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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 8, 2000)
I Friday, September 8,2000 Friday, September 8, 2000 irrngs ice in N.M, ly members are not iden- mes were already public, s parents, who have not ; gone to court to regain as taken by the state Aug. !() pounds and was 31/2 ie for a variety of condi- it specify the cause of the : of their only child, al- iocial worker says Ana- .he uses a breathing ma ws a special diet and i on Page 5B. Service Ivaiiian l. Pope denies doing legal. has generated tension be nited States and Russia id he was questioned the; te's arrest in a room is al Russians were presai; erything we i doing was ’htfonvanV — Daniel H, Kiely iergy and power systems nsylvania State University 'ho does not speak Russ- conversed with theonb isent who spoke English, aid he was told that larges. Aggie running game ready for Cowboys By Jason Lincoln The Battalion The Texas A&M offensive backfield is loaded. This Sat urday will give the Aggies a chance to prove that against the Wyoming Cowboys, whose Achilles' heel appears to be running. The Aggie backfield trio — consisting of redshirt-fresh- man tailback Richard Whitaker, sophomore tailback Joe Weber and junior fullback Ja’Mar Toombs — is poised to jiiow the Cowboys what a ground game really is. Last week in Wyoming’s season opener against Auburn, the Cowboys allowed 177 yards rushing, in addition to 266 in the air. But the 177 ground yards could be big for the Aggies, who have struggled to break open its ground game. Last week against Notre Dame, the Aggies came away with 119 yards on the ground. The Irish limited both Toombs and Weber to a less-than-three yards-per-carry av erage, a significant drop-off from their norms last season. In the meantime, Whitaker made up the difference, run ning for 71 yards on only 13 carries. The Wyoming defense should allow any one of the Ag gies’ backs to break out at will. Each member of the trio will create a different challenge for the Cowboys. Richard Whitaker Against the Irish, Whitaker made a successful bid to be A&M’s top threat in the backfield. In his first performance on college turf, he succeeded where Toombs and Weber struggled. His 71 yards against a solid Notre Dame defense showed his speed and vision. Now, Whitaker gets to per form at Kyle Field without the first-game stigma. Joe Weber In the late part of 1999, Weber came up big, adding an other threat to the ground game. Saturday, his carries were limited when A&M began to fall behind later in the game. A&M went to the air in an effort to close the gap. This week should be a different story. If A&M stays ahead. Weber will See Running Backs on Page 3B. Always gxeAnd ’t Even ow it. , almost like family to t '66, and his wife, Linda, f s told me I would gradu- eday and have an Aggie r bradley atchison/thk battalion My usual response w* If Texas A&M freshman tailback Richard Whitaker looks I to continue to lead the A&M running backs as A&M 1 looks to Saturday's showdown with Wyoming. amily moved to Michigan, Texas A&M ready to debut in Kyle A&M looks for offensive success against the Wyoming Cowboys Saturday BRADLEY ATCHISON/Thi Battalion Texas A&M sophomore right tackle Michael Mahan looks to clear the way for the Aggie ground game and give quarterback Mark Farris the time he needs to air the ball against Wyoming on Saturday. By Blaine Dionne The Battalion The Texas A&M football team opens up its four- game home stand at Kyle Field this Saturday at 6 p.m. against Wyoming. This is the first time the schools have met and the first time A&M has played a member of the Mountain West Conference since the 1996 Pigskin Classic against Brigham Young University. The Aggies, coming off last week's loss to Notre Dame, are trying to avoid a letdown against a less es tablished team like Wyoming. A&M coach R.C. Slocum said he is doing everything in his power to keep A&M from underestimating the Cowboys, who gave Auburn a run for their money on national televi sion on Aug. 31. “As a coach, 1 know dang good and well that Wyoming is capable of coming in here and hitting two or three big plays, and all of a sudden you’re in a dog fight, with them having a chance to win it,” Slocum said. “You’ve got to convince your players that can happen. That’s one of your hardest coaching jobs.” One of Slocum’s concerns is the Cowboys’ passing- oriented offense. The Aggies are bringing along a rook ie defensive backfield and will be without the services of senior safety Michael Jameson this week, due to his high-ankle sprain. Making matters worse for A&M are the mistakes the defensive backs made last week against the run- happy Notre Dame offense — the Aggies gave up two passing touchdowns to the Irish. “This is about as big a challenge as we can face in terms of what our concerns are,” Slocum said. “We’ve got a team (Wyoming) that is good at throwing the football, and they’re gonna throw it a bunch of times. They will run a few options in there, just to keep you honest. But most of their attack is aerial, and they can be very effective.” Defensive coordinator Mike Hankwitz said the Aggies will be focusing on Wyoming’s quarterback, Jay Stoner. “Notre Dame played to their strengths,” Hankwitz said. “They had a speedy, mobile quarterback that cre ated opportunities for them. Wyoming will play to theirs — they have a veteran throwing quarterback, and they try to spread you out to keep you off balance.” As far as the A&M offense goes, fans can expect to see more formation experimentation than in the Notre Dame game. Offensive coordinator Steve Kragthorpe said the Cowboy defense is not a weak link. He said it is a phys ical team that can create problems for anyone, as it did at Auburn last week. “Wyoming’s a fine football team,” Kragthorpe said. “We’ve got to play well, I don’t think there’s any question about that. They’ve got a couple of guys on their defense that could play anyplace in the country right now.” Kragthorpe also said the Aggies have been working on their red-zone execution all week to avoid settling for field goals inside the 20-yard line, as they did last week in South Bend. A&M volleyball travels to Longhorn Classic By Jason Lincoln The Battalion The No. 18 Texas A&M volleyball team will travel to Austin this weekend to participate in a demonstration of the Big 12 South’s ability against a pair of Wash ington opponents. The Aggies will represent the Big 12 South along with the Texas Longhorns as each team faces off against Washington and Eastern Washington in the two-day event. However, A&M and Texas will have to be content to watch their rivals. The two will'not meet on the court until the middle of October. A&M is currently 2-2 on the season with its only losses coming from No. 1 UCLA and No. 5 Hawaii last weekend in the Hawaiian Airlines Wahine Classic in Honolulu. The Aggies’ two wins have been con vincing shows of power in defeats of Iowa and Houston in straight sets. The Aggies are led offensively by their top two middle blockers, senior Heather Marshall and redshirt freshman Tara Pu laski, who are both hitting above .300. Marshall most recently led A&M’s defeat of the Cougars in their home open er Wednesday night with 12 kills and no errors. A&M’s three junior outside hitters, Brandi Mount, Michelle Cole and Erin Gibson, round out A&M’s scoring threat with hitting percentages of .294, .241 and .220, respectively. See Volleyball on Page 10. PATRIC SCHNEIDER/The Battalion Texas A&M senior Heather Mar shall leads the Aggies to Austin. Texas A&M/Wyoming SUN. 6 P.M TV: FOX SPORTS NIT (NATIONAL) Players to Watch: Previous game statistics Robert Ferguson - WR fTr l H L,/. ; t # TWPg? 1 -5 Catches -79 Yards -Drew 2 pass interference calls against Notre Dame Jay Stoner - QB 1 -19 for 35 -158 yards -Threw to 8 different receivers against Auburn j BRANDON HENDERSON/Thf. Battalion in close touch with us, 1 med to insist that I would S ie. I continued to insist 11 octor Buddy was right, I 1 e after all. Before passing i i and determination for | \ggie were demonstrated ; / aside for my Aggie Ring. , or him, I could not have l- when I did. Looking at j§ often think of my angel ted me to be an Aggie, j vork, sociatiori ER STUDENTS AgcfteNetukxkl .ir Aggie Network ory@afs.tamu.edu, might use it in an ming issue. more than you'll find anywhere on the Aet, and enough to help you find the right career. Then there's the On Campus for college students where you'll find a resume database, company arsenal of knowledge to help separate yourself from the pack. out the careerbuflder bus at a c a a pus near you. er.com when is your futare? ) 845-7514 ienetwork.com