The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current, September 17, 1999, Image 7

Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page. It is also available as plain text as well as XML.

    Sports
Page 7 • Friday, September 17, 1999
Eoning out the competition
completion of The Zone adds to already large
home field advantage for Texas A&M Football Team
GUY ROGERS/The Battalion
ig pitcherwhj|ie Zone” promises to make Kyle Field — where the Aggies have won their last 13 games — an even more
he film is tolAosing place for opponents to play. A&M boasts a home record of 49-4-1 during the 1990s.
ive as hepla;™ —
:he most inp
eer. Through
ks, he reflect!
□rs of his life
romance will
srey (Prestonj
5am Raimi (d
1m is literally
ection. Throui
echniquesan
given a suirea
erves to enk.-
story.
i excellent sen
id Preston sto
outstanding d«
ho easily coil;
i ken for his dt
am.
trong soundE
ing support^
an absolute®
ovie achieve®
'ame is pint mo
a spark andfK
’ii whensti
Hy lacknyiti
gly fufflote
nd alwsffir-
will refe'S
■■till has ®
?:A)
BY DOUG SHILLING
The Battalion
T — he Texas A&M Football Team absolutely loves
Kyle Field. Three-time NFL MVP Breft Farve has
called it the toughest place he has ever played.
’Hie Aggies have the fourth-best home record in all of
cbllege football (49-4-1) during the ’90s.
■ Coming into Saturday’s game against Tblsa Uni
versity, the Ags have a 22-game wining streak against
non-conference opponents and a 13-game overall win
ning streak at Kyle.
I In all reality, Kyle Field is the place opposing teams
go to lose. And if things were bad before, they are
about to get worse.
I Saturday’s game marks the debut of “The Zone”,
Itheendzone expansion on the north end of Kyle Field
I—and with it, many more screaming Aggie fans mak
ing life miserable for opponents.
I The opening is a long-anticipated event for the Ag-
^iesasconstruction has been going on for over a year,
Ready for the storm
No. 7 Aggies
host Golden
Hurricane
BY BETH MILLER
The Battalion
The Texas A&M Football Team
will face off against the Tulsa Uni
versity Golden Hurricane for the
eighth time in history Saturday at
7:30 p.m. as the Aggies play their
first home game of the 1999 season.
In the most recent of the seven
meetings between A&M and TUlsa,
the Aggies defeated the Golden
Hurricane, 52-9, in 1995.
A&M enters this weekend’s con
test after defeating Louisiana Tech
University in its season opener two
weekends ago, 37-17.
The Aggies’ game against
Louisiana Tech showcased an un
characteristically balanced A&M
offense, as the team racked up 252
yards passing and 219 on the
ground. Senior quarterback Randy
McCown completed 17 of 28 pass
es, throwing the best game of his
career so far. Sophomore receiver
Bethel Johnson gained 106 yards
on four passes and one touchdown
in an impressive collegiate debut.
McCown said the team used its
off week to review video tapes of
the Louisiana Tech game and prac
ticed avoiding errors it made con
cerning consistency, timing and
precision in the passing game.
McCown said although the team
had some polishing to do during
practice, he was impressed with
the success of the passing game
against Louisiana Tech.
“I, oyerall, was pretty pleased
[with our performance in the first
game]he said. “We came out and
completed 60 percent [of passes at
tempted] and didn’t have any inter-
resulting in decreased seating capacity and lack of fans
in the endzone.
Now, with the near-completion of the Zone, senior
running back Dante Hall said the team is looking for
ward to driving toward an actual crowd.
“We are very pumped,” Hall said. “This Zone thing
has been under construction for a while, so it’s going
to be exciting to go out there and know when we score
on that end we won’t be running to a bunch of ply
wood and tractors and stuff. We’ll actually have
screaming fans so it will be exciting.”
There will be no shortage of screaming fans for the
Aggies in the Zone. Only the first and second levels
will be open for Saturday’s game, adding an additional
9,200 seats. However, by the time the game against
Baylor University rolls around, everything but the lux
ury boxes will be open — adding 22,720 seats.
If the fans are not enough, opposing teams will also
be intimidated by the sheer magnitude of the Zone. It
see Zone on Page 8.
Junior running back D’Andre
Louisiana Tech University.
ceptions, and that’s basically what
you want to do when you are throw
ing the ball. But when we went
back and looked at the tape, we had
little things we could work on.”
A&M senior running back
Dante Hall said having an off week
at the beginning of the season
could hinder the team’s ability to
fall into a routine.
“It’s not good to play in a game
and have a week layoff because
you’re not practicing the same way
you would if you were preparing
for a game,” Hall said. “It’s harder
to keep a rhythm, and it is hard to
get a team motivated when you
don’t have a game. You’re just
practicing to be practicing. It’s like
GUY ROGERS/The Battalion
‘Tiki” Hardeman runs the ball against
- Matt Mcii
having two-a-days for two weeks,
then having a game, then going
right back where you started.”
The game against Louisiana
Tech served as a debut for the Ag
gies’ much-anticipated passing at
tack, and a talented A&M receiving
corps — including the newcomer
Johnson — did not disappoint.
McCown said Johnson is an as
set to the Aggies because he gives
the offense another option in the
passing game.
“[Having Johnson on the team]
just gives us another guy,” Mc
Cown said. “Before-he got here, we
just had Chris Taylor and Chris
see Football on Page 8.
*ry
03
'£V Wtl
RT OF
"Il|pTOulk|^nrtcl|,
fOUR TAILGATE HEADQUARTERS!
Country Style j Sirloin Steak
Ribs
ood with coupon only
| Good with coupon only
FEATURING CHOICE MEATS TO CUT
5 looking I
m!
(BRC) Cube
and are ^
1-8337
Rotisserie
Chicken
4 Flavors
Good with coupon only Good with coupon only
Party Trays
Fresh Yellow
Corn
• MEATS
• CHEESES
• FRUITS & VEGETABLES
Boar’s Head Brand
e4
CALL TODAY TO ORDER YOUR PARTY TRAY!
779-6278
3519 S. COLLEGE • 822-7209 PRODUCE DEPT. • 779-6278 MEAT & SEAFOOD DEPT.
MON. - SAT. 9 - 7 • SUN. 10 - 6
VISA
^ m
Coupons expire Sept. 21, 1999
•STUDENTS and FACULTY/STAFF
•PLUS GUESTS*
RIDE THE SHUTTLE
BUSES TO KYLE FIELD
The Texas A&M Athletic Department will be running
student shuttle buses to home football games again
this season! The buses will run on their normal
routes. Students and Faculty/Staff plus their guests
may ride FREE!! Just show your game ticket to board
the bus. The Student shuttle buses will start their
regular routes 2 hours before kickoff and depart
campus for 1 hour after the game is over.
RIDE THE STUDENT SHUTTLE BUS
TO HOME FOOTBALL GAMES