• Page 7
Friday, September 29, 200CI
1
.Belay, September 29, 2000
: SCHNEIDER-Tut Battalion
kneeling), examine
jmpus Thursday.
No repeat: Norway beat the U.S.
women’s soccer team in overtime,
was the Americans’ first loss in a
tournament final this year.
Double trouble: U.S. tennis play
ers Venus and Serena Williams
topped the Dutch doubles tennis
team to give the U.S. another ten
nis gold medal.
Sports
THE BATTALION
Revenge Week
Aggies ready to protect sold-out Kyle Field against Texas Tech
By Bree Holz
The Battalion
As the Texas A&M football team
prepares to battle with Texas Tech
University this Saturday, last sea
son's loss to Tech is on players’
minds.
“We've got a lot to play for this
year,” quarterback Mark Farris
said. “They've proven that they
can beat us.”
Last season. Tech defeated
A&M 21-19 at Jones SBC Stadi
um in Lubbock.This year, the Ag
gies have a different plan in mind.
"Last year, we weren’t enthusi
astic like they were,” said line
backer Jason Glenn. “We just took
it as another game. But when they
come down here Saturday, we're
just gonna play all out, hit hard and
let them know it’s going to be a
long game.”
The game will start at 11:3() a.m.
at Kyle Field and will be televised
on Fox Sports Net.
The Aggies' home winning
streak is 21 consecutive games,
and the Red Raiders last defeated
the Aggies at Kyle Field in 1996.
"There’s no way we're going to
lose on Kyle Field to Texas Tech this
year,” Glenn said. “It happened once
before, but we’re going to make sure
that it doesn't happen again.”
Offensive lineman Chris Valet-
ta said the atmosphere of Kyle
Field has a lot to do with the game.
“It’s such an imposing stadium,”
he said. “Teams come in and they
see nothing but maroon. They hear
the f;ins screaming every time their
team’s on offense. It's a tough place
to play. Our crowd is a huge factor.”
Fullback Ja'Mar Toombs said
the location of the game is not a
factor for him.
“I don't care where we play
them,” he said. “1 just don’t want to
lose to them anymore.”
The Red Raiders enter their first
road game of the season with a 4-0
record. A&M's record stands at 2-1.
The Aggies hold the all-time
series lead over Tech, 32-25-1, but
the Red Raiders have won four of
the last five meetings.
“This was the perfect week to
have an open week,” Valetta said.
“We used the week to get most of
our players healthy.”
One of those players is senior
defensive back Michael Jameson,
who has been out with a high an
kle sprain.
“I'm not 100 percent yet, but
I’m getting better,” he said.
“Hopefully by Saturday I'll be
close.”
Toombs said he enjoyed the
open week, but it was difficult to
maintain enthusiasm without a
game last Saturday.
“You're used to playing every
week and you have to hold your
emotions down for that whole ex
tra week,” Toombs said. “But we
won't have any problems getting
motivated for this game.”
TV Schedule: Friday, September
29, 2000
INBC:
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Rhythmic Gymnastics
7 p.m. to Midnight — Basketball, Track,
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Stacy Sykora: The U.S. Volleyball
team lost in five sets to Russia in
the women’s volleyball semifinal.
The U.S. team’s libero Stacey Syko
ra, a former Texas A&M All-Ameri
can, had 12 digs.
The U.S. will now play Brazil for the
Bronze medal.
Twin backs offer
Whitaker, Weber give A&M
By Blaine Dionne
The Battalion
One traveled l ,475 miles to at
tend Texas A&M. The other, only
140. One is considered the power
man at 6 feet, 228 pounds. The
other most people think of as the
finesse guy at 5 foot 10 inches,
197 pounds.
On paper, A&M tailbacks Joe
Weber and Richard Whitaker do
not seem to have much in com
mon. They are in constant com
petition at practice and in games
because they are fighting for the
same job: starting tailback for the
Aggies. They approach the
games with two different styles.
However, both have been suc
cessful, creating a platoon situa
tion this season.
One might think the-situation
would create animosity be
tween the two, but the oppo
site is true.
“Me and Joe have been •. !
close since we got here,” J
Whitaker said. “Like, when |
we have off weekends, l
take Joe home with me be
cause, of course, he can't
go home to California. So
it’s kind of like a broth- %
er relationship.”
Weber said friend
ship only calms the
competitive atmos
phere.
“[Our relation
ship] is a big
help,” Weber
said. “You
get mad at someone that is
in there doing things that
you think you could be do
ing, if you’re close.”
First-year running backs
coach Pete Hoener said Weber
and Whitaker’s selflessness
makes his job easier. He said
he can rely on both of them
to handle themselves in any
game situation, and that
both are eager to do whatev
er it takes to help the team.
“They’re real close; our
whole running back group is
close,” Hoener said.
“Richard and Joe know they
are competing with each other
daily, because
obviously they
want to carry
the load. But
right now, l
look at them
as both equal
and both ef
fective,
ice the punch
game for any defense
Joe Weber
can’t
'§
Richard Whitaker
Jl. w h (
- Hi ^
and that’s how we’re using them.”
While one could emerge
through time as the more domi
nant player, receiving more play
ing time, the tandem is, for the
time being, taking everything in
stride.
“I think it helps a lot,” Farris
said. “They’re both great backs,
and they both bring a little some
thing different to the table.
Richard’s more of a speed guy
who can break it any minute, and
Joe can too, but he’s more of
a guy who’s gonna run you
over.
“I think it’s a great combina
tion. It’s so much better than
having just one guy because it’s
a position where you can
get tired through the
course of a game.”
A group influential in
Weber and Whitaker’s
success — the offensive
line — is very happy
with how the two are ap
proaching the season. Se
nior left guard Chris Vallet
ta said he and his comrades in
the trenches consider it an
honor to create holes for
their starting platoon.
“It’s wonderful,”
Valletta said, “We’ve
never had this much
speed at tailback
since I’ve been
X here. To have
guys like
% that — it’s
great
\ privi
lege
to block for guys like that.”
Valletta added that the rela
tionship between the two posi
tions adds to the performance.
“The offensive line and the
running backs, we’re very tight,”
Valletta said. “They are always
patting us on the back and saying,
‘great job, O-line.’ They know we
don’t get the recognition they do,
but they make sure that they give
us all they can.”
Two football players who
come from such different back
grounds and run the ball in such
different fashions have joined to
form one of the most potent and
cohesive running back units in
A&M history.
Texas Tech’s
best game
T exas Tech always gets left
out.
Texas
A&M versus
Texas. Somehow
that always gets
all the attention
on the Texas
football scene.
National televi
sion, top-re
cruits, Thanksgiving weekend, one
of the country’s oldest rivalries,
school pranks. Yet Texas Tech
somehow gets overlooked among
Texas’ gridiron tradition.
Maybe that is why it seems to
save its best game for its orange and
maroon neighbors.
But any days of overlooking the
Raiders must be over. How can it be
possible to overlook a team that has
won four of the last five meetings?
How can the last team to beat the
Aggies at Kyle Field be overlooked?
It cannot. Not anymore.
Last season Texas Tech dropped
a game to North Texas. Its next
game was a 21 -19 upset of the No.
5 Aggies.
“It’s been a little frustrating for
me that we’ve played this team
every year, and it seems like one of
those ho-hum kind of games,”-said
A&M coach R.C. Slocum. “I think it
is high time we recognize they get
fired up for games and they play to
win. We need to have that same kind
of resolve when we go out there.”
Texas Tech is consistently con
sidered one of the lesser teams in the
conference, and Texas and A&M are
considered to be among the best.
Yet, the Aggies, during Slocum’s ca
reer, have fared worse against the
Raiders than to the Longhorns, los
ing five games.
But it’s not just about football in
Lubbock. It is about revenge for all
the attention the big schools in the
east receive.