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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 8, 1998)
he Battalion Sports Page 7 • Thursday, October 8, 1998 Sweet Relief Lechler excels at punting IcCown finds taking over starting role this season easier than last BY ROBERT HOLLIER The Battalion nyone who has experienced deja' vu before can relate to the situation that junior quarterback Randy Mc- wn found himself in this season. In 1997, McCown was the backup to nndon Stewart. In the second half of Aggies’ game against Kansas State, Cown entered the game and helped |ark a sputtering offense. The next week, he was awarded the rting job for the Aggies’ road game hinst Texas Tech. The Aggies lost both those games. This season, little has changed for Mc- vn and the Aggies. In A&M’s game inst North Texas, McCown was called uty late in the second quarter to help itea sputtering Aggie offense. The Aggies won the game 28-7, and next week, McCown was named starter for the Aggies’ road game inst Kansas. , -Fortunately for McCown and the 1 fGradfff' 6 ^ 00t ^ a ^ team, this is where planarities stop. ’"Last year, against Tech, Mc- jwn never got into rhythm had a crucial fumble |A&M’s 16-13 loss. This year, Mc- Iwn led his which d rns from] ew style is track of! ■veil as! > too eah Hollywoo from U Lioelk ■1. rersanin sy.yeti* yCorganl iting stylef th thetiJ team to a fourth-quarter comeback in the 24-21 win over KAnsas. With 8:44 left in the game, McCown drove the Aggies 75 yards for the win ning score. In the drive, McCown completed both of his passes for 26 yards and rushed the ball for 24 yards. “I think in the Kansas game, everything 7/S BRANDON BOLLOM/ I'm: BATTALION came together,” McCown said. “It all starts with the offensive line, and the blocking was great. The receivers made some big catches and the backs did a great job running the ball. “That last drive was definitely a step ping stone for the offense, but we’ll have to be more balanced.” On the year, McCown has complet ed 62.2 percent (23-37) of his passes for 280 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions. With the Aggies’ highly anticipated showdown with No. 2 Nebraska Satur day, McCown will lead the Aggie offense and he knows a lot of the pressure will be on him. “This is definitely the biggest start of my career,” he said. “You get fired up and excited to play. You can’t help but look forward to it. You always want to see how well you can do against a team like that. ” Offensive coordinator Steve Kragth- orpe said McCown has done a good job of stepping up on the field and be lieves he can lead his team to victory against any team when the offense plays to its capability. “In our game against Kansas, we dropped some big third-down passes that could have helped Randy to stay in rhythm,” Kragthorpe said. “He was 9-18 against them, but he could have easily been 13-18 because four balls that could have been caught were dropped. “On the whole, I think Randy does a good job running the offense. He has a good command of what our offense is trying to do. We’re very excited about his performances so far and his maturing process.” Kragthorpe also pointed out that Mc Cown brings an added dimension to the offense with his speed and mobility. see McCown on Page 8. BY AARON COHAN The Battalion S witching positions in any sport is a dif ficult transition. When Shane Lechler came to Texas A&M University as a standout quarterback, he was listed as third string. Three years later, Lechler has become one of the nations best punters. “When I came out of high school, I wanted to play the quarterback position only,” Lechler said. More than anything, Lechler said he miss es the chance to play every down on the field. He was not only the starting quarter back for East Bernard High School, but also starting linebacker. It was his version of a high school Arena Football League player. “I miss not necessarily playing quar terback, but always getting to be in the game and play in almost every situation,” Lechler said. One of the best things that Lechler said he did was stop worrying if he would ever get a chance to play quarterback again. “Once I stopped playing the quarterback position and stopped worrying about it, my average went up five yards,” Lechler said. He has made a name for himself na tionally at A&M, breaking record after record. After his redshirt freshman season, Lechler took home Freshman All-Ameri can honors from The Sporting News. He also broke the single-game school record by averaging 54.7 yards in the Iowa State game in that same year. Last season during his sophomore cam paign, he earned All Big-12 honors and was a finalist for the Mosi Tatupu Award. see Lechler on Page 8. Nguyen makes more than tackles T he No. 18 Texas A&M Football Team came from behind to defeat the University of Kansas Jay- hawks 24-21 Saturday and improved its record to 4-1. The drive Junior quarterback Randy McCown, making his second-career start, drove A&M 83 yards for the winning touchdown with less than nine minutes left in the game. Kansas ap peared to have the momen tum on a David Winbush touchdown. However, McCown did his best John Elway im pression, scrambling for 24 total yards and completing two passes to get the Ag gies to the three-yard line. Junior running back Dante Hall took it from there, scoring his third touchdown of the game. Double-digit Dat? Senior linebacker Dat Nguyen has not had a dou ble-digit tackle day since he had 13 against Florida State. However, not all of Nguyen’s contributions come in the form of tack les. He had an interception on the first defensive play of the Kansas game and re covered a muffed punt in the third quarter. Both turnovers led to A&M scores. Nguyen was also named Big 12 Defen sive Player of the Week for his performance in the game. The Little “O,” Part II A&M is ranked last in the Big 12 and 97th in the country in total offense. The woes are so bad that A&M was inside Jayhawk territory on all four of its second-quarter posses sions, but failed to score on any of them. see Football on Page 8. ■ i::0 d > V I lansonh Animal* iforaF illp/ay^' lop at 9^ play at ft at Fit? 1 an, w p.m. play: oqe Win tickets to tke 24th Annual Texas Renaissance Festival. Register at your Pepsi Frito Lay display. Winners each week! PRICES, ITEMS & OFFERS EFFECTIVE AT YOUR BRYAN & COLLEGE STATION KROGER STORES (UNLESS OTHERWISE INDICATED) PEPSI 12 PK. 12 OZ. CANS $ I 99 I • Limit 4 per customer S I# 99 Shiner Bock 95 — mm >: Thanks Giveawa 1 & MOlvt N r fostitos Tortilla Chips 14 Oz. Bag or Wavy Lay’s or Lays Potato Chips 13.25 Oz. Bag FAST CHECK-OUT! Deposit required on kegs. Kegs only sold at College Station Store. ■ IP | Miller Lite i2 P ic. 12 Corona 6 P k. i2 ozaS oz. cans OUR WAY OF SAYING “Thank You!” For every $30* you spend in one order, August 30 thru November 27, 1998, you receive one “THANK YOU” Point at the check-out. Up to three “THANK YOU” Points per order. Redeem your “THANK YOU” Point on any of the offers at right! SEE DETAILS AT STORE *Purchase to exclude alcohol, tobacco or any other product that can not be legally discounted. SPEND $ 30 = SPEND $60 = SPEND $90 = RECEIVE 1 Thank You Pt. 2 Thank You Pts. 3 Thank You Pts. 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