T A M II 0 The Battalion 9S •day • November 7, 1997 P O RTS e, irin and Bear it M not looking past Baylor By Jamie Burch Staff writer ^st-year Baylor coach Roberts said he was not ;$sed with the squad he itedin spring drills, lere’s a lack of speed and a [people to throw the ball, iiat'sjust where we are right ^adisgruntled Roberts said, egot to get a lot better.” laftera 1-6 start, includ- isses to Miami, Michigan tiebraska, Roberts said the i are possibly the worst Jinthe country. [last Saturday, Baylor beat Diversity of lexas, 23-21, for |battai '• time since 1992. The jryae'Bear" faithful stormed | rC l Si :eld and ripped down the Mstsin the south endzone. 5 'W Baylor, a team once . jto go winless in confer- '"^play, has opposing head T .^‘ es worried about a pro- [ tlve :on the rise. aas A&M coach R.C. ie said he is very con- orC :d about this weekend’s fcusl ;atKyle l ield. :3U say their record’s not )m ?;ood," Slocum said. “Well, | m aj :i eof the injuries that have ] ipered the Bears this season j ct d : ,;nee problems of herald- la litt;iiarterback Odell James. sis a versatile player, simi- td tlij Kansas State’s Michael itov% and Oklahoma State's keliJ Lindsay in that he is an elu- jtosai'unnerwith a powerful arm. ;mes, who was recruited by | just University of Nebraska as ' myFrazier’s heir, saw some ijii against the Longhorns. as RYAN ROGERS/The Battalion Junior running back D’Andre Hardeman runs against Texas Tech. Hardeman and the Aggies are wary of an up-and-coming Baylor team. And although the mstiness of be- fense in the country. ing shelved for the entire season was apparent, he now is available if four-year starter JeffWatson is unable to produce. Baylor’s leading rusher, Jerod Douglas, has been injury-prone throughout his career. But fresh man tailback Darrell Bush and sophomore tailback Elijah Burkins have stepped up to fill the void. Against the Longhorns, Bush and Burkins combined for 201 yards and a touchdown. “When you look at the backs and check the pedigrees of Jerod Douglas, Bush and Elijah, those guys together had about a million yards between them in high school,” Slocum said. “You won’t find a more heralded group of backs than those guys.” The Bears’ biggest weakness is rushing defense. Baylor ranks 110th out of 112 Division I-A schools versus the run. Texas running back Ricky Williams ran 31 times for 241 yards Sat urday, his fourth-straight 200- yard game. Overall, the Bears possess the 103rd-ranked de- However, A&M offensive coor dinator Steve Marshall said the Baylor defense still presents the Aggies with several problems. “They’re a big physical bunch,” Marshall said. “They play hard. They really got after Texas pretty good. They’re going to try and force you to be one-dimensional. They fly around, and it looks like they’re well-coached. They pride themselves in having a physical defense. We’ve got to go out and play very strong, very physical, and take it one play at a time.” The biggest obstacle for the Aggies will be putting last week’s thrilling overtime victory behind them and facing the challenge at hand. If the Aggies continue to dwell on past successes and Bay lor feeds off its biggest win in the Roberts Era, A&M may miss out on the fruits of a winning year. “We’re playing for a bowl game,” Marshall said. “We’re bowl- eligible if we win this game. If that doesn’t have any motivating factor, then we’re in a lot of trouble. This is a big, huge game for us. It’s a one- game season for us now.” Meyers rises to forefront in senior campaign for Aggies By Jason Whitcomb Staff writer T here were ten minutes left in the game, the Big 12 South title race was in jeopardy, there was wide spread panic in the stands and Oklahoma State players were so confident with their 15-point lead they proceeded to taunt the 12th man. Suddenly, the offense put together a scoring drive, and it was up to the Wrecking Crew to come up with a quick defensive hold. This was crunch time. This was the time when the strong would survive and the rest would be sent home, hoping for next time. This was the time when true leaders had to step up and make something happen, and that is exactly what senior outside linebacker Phillip Meyers did. “It was all about confidence at that point,” Meyers said. “Offense got the touchdown, and we knew it was up to us to go out and stop them. There was absolutely no doubt in my mind that we would do it, and with the offense rolling, I could just feel that we were going to win.” As it turned out, the Wrecking Crew did its job, and the Aggies came away with a huge overtime victory thanks in part to the senior lead- ^ | ership of players such as Meyers. “He is just tremendous,” linebackers coach Shawn Slocum said. “I like to call him ‘Steady Eddie,’ because he is al ways there when you need him. He is talented enough to play all of the linebacker positions and has actu ally done that at times when we have needed him to do so. “He chooses to lead by >. example. I remember jdM back in two-a-days when 3 | one of the younger guys had some extra running to do ,and instead of walking off the field with everybody else, Phillip went over and ran with him to lend some moral support and lead by example.’ Meyers grew up in Galveston and played for Ball High School, where his presence on the field attracted the atten tion of the A&M coaching staff. He comes from a close fam ily whose class and character impressed Head Coach R.C. Slocum when he visited them on a reemiting visit. Slocum was particularly impressed with the character exhibited by his mother, and there was no doubt to the coaching staff her personality rubbed off on her son. “We look back on things now and we are really excited that we got Philip on our team,” Shawn Slocum said. “He has grown so much mentally and as a person that we really wish we (had) redshirted him his freshman year so that we could have him for another year. He has been a solid individual, and his character and class shows everyday.” As for Meyers, there was almost no doubt in his mind A&M was the place for him. Not only did his ath leticism fit the Wrecking Crew style of linebacker, but he also was particularly impressed with the extra in centives A&M offered. “I was really excited about the tradition of the 12th Man, and academically, A&M speaks for itself,” Meyers said. “When we are on the field, we draw our energy from the 12th Man crowd. When we go to other stadiums, their fans start to lay down when their team is down. Here, our crowd keeps yelling, and it helps fire us up to get back into the game.” In his first two seasons, Meyers saw limited playing time, but when he did get on the field he was asked to play all four linebacker positions to benefit the team. He found a way to persevere through the confusion and eventually got his first start, at outside linebacker, in the middle of his junior year. Since then, he has not missed a game as a starter and has con tinued to improve and contribute to the swarming Wrecking Crew defense. “Starting my first game against Kansas State was my greatest day in football,” Meyers said. “I was so excited to be out there in front of the 12th Man.” As Meyers begins to face the end of his time here at A&M, he is looking forward to winning the next three games and going to the Big 12 Championship against Ne ll braska. He knows it is almost over, and he real izes how special it was to be part of the Aggie football tradition. “Being here was fun, and it was a big learning experience for me,” Meyers said. “This place taught me how to be a man and how to handle challenges within my life.” There is no doubt the Aggie coaching staff will miss Meyers’ experience and dedication. His leadership and thirst for im provement did nothing but benefit the team and served as a great influence on the younger players. Meyers also has had a lasting influence on Slocum, who could %§ not stop smiling each time he was asked to talk about him. Slocum said he firmly believes Meyers’ attitude will allow him to be tremendous success in life, as he was on the football field. “He is an absolute delight,” Slocum said. “I don’t know if I have ever coached a guy that has been more fun to coach. He always shows up to meetings, and when I ask him a question he is always ready to an swer it. If there is a question that another player doesn’t know, he is there to answer it for them. He really helps the other guys and is just a real joy to coach. No matter what he decides to do in life, he will be a success. “Throughout his career here, he has had to play four different positions and play under three different de fensive coordinators, and he has adjusted to every situ ation perfectly. He will be a success in life, that is just the kind of person he is.” The Battalion's 1997 Staff Picks tip) ie Match-Ups Chris Ferrell Paul Mitchell Jeremy FurticK Kristina Buffin Jamie Burch Matt Stephen Travis Mitchell Boudreau Dabney Margaux Harris Len Jeff Callaway Schmidt Jeff Webb Jason ^ wNtooni) Consensus gor@#21 Texas A&M (-21) Texas A&M Texas A&M Texas A&M Texas A&M Texas A&M Texas A&M Texas A&M Baylor Texas A&M Texas A&M Texas A&M Baylor Texas A&M Texas A&M: OSU momentum carries over itebraska (-28.5) @ Missouri Nebraska Nebraska Nebraska Missouri Missouri Nebraska Nebraska Nebraska Nebraska Nebraska Nebraska Nebraska Missouri Nebraska: Husker steamroller continues ■as@#n Kansas St. (-22.5) Kansas St. Kansas St. Kansas St. Kansas St. Kansas St. Kansas St. Kansas St. Kansas St. Kansas St. Kansas St. Kansas St. Kansas Kansas Kansas St.: KU can't wait for basketball 50SU (-5) @ Oklahoma OSU OSU OSU OSU OSU OSU OSU OSU OSU OSU OSU OSU OSU OSU: Tries to rebound against rival wTech @ Texas (PK) Texas Tech Texas Texas Tech Texas Texas Texas Texas Texas Texas Texas Texas Texas Tech Texas Tech Texas: Could still finish at .500 %ado (-20) @ Iowa St. Colorado Colorado Iowa St. Colorado Colorado Colorado Colorado Colorado Colorado Colorado Colorado Colorado Colorado Colorado: Almost as disappointing as UT .Michigan @ #2 Penn St. (-3) Michigan Penn St. Michigan Michigan Penn St. Penn St. Penn St. Michigan Penn St. Penn St. Penn St. Michigan Michigan Penn St.: Home field (big) advantage iJida St (-65) @ #5 N. Carolina Florida St. Florida St. N. Carolina N. Carolina Florida St. Florida St. Florida St. Florida St. Florida St. Florida St. Florida St. N. Carolina Florida St. Florida St.: UNC has never beat top 5 team JSo. Miss@#8 Tennessee (-18.5) Tennessee Tennessee Tennessee So. Miss So. Miss Tennessee Tennessee So. Miss Tennessee Tennessee Tennessee Tennessee So. Miss Tennessee: So. Miss drops out of top 25 ILSU (-6) @ Alabama LSU LSU LSU LSU LSU LSU LSU LSU LSU LSU LSU LSU LSU LSU: Tigers roll over Tide finals @ Cowboys (-8.5) Cardinals Cowboys Cowboys Cardinals Cowboys Cowboys Cowboys Cardinals Cowboys Cowboys Cowboys Cardinals Cardinals Cowboys: Playoff drive starts here Lefs® jaguars (-3.5) laguars Jaguars jaguars Jaguars jaguars Jaguars Jaguars Chiefs Jaguars Jaguars Jaguars Chiefs laguars laguars: Elvis has been carried off the field "Tour Weeks 24-22-2 22-24-2 29-17-2 22-24-2 25-21-2 25-21-2 20-26-2 22-24-2 23-23-2 27-19-2 21-25-2 26-20-2 26-20-2 Last Four Weeks: 312-286-26 flulative 58-47-3 52-53-3 57-48-3 52-53-3 52-53-3 53-52-3 55-50-3 51-54-3 50-55-3 27-19-2 33-37-2 48-57-3 53-52-3 Cumulative: 682-648-38 Integrated systems ^ PRE-RECRUITING November 12th from 7:00 to 9:00pm at .95 the College Station Hilton in the Mockingbird Room ON-CAMPUS INTERVIEWS November 13th & 14th .95 8:30am to 12pm & 1:00pm to 5:00pm each day 95 HARDWARE DESIGN OPPORTUNITIES .95 f Hardware Engineering Group at Inter-Tel is responsible for designing ad testing Inter- .95 line of communication systems. The hardware design group offers the opportunity to ■ PSftd use a wide variety of disciplines including digital, DSP, UP, and analog design skills. '.95 pel’s Hardware Engineering Group will provide you with a chance to be creative, learn AiHs and develop state-of-the-art circuits for our advanced communications systems. *t-Tel Firmware Opportunities . "'Tel is also looking for software engineers for its System Software group. The group ' **5 on embedded Operating Systems and the design and development of real-time soft- ' Platforms range from 8-bit microcontrollers like the Intel 8051 through Motorola’s ■^family and into the realm, of DSPs. Software languages range from assembly to C+ + , Ning on the application. You’ll be asked to write things like interrupt service routines, | ^re-specific interface modules, and memory management functions. General DSP- < Telephony applications ranging from simple conferencing, through DTMF receivers, to Wex voice encoding and compression also fall under the scope of the system software 'P' The ability to read hardware schematics will help as part of your responsibilities will He working with our hardware department all the way from the design phase through tion, with most of the time spent on systems design issues dealing with performance "d-time requirements. 'Tel Software Opportunities riel's Software Design Group offers many exciting opportunities to develop products ! at the forefront of the telephony communications market. For 26 years Inter-Tel has 1*standard in full featured, productivity enhancing, business communications tools and fV looked to as an industry leader in the PC based PBX market. This technology cre- j^need for skilled software engineers who excel in C++, Visual C++, Visual Basic and paws programming. Qualified individuals will enjoy a fast paced career working on a JT'of applications such as CTI (Computer Telephony Integration), voice processing and iAver IP. m- m. ^ This weekend at the Texas Hall of Fame DOORS OPEN 8. DANCE 9-1. are ituMted attettet t&e s4 (tea* (Zttncatiew T at ro.oo Os.VPt'. SatuncOzy, Z 'ZteUtecC 'WCet&frdoit (Z&ukc/I T^asttrw 4? 7 TttUven&ity (Snten,