1997
hursday • September 25, 1997
S The Battalion
PORTS
Return to Glory
he pro.
wnior Crowley does not want to let A&M football decline on his watch
) may lx
ted into
rary.
DAVE HOUSE/The Battalion
jnior defensive end Brad Crowley sacks Sam Houston quarterback
tad Shramek during A&M’s 59-6 victory over the Bearkats.
By Jamie Burch
Stajf writer
I n the fall of 1993, the Texas A&M Football Team
was coming off three consecutive Cotton Bowl
appearances. The Aggies were also in the midst
of a 26-game Southwest Conference winning streak,
and Brad Crowley was a freshman.
But since that prosperous year, the Aggies’ for
tunes have taken a turn for the worse. Probation kept
the Aggies from a bowl appearance in 1994, even
though they had the best record in the SWC. In 1995,
the Aggies finished with a 9-3 record. Last year, A&M
fell to a miserable 6-6 record, including a 51-15
drenching by the Longhorns.
But if Crowley has anything to say about it, A&M
will reverse their fortunes this season.
“A lot of the older guys were real good friends of
mine,” Crowley said. “I’m partially getting the blame
for last year. I don’t want it being on my conscious
leaving here with the program in shambles. I want
to do my best to make A&M a better team.”
And that is what Crowley has done since day one.
As a freshman, he made the transition from a line
backer to the defensive line. By doing so, Crowley
played behind current NFL prospects Sam Adams,
Eric England, and Brandon Mitchell during his last
three years.
Defensive line coach Bill Johnson said under his
former teammates tutelage, Crowley has developed
into an excellent defensive lineman.
“He’s done a great job of transcending from a
linebacker to defensive lineman,” Johnson said.
“But that’s not uncommon. We had a kid here
named Larry Jackson that did it prior to Brad.
“He’s starting now, and even though he hasn’t al
ways done that, he’s given us a lot of quality downs
over the last three years. He’s just developed and his
time has come to lead the charge.”
Starting at defensive end this season, Crowley
has amassed eight tackles, including two for a loss
and one sack. But even this quality start has not sat
isfied Crowley.
“I had some high expectations for myself and I
haven’t reached them yet,” Crowley said with an ob
vious hint of disappointment in his bellowing voice.
“I hadn’t been making a lot of the big plays I thought
I would be making.
“You lay in bed at night before two-a-days just
thinking, ‘oh, I’m going to wreck shop this year.’ And
it just hasn’t happened.”
But regardless of how Crowley feels about his
own performance, the bottom line is wins and loss
es. And the Aggies have posted,back-to-back wins
with a wide margin of victory to start the season.
Crowley said the 2-0 start is a good feeling.
“Since I started playing football through ju
nior high and high school, I played in a real good
program and we won a lot of games,” Crowley
said. “I’m used to winning. Last year really hurt
me. It’s the first time I really ever experienced
losing that bad.
“It makes you appreciate a win now.”
Those early wins are hopeful signs of what is
to come, a foreshadowing of a return to 1993.
And if the team listens to the wisdom of the Ag
gie veteran, the team should be able to learn
from its previous mistakes.
Please see Crowley on Page 10.
he wish-
ie buried
a on to
nains of
Iggies hit the road to take on upset minded UNT
r he Texas A&M Football Team hits
the road for the first time this sea
son to take on the University of
orthTexas Mean Green. North Texas is
coming off of a huge upset win over
Texas Tech and are looking to play the
role of spoiler once again.
Hit the road Jack
With a majority of A&M’s roster com
posed of freshmen and sophomores, the
team does not have a lot of experience
traveling to large stadiums. This week
A&M will play at Texas Stadium outside of
Dallas. Coach R.C. Slocum wants to make
sure his team is not in awe of the building
which is said to have a hole in the roof so
that God can watch the Cowboys play.
He said that on Friday the Aggies will
go check the stadium out so that the
players can get the “gollies” out of their
systems, something he rarely does.
“We’re going on the road for the first
time and that will add something to it,”
Slocum said. “This team is young and re
ally hasn’t traveled much.”
One player who has been on the field
before is junior quarterback Branndon
Stewart whose Stephenville High School
team was involved in a playoff game at
Texas Stadium his freshman year.
Look whose No.l
Sure the Aggies haven’t been playing
the toughest competition around, but
they are among the NCAA’s Top 10 in
nine different statistical categories.
The Wrecking Crew is once again es
tablishing itself as one of the nation’s
top defensive unit. The Aggie D leads
the country in scoring defense and is
ranked No. 6 overall.
While the the defensive success is not
much of a surprise, the Aggie offense has
been. Used more as a punch-line to jokes
than in conversations about college foot
ball’s most potent scoring threats in the
past, the Aggie offense enters the week as
the fourth ranked unit in the nation. A&M
is also No. 1 in the country in scoring of
fense, averaging 62.5 points per game.
The Aggies also lead the nation in
turnover margin, averaging +4 turnovers
per game.
Please see Ferrell on Page 8.
Women Golfers set to
battle top-ranked field
By Jason Whitcomb
Staff writer
The No. 12-ranked Texas A&M women’s golf
team will enter the Dick McGuire Invitational this'
weekend as one of the favorites.
The Aggies are the second-highest ranked
team in the 18-team field that features No. 9-
ranked UCLA, No. 14 New Mexico, No. 18 TCU,
No. 20 Texas and No. 25 Oklahoma State.
“This tournament has a strong field,” Coach
Jeanne Sutherland said in a press release. “And
with six other Big 12 teams competing, it will give
us a good early look at our conference competi
tion going into the Big 12 Preview (October 6-7).”
A&M is coming off a successful trip to the
Rolex Fall Preview two weeks ago, where they
finished eighth against a field that included 15
teams ranked in the preseason top 25. The Ags
will be looking at this tournament to improve
on any inconsistencies in their game.
“Realistically, we have shot at finishing in the
top three,” Sutherland said. “We’re going there to
win but we also want to work on certain things,
especially our course management skills. It’s a
good course for us to play because it makes you
think about all aspects of your game.”
The Aggies will be led by one of the hottest
players in country, Senior Isabelle Rosberg, who
is the highest rated individual player in the
tournament. She moved into eighth place in
the individual rankings after finishing tied for
sixth at the Fall Preview. Rosberg, along with se
nior Jamie Hullet, was also recently named to
the third-team Preseason All-American Team.
Seasoned veterans Rosberg and Hullet will
lead A&M’s lineup which also consists of senior
Aurora Kirchner, sophomore Anna Becker and
freshman Mimi Epps. Freshman Amanda Ray
ford will also be competing in the tournament
as an individual.
“I think our team realizes that it can play as
well as anyone,” Sutherland said. “We just have
to have to be more consistent and be ready to
play every day. Our older players are not intimi
dated by anybody and if our younger ones can
gain that mindset, we’ll be ready.”
Volleyball drop five set
heartbreaker to Texas
The twelfth-ranked Texas A&M Volleyball
Team lost to the tenth-ranked University ofTexas
in five sets Wednesday night at the Frank Erwin
Center in Austin.
Texas rallied to win the last two sets and won
the match 7-15, 16-14, 8-15,15-12, 15-12.
The loss breaks A&M’s seven game winning
streak. The Aggies fall to 7-3 (0-1) on the season.
The Longhorns improve to 6-3 (1-0).
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