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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 26, 1997)
per 26 The Battalion !™' s ' Wednesday • November 26, 1997 U*onj| r reac hed I f 09 feet I Iexas A^'i f eet wide, Were allm ofBonfij j u ' midni l Jtl)a llganit ln gforne bottom o [to bu^ ,lb ers of ij Iff creel tin l ll fpnient k n days,a k the pi [lege StatK 1994, A&: |( enter upavidf hdjaeni: pd's, an over tli hidition hi I donotha;- a traditic: 1997 hea; ^ricultura le traditi' lof the A RTS li^hi 1( J'n hew® lind satis- Itliesnnii Iforce for 1. "It gives rtunityto pie they vise, and Dal." [d on jurninga “I thitil on the i notice- latch the l&M, Texas ready to rumble in long-standing rivalry ve at the to a.E need ot JW NOTEBOOK Ljf i W J Chris Ferrell Sports editor Me: To get the full effect of this beginning must read it in a Michael Buffer (world Mnd boxing ring announcer) voice. r he following game is scheduled for four quarters and is sanctioned un der the rules of the National Colle ge Athletic Association. Hrst the challenger. Fighting out of the east sideline in 'he uniforms with burnt orange trim, they come into the game 4-7 on the sea son, with a couple of big losses, all by knockout. They are the defending Big 12 champions of the world, from Austin — the Texas Lonnnnnnghorns. And their opponent, from College Sta tion, Texas. They are the current Big 12 South champions of the world. They come into the game 8-2 on the year, wearing maroon jerseys with white trim — the Texas A&M Aggggggggies. And now from Kyle Field in College Station, Texas. Leeeeeeeeeeettttts get ready to rummmmmmmmmmmble. (End Buffer Voice) It is more than a football game. In the state of Texas, it is everything. Sure you’ve got Texas Tech, SMU, Rice and Baylor and several other schools but when it really boils down to it, there are Aggies and there are Longhorns. And they don’t like each other. “You come here for these types of games,” junior linebacker Dat Nguyen said. “It’s one of those games where you can come in 0-10 and if you win the game your season’s resurrected.” Texas will come to Kyle Field looking to resunect a season which has not gone any where near what was expected. The presea son pick to win the Big 12 South and possi bly challenge for a national tide, the Longhorn’s season has gone horribly wrong, falling to 4-7 and out of bowl consideration. John Mackovic by all reports will be coaching his last game for Texas. Ricky Williams, their All-America running back is headed to the NFL and James Brown is grad uating. Nothing would help put a sparkle on a dull season in Austin than a third consecu tive win over their cross state rivals. The Aggies have more motivation than usual as well. Texas has won the last two games including last seasons 51-15 romp in Austin, a game in which coach R.C. Slocum said his team looked “inept” in the second half. But honesdy, you can throw all that out the window. This is A&M-Texas, enough said. AS BIG AS IT GETS. One of the things that makes this game so special is the fact that many of the play ers from each side have grown up com peting or playing with each other. “You know most of their guys,” junior quarterback Branndon Stewart said. “You played against some of them in high school or played with them in All-Star games.” Offensive coordinator Steve Marshall said that last week when he gave his offen sive lineman the scouting report, they knew more about the Texas players than Marshall, who is in his first year at A&M after coming over from UCLA, did. “It gets to the very basic element of foot ball here in the state of Texas,” Slocum said. “When you play in a backyard game its the pride of you against the guy you live next door to. When you get to high school its you against the cross town rival. When you move up its the big interstate rival. It just doesn’t get any better in terms of motiva tion.” Rig 12 Part II offered plenty ff excitement notebook Jamie Burch staff writer i Tear two in the Big 12 provid- y ed collegiate gridiron fans with plenty of excitement, ^mple 1: Texas’ worst defeat in 'ahistory, a 66-3 demoralizing ls sat the hands of the Cinderella ; am of the year, UCLA. Example 2: The double-over- he game between Missouri and 'klahoma State in which Cowboy “ach Bob Simmons opted to go •'the win and the two-point con- e tsion. Quarterback Tony Lindsay Estopped short of the end zone, W Missouri won 51-50. And one of the most exciting "ishes in NCAA history, a game taady replayed on ESPN’s Classic Ports Network, featuring ‘The atch.’ Nebraska edged out Mis- 'Uri 45-38 in a showdown with Missouri’s quarterback, Corby "les. With seven seconds remain- g, Nebraska wideout ShevinWig- Os kicked the same pass he opped into the air on his way to le turf and into the hands of "sker receiver Matt Davison. Cyclones Earn Frequent Flyer Mileage The secret ingredient to Iowa at e’s less than potent offensive attack is not the ground game. Try ing to replace last season’s Heis- man Trophy candidate Troy Davis, the Cyclones have been anything but impressive on the ground. In last week’s 28-3 loss to No. 9 Kansas State, Iowa State posted zero rushing yards compared to the Wildcats 284. Now in all fairness, Darren Davis, the younger brother of the favorite son of Ames, Iowa, rushed 28 times for 66 yards to gain over 1,000 yards on the season. But the Cyclones owe what little success they’ve experienced to their aerial assault. In a conference that is better know for its powerful ground game, the Cyclones have thrown the ball 386 times, com pleting 184 passes for 2,551 yards, placing Iowa State at No. 36 in the nation in passing offense. Salt In The Wound Adding insult to injury, Baylor’s heralded running back, Jerrod Douglas, was injured on the final carry of his collegiate career in the Bears’ 24-14 loss to Oklahoma State on Saturday. In yet another of a season-long line of demoral izing losses, Douglas suffered a separated shoulder on his final run. The star tailback rushed nine times for 49 yards, pushing his season total to 693 yards. Despite the disappointing end to his ca reer, Douglas finished an impres sive four-year career as Baylor’s second all-time leading rusher, behind Walter Abercrombie (3,665), with 2,947 yards. Please see Burch on Page 8. VV'D ® ■ Heisman talk The Heisman debate has pretty much cen tered around two players, Tennessee’s Peyton Manning and Michigan’s Charles Woodson. Tuesday, the debate was no different as Stewart and sophomore running back Dante Hall argued over their candidates. Stewart who played with Manning as a freshman at Tennessee said that he would give the award to his former team mate. Hearing this, Hall said he would vote for Woodson because of his all-around ability. “Do you know how hard it is to return a punt?” Hall asked. Stewart defend Manning, saying he was the best player in college football and had been among the best for his entire ca reer. He also said he would probably talk to Manning after the Big 12 title game. Chris Ferrell is a sophomore journalism major Ags ready to close with win i l RYAN ROGERS/The Battalion A&M sophomore cornerback Jason Webster creatively leaps over Sam Houston’s ball carrier in the first game of 1997 the season. The Aggies close out their season against rival Texas Friday at 10 a.m. at Kyle Field. Cornerback Webster quietly leaping into A&M secondary By Jeff Webb Staff writer H e was a high school All-America running back. He was the special teams most valuable player last year. He is A&M sophomore cornerback Jason Webster, and most ask, “Where did this guy come from?” That is understandable. Webster is the quietest guy on a secondary that does not make many statements besides on the field. And despite his diminutive 5-foot, 10-inch stature, Webster shares the team lead in pass break-ups with six and doesn’t back down from anyone — especially receivers. “A receiver is a receiver whether he is taller or shorter,” Webster said. “I use my technique to guard them all the same way. I have to be more aggressive with a large receiver, but I try to be as aggressive as I can, always.” That aggressiveness is something defensive backs coach Larry Slade said favorably compares him to a former Aggie cornerback who now starts for the New York Jets. “When you look at Ray Mickens, he was a 5-foot 8-inch bulldog,” Slade said. “He was a tough guy, and Jason Webster is in that mold. He won’t back down from anyone.” Webster began his football career at running back in the Willowridge High School program, but was re cruited by Slade to play cornerback at A&M. “In high school, running back was ‘the position,’ and I never thought about being a corner,” Webster said. “I was recruited as running back, but I opened up other options. I wanted to contribute early, so I came in at defensive back.” Slade emphasized that on the college level, coaches like to put the best athletes in their best positions. Please see Webster on Page 10. By Len Calloway StaffWriter Campus feels different this week, and the air definitely feels different. It’s obvious that it’s time for the Texas A&M Football Team to face its arch rival from “that other school” — the mighty Longhorns. A victory against Texas could do well for the Ags’ state of mind before facing Nebraska in the Big 12 Championship on Dec. 6. Revenge. Revenge. Revenge. Last year the Aggies took a beat ing from the Horns 51-15, but the Aggies believe and are confident that they will prevail this year. As senior lineman Steve McKin ney noted Tuesday, “We’re in the po sition that if we lost to Texas it would hurt our season and I would be very upset, but it wouldn’t ruin our sea son —we’ve had a good season, and it is going to be fun no matter what happens — all in all, we feel pretty confident.” A couple of questions later, McK inney was reminded that Texas could be trying to save its season by beating A&M and agreed but he added, “That’s not going to happen, our team is ready to play, it’s the same as last year only the roles are reversed. We want to win the divi sion outright — we don’t want to share the trophy with anyone,that’s no fun. We already know were going to the championship, but we can’t take Texas for granted. We have to play just as hard against Texas as we have played all year.” Most of the players acknowl edged the rivalry aspect, but denied a bitter hatred for the Longhorns. Please see Aggies on Page 8.