lonilay, August 6, 2001
Page 3
Monday, A Utt
PM P.
Sports
THE BATTALION
Aggies in position
to silence critics
w;
K you TO RE/ID Ttf
WUSS COOKIE
^exr SEMESTER 1
he Aggies hope Mark Farris will lead the
ffense to victory this 2001-'02 football sea-
FILE PHOTO/The Battalion
son. After the teafn struggled last season,
some have overlooked its capacity to improve.
'hen the Texas
A&M football
team reports for
practice this week, there will
be a mood of consternation
by current and former stu
dents about the 2001 season.
After hearing from football
experts that the Aggies are in
for a losing season while rival University of
Texas Longhorns are a favorite to win the Na
tional Championship, many fans have started
to complain about head coach R.C. Slocum
and his staff.
Wait a minute. While the Aggies may not be
up to lifting the Bowl Championship Series tro
phy next Jan. 4, there is much these experts have
overlooked, like the capacity to improve.
Phrases such as “consistent” and “workman
like” have been used to describe the 2001
squad. If certain players are able to step up
their play, and if new additions to the team are
as good as advertised, this Aggie team may be
capable of repeating the 1997 “Shock the
World” tour.
Last year, nay sayers criticized quarterback
Mark Farris’ inexperience and lack of a big-
play wide receiver. Farris promptly broke vir
tually every Aggie single-season passing mark
while Robert Ferguson emerged to become
the premier wide receiver in the Big 12. This
year, those same cynics are harping on the loss
of Ferguson and fullback Ja’Mar Toombs to
the NFL draft.
It is possible that the losses of Ferguson and
Toombs will actually make the Aggie offense
more diverse and effective. Much depends on
the ability of Bethel Johnson or Dwain Goynes
to assume part of Ferguson’s role as the primary
receiver. With the 6-foot 5-inch Greg Porter,
the Aggies have a fine possession receiver who
consistently delivers well-run routes. The addi
tion of freshmen John Roberson, who starred in
last week’s high school all-star game, Bryant Sin
gleton and Terrence Thomas might give the Ag
gies a new batch of deep threats.
The Aggies’ running game struggled for a
good part of last season. This year’s offensive
line, led by pre-season All-American center
Seth McKinney, figures to have a far more co
hesive unit. If highly-touted Jami Hightower is
as good of a player as he is made out to be, he
figures to be one of the better linemen in re
cent A&M history.
The running game, even with the loss of
Toombs, likely will be better. Richard Whitaker
showed flashes of excellence in his redshirt
freshman year, and this season he will be pushed
by Keith Joseph, a bigger (6-foot 2-inches, 221
pounds) and more bruising back. The surprise
signing of Midland Lee’s Derek Farmer can only
help A&M’s running game.
Toombs has been replaced at fullback by for
mer Parade All-American tailback Joe Weber,
who is “Little Joe” no more. Slocum has spent
most of the summer praising Weber’s successful
switch of positions, saying he is more versatile
and a better blocker than Toombs.
For the first time in nearly a decade, some
predictions question the effectiveness of the
Wrecking Crew. This could be a terrible
blunder. Ty Warren, who has spent his first
two seasons playing tight end, has moved to
nose tackle this year. He showed remarkable
speed and strength in the Maroon and White
game, sacking quarterback Mark Farris on
one play and chasing down Whitaker the next
— 13 yards downfield. Performances like
these will merit All-American consideration
for Warren.
See Football on Page 6.
ed from
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ed as trouble!
ng a chip on
en's basketball schedule released
Aggies set to compete in big non-conference
games, controversial Las Vegas Invitational
Mark Passwaters
The Battalion
ian educe
The 2001-’02 Texas A&M
nen’s basketball schedule was
eleased on Friday and pits the
ggies against several non-con-
erence opponents.
Included in the schedule are
oad trips to the perennial pow-
eel that 'll ,er North Carolina, Iowa State
SDeok 0# nd MLsouri. Home games are
r be labels
femakeni
ng a chip
shoulder
cheduled with Miami, George
/Vashington and Kansas, as well
;as a controversial Las Vegas
oumament.
“Any time you have the likes
f Miami at home, North Car-
Jolina on the road, George Wash-
Dr. Linda S' jngton at home and the Las Ve-
ssistant profe^ as Tournament, it will definitely
e a challenge,” said head coach
elvin Watkins in a press re
ease. “But playing good teams
akes you better. Those tough
tat part of the
gender ined
rom a mixture
encour inon-conference matchups will
intendents ; prepare us for a tough schedule
down the road.
The lone home matchup of
the year against Texas Tech and
new head coach Bobby Knight
is scheduled for Wednesday, Jan.
9 — the middle of Christmas
break. Kansas will arrive Satur
day, Jan. 26, and the Texas
Longhorns will make their sole
appearance at Reed Arena on
Wednesday, Feb. 6.
nining for sell 1
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The Las Vegas Invitational,
which matches the Aggies
against Cincinnati, Purdue,
Illinois-Chicago, Louisiana-
Monroe, Southwest Missouri
State, Mississippi State and the
University of Richmond will be
u
Any time you
have the likes of
Miami at home,
North Carolina on
the road, George
Washington at
home and the Las
Vegas Tournament,
it will definitely
be a challenge.”
— Melvin Watkins
men's basketball head coach
held Dec. 20 to 22, with the ex
act site undecided. This tour
nament, originally scheduled
for Puerto Rico, was moved af
ter the NCAA refused to sanc
tion the event. The tourna
ment was moved to Las Vegas
and was scheduled to be played
in a number of casinos. The
event was sanctioned by the
NCAA, which did not express
displeasure about the location
of the event until a July 26 ar
ticle in The Washington Post
criticized A&M, and football
coach R.C. Slocum in particu
lar, for claiming to oppose col
legiate gambling in testimony
before the U.S. Senate, while
allowing their basketball team
to play in a tournament held in
a casino.
“We’re relieved that they
chose to change (the location of)
it,” said A&M’s sports informa
tion director for basketball, Col
in Killian. “We were really con
cerned. Coach Watkins was
really upset about it when he
found out.
“One of the places (the Paris
casino) we were supposed to
play actually has a sports book
in it.”
Killian was confused by The
PosTs criticism of Slocum, say
ing, “The football coach doesn’t
make the basketball schedule.
That just doesn’t make sense.”
The NCAA, when asked
about their abrupt reversal on
their sanctioning of the event af
ter it became public knowledge,
declined to comment.
The Aggies likely will finish
their season in the Big 12 bas
ketball tournament, to be held at
Kansas City’s Kemper Arena on
March 7-10.
Nov. a
Exhibition
College Station
7 p.m.
Nov. 14
Exhibition
College Station
7 p.m.
Nov. 19
George Washington
College Station
7 p.m.
Novi 24
at Lamar
Beaumont, TX
7 p.m.
Nov. 26
Davidson
College Station
7 p.m.
Nov. 30
Long Beach State
College Station
7 p.m.
Dec. 2
Loyola Marymount
College Station
2 p.m.
Dec. 5
Southeastern Louisiana
College Station
College Station
8 p.m.
Dec. 8
Miami (Fla.)
7 p.m.
Dec. 14
vs. Tulsa
Houston, TX
7 p.m.
Dec. 17
Las Vegas Classic
Springfield, Mo.
7 p.m.
Dec. 20-22
at Southwest Missouri State
Las Vegas Invitational
Las Vegas, Nev.
TBA
Dec. 30 at North Carolina
Chapel Hill, N.C.
6 p.m.
Jan. 3
at Centenary
Shreveport, La.
7 p.m.
Jan. 5
at Oklahoma
Norman, Okla.
TBA
Jan. 9
Texas Tech
College Station
TBA
Jan.16
at Missouri
Columbia, Mo.
TBA
Jan.19
Baylor
College Station
TBA
Jan.23
at Texas (ESPN Regional)
Austin, TX
8 p.m.
Jan.26
Kansas (ESPN Regional)
College Station
3 p.m.
Jan.29
at Iowa State
Ames, Iowa
TBA
Feb. 3
at Baylor (ESPN Regional)
Waco, TX
1 p.m.
Feb. 6
Texas
College Station
TBA
Feb. 9
Oklahoma (ESPN Regional)
College Station
12:45 p.m.
Feb. 12
at Kansas State
Manhattan, Kan.
TBA
Feb. 16
Oklahoma State
College Station
TBA
Feb. 20
Nebraska
College Station
TBA
Feb.23
at Texas Tech (ESPN Regional)
Lubbock, TX
12:45 p.m.
Feb.26
Colorado
College Station
TBA
Mar. 2
at Oklahoma State
Stillwater, Okla.
TBA
Mar. 7-10
Phillips 66 Big 12 Tournament
Kansas City, Mo.
TBA
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