorns still showed
their predictable vulnerability
against the run, allowing Kansas
star June Henley 209 yards and
two touchdowns. Usually, though,
they bent without breaking.
Down in College Station, Texas
A&M coach R.C. Slocum used as
inspiration some quotes from earli
er in the week by Sooners coach
John Blake, who seemed to indi
cate A&M had superior talent, even
though their records were similar.
The Aggies (6-5, 4-3), who
struggled to a 3-5 to start the
season, need a victory against
Texas to earn a bowl berth re
gardless of what happens in the
Texas Tech-Oklahoma game.
The Red Raiders routed
Southwestern Louisiana and
their 92nd-ranked defense
against the run, using Tech’s last
home game this season to show
case Hanspard, who became the
greatest rusher in school history.
Soccer: Season ends with whimper in NCAAs
Continued from Page 1
Senior forward Kristen Koop said
Suddes’ second goal gave the
Toreros the momentum they needed
to carry them into the second half.
“They got on us quick in the
second half, and were able to use
the momentum to their advan
tage,” Koop said. “We have come
back from being two goals down
before, but they took the game
right there. With sudden death in
the NCAA, there are no gimmies.”
Before the Aggies had time
to regroup in the second half,
USD senior midfielder Amy
Goaziou scored off a corner
kick at the 56:09 mark which
sparked a three-goal scoring
run for the Toreros.
The other two scores came within
four minutes of the first goal in the
second half courtesy of San Diego se
nior midfielder Michele Kennedy.
The first goal came off a shot
into the right side of the Aggie
goal that bounced off the foot of
A&M junior midfielder Sonia
Ibanez, and the other, which
marked USD’s fifth and final
goal, came at the 60:22 mark.
Guerrieri said that controlling and
passing the ball was limited by San
Diego’s defense.
“They were able to close our
passing lanes,
which made our
defenders hold
on to the ball too
long,” Guerrieri
said. “This gave
them a chance to
use their ball
controlling abili
ties to score.”
In the last 30
minutes of play,
the Aggies
scrambled to
keep the ball,
“The way it went
was hard, but
San Diego was
on today. It's sad
for our seniors.”
Bryn Blalack
Aggie forward
played well. Even with 10 minutes
left and the two-goal comeback, we
still thought we could win.”
Despite the hype of the
NCAA Championships, the loss
marked the end of collegiate
soccer competition for the se
niors on the team.
Guerrieri broke
down after the
match and said he
was not disappoint
ed for anything ex
cept for the seniors.
“Our seniors will
leave a legacy of not
quitting and giving
100 percent,” Guerri
eri said. "The legacy
they will leave is how
they finished. There is
Stew Milne, The Battalion
A&M senior forward Kristen Koop is taken down in the penalty
box Sunday afternoon while she was on a break away.
but were not able to make good
on a shot until Koop slid the ball
past San Diego senior goalkeep
er Allison Worden with five min
utes left in the game to pull the
Aggies within three.
Senior midfielder Allison
Buckley recorded A&M’s last goal
with less than three minutes left
in the game to end the scoring.
Buckley said after the two-
goal rally, the Aggies still felt they
could win the game.
“They capitalized on their oppor
tunities very well,” Buckley said. “We
had a couple of mistakes, but we
— no question that they
hp (i™..! gave nothing less
than 100 percent.
“For Allison (Buckley) to get
the last goal made an exclama
tion of that. That is the way she
has been her whole life.”
Overall, Blalack said the Ag
gies wanted to win and gave It
their all until the very end.
“The way it went was hard,
but San Diego was on today,”
Blalack said. “It’s sad for our se
niors, who were an unbeliev
able group of players on and off
the field. You can’t put it into
words just how much they will
be missed."