, Seplec s PORTS Page 13 « Thursday, September 30, i 999 ech RB Williams out for season Seattle en's Cr: two S(K' edition: Region; ntry cc: the tea- on ttie strong: there. he sa: nprove~ rking hi en." ie Ai' to it's .as se- i was - 12 Crc; Week. Leigh ft ner of hi ime in '■ p at 2:. this *';■ ifeld. ider of : that i' r : kouts,' ■ iy hare - he's re; n.” ; Crose No 6 J " Se 1kT^^ i :.U" e e^me?^o r rn a k! < Xi?e return and.ea d s “ ‘'ten S^iX^will being doing it all again i Kins Sunday when Dallas plays Arizona, ifeut it remains to be seen whether Sanders can * his All-Pro best five months after toe surgery me} nine months since his last meaningful game. BbbOCK, (AP) — Ricky /illilms, the key to the Texas Tech ffeifse, aggravated a knee sprain ^■g practice ■s out for the ;st Qt the season. Hch doctors lid yesterday that jrglry would be ■uled later ■week. Team ^Hnnel would ot pay whether ^Bprain of his Kee will end his career „ B a nd it«n be taken away m i'Kam It breaks my heart to see Uthing like that happen to good Tch officials said Williams will Kith the media at 2:30p.m. to- a Wi,Uanis* S absence^leaves .he ed Raiders, aiready floundenng ftei last weekend s 21-14 loss North Texas, in disarray. It also dims Williams’ chances of break ing the NCAA Division I-A rushing record set by Texas Ricky Williams last year. Williams had played every game at Tech (1-2) the past two seasons, rushing for 1,582 yards and 13 touchdowns last year. The school had set up a Website to chart his progress this season called “Heis- man Chase.” “We couldn’t have more hope or optimism about a player and his po tential,” Dykes said. Williams had missed the team’s last two games after injuring the knee in the opener against Arizona State, and Dykes had listed the run ning back as a “maybe” for Satur day’s game against No. 5 Texas A&M. During practice Thesday, Williams aggravated the injury while running in a no-contact exercise. “He just faltered and went down,” said tight end Kyle Allamon, who saw a tape of the practice. "There wasn’t any hit or contact — He just put too much pressure on the knee. ” “We are just going to have play harder,” offensive lineman Curtis Lowery said. “We can’t get too up set about losing one person. He isn’t the whole team, he’s just a good part of it. If we just go out there and give up, then we might as well not go out there at all.” The decision to put Williams back on the field seems to have been prompted by Williams’ own com petitive spirit. James Easterling, one of Williams’ backups, said that Williams was itching to get on the field for the last several days. “Ricky Williams is not a quitter,” Easterling said. “He wanted to get back out there as soon as possible and the coaches liked that. But sometimes you just have to sit out until you’re completely 100 percent well. With a knee injury,.you can’t try to come back too soon.” Players did not want to criticize coaches or players for putting the Rui ning back on the field during practice. “Ricky knows Ricky,” Allamon said. “He knows his limits and knows what he can do. It was main ly his decision, and you can’t really second guess yourself.” Now Tech will have to replace a crucial part of its offense, which was built almost entirely around Williams. “It’s probably going to be like we’ve done it in the past,” running back coach Jack Tayrien said. “We’ll play it by committee and go with the hot hand.” The committee will consist of Shaud Williams, a freshman who has posted 210 yards since Williams’ injury, and Easterling, who has 198 yards rushing. Also helping will be Ricky Hunter, who has 71 yards rushing this season. Tech’s prospects for this weekend don’t look good. A&M has the nation’s top-ranked defense and allowed just 68 yards and one touchdown against Louisiana Tech, Tulsa and Southern Mississippi. Tech must also contend with No. 15 Texas and No. 23 Okla homa this season. December Graduates Official Texas A&M Graduation Announcements On Sale Aug. 31 - Oct. 1, 1999 For information and to place your order access the Web at: http://graduation, tamu.edu All orders must be placed over the Web All payments must be received by October 1 MSC Box Office Mon-Fri 11:00 a-m. - 5 p.m. 845-1234 These men can’t help you, but Gig ‘Em Notes can! See How Top Students Make the GRADE Prime Time 5 returns to lineup for Cowboys inkin|l and ers hopes Cardinals quarterback Jake ,Vom: flui imer is willing to find out the haid way. to. laying before the Lord saying, ‘Lord, inked No.)l% lse let Jake throw this ball to me, because agarin ’v|got a new holy ghost dance 1 m going to give ed vesK guys out there on that field,’ ’ Sanders said. ;re p re J|>anders sprained his left big toe early in a ■v. 15 game in Arizona. He missed five games, ie starteip returned for a Jan. 2 playoff game also ;e ffn/swinst the Cardinals. and Me .BSanders played in the Pro Bowl, then hoped /Vfahe pain would go away in the offseason. It did- n|t, so he underwent surgery in April. He began fcV'sjWw (ipracticing earlier this month and finally feels at ready logo. Stoota [here’s always a highlight waiting to happen la JoraVhen Sanders is on the field. He’s one of the s j sr8 Tand/‘ul of guys around the league you can’t > indivic eshman d No.ii an king;, urn to indon M arest, compel' line L2 in Li take your eyes off because he’s capable of do ing something exciting on any play. And Sanders loves to entertain, whether it’s taunting opponents by holding out the ball, high-stepping down the sidelines or doing one of his victory dances. As much as Sanders’ antics annoy oppo- ‘Tve got a new holy ghost dance Vm going to give you guys out there on the field” - DEION SANDERS DALLAS CORNERBACK nents, his ability can hurt even more. He had five interceptions last year, his most in four years. That’s even more impressive con sidering he only played nine full games and teams usually tried to avoid throwing to his side. “Do you think they just woke up in the morning and said, ‘well, we ain’t going to throw at Deion?’ No, no. It got that way for a reason,” he said. Sanders also led the NFL last season with an average of 15.6 yards per punt return. Sanders took six kicks at least 30 yards, reaching the end zone twice. “Even if I’m not tested on defense, they have to punt,” Sanders aid. Safety George Teague said he expects teams to make Sanders prove he’s 100 percent healthy. “Everybody is going to want to know how well his toe is,” Teague said. “1 think the first time he goes out there and snags one of those outs or double moves or whatever they try to give him, then they’ll all be back to the reality that it’s the same old Deion.” Although the Cowboys are 2-0 without Sanders, their secondary has allowed an NFL- worst 304 yards passing per game. Kevin Math is and Charlie Williams have given up 11 plays of 20 yards or more, including touchdowns of 41, 45 and 50 yards. Dallas did not change its scheme to com pensate for Sanders’ absence, which may have been part of the problem. 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