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THE BATTALION
Page 5
Brooks to
head up
A&M
special
teams
Scutes, Brooks
look to repeat
2000 seasons
By True Brown
THE BATTALION
Senior free safety Jay Brooks
and sophomore punter Cody Scates
will headline the special teams for
the Texas A&M Aggies this fall.
Last season, Scates became the
fourth freshman in school history
to average 40 or more yards per
punt, en route to being a fresh
man All-American. That feat is
even more impressive when con
sidering that he had to deal with
the pressure of replacing NCAA
career-punting leader Shane
Techier. A&M head coach R.C.
Slocum is not shy about compar
ing the two.
“Cody Scates i s going to be a
great player for us,” Slocum said.
“He will be a Lechler-type guy
when he is finished here. ”
Those are especially strong
words when you look at Lechler’s
collegiate record. Techier was a
three-time All-Conference selec
tion, two-time All-American and
averaged 44.7 yards per punt.
Scates, who also handles kickoff
duties, recorded 11 tackles in punt
and kickoff returns last season.
“I’m just trying to get down
there and try and read the return
ers’ lanes and cut him off before he
can get in the open field,” Scates
said. “Plus it is always easier to
tackle somebody before they get a
full head of steam.”
Scates suffered a groin injury
during two-a-days this summer, but
will still play against McNeese State
Saturday.
Questions arise
about Ag defense
GUY ROGERS • THE BATTALION
Sophomore running back Richard Whitaker will handle some of the re
turn duties in 2001 after suffering a preseason knee injury.
Brooks, who also will start at
free safety, blocked four punts last
season, and all four were con
verted touchdowns. That earned
him the Aggies’ Special Teams
MVP award.
“Jay is another in a long line of
great special teams players we have
had here,” Slocum said.
The off season has not been
kind to the Aggies in the place-
He (Scates) will
be a Lechler-type
guy when he is
finished here.
— R.C. Slocum
A&M football head coach
kicker position. A&M lost the ser
vices of the most accurate kicker in
school history with the graduation
of Terence Kitchens.
Now the Aggies are scrambling
to find a replacement for redshirt
freshman Chris Sims, who was go
ing to take over Kitchens’ spot.
Sims was forced to retire from foot
ball last week because of a recur
ring back injury, and he never saw
action in an A&M jersey.
After hearing of Sims’ decision,
the Aggies invited transfer Matt Dou
glas to try out. It looks as though
Scates will handle the kicking chores
as well as punts, which is something
he has not done since high school.
“It is kind of like riding a bike,”
said Scates. “I know I won’t fall off.
I can go out there and kick field
goals, but I’m not at my peak right
now. It will take some time, but I
will get back into it.”
Back for another season as the
deep snapper is junior Chance
Pearce. In his career, Pearce has de
livered 242 snaps and recorded
only one error, something that is
very comforting as a kicker.
On kickoffs, receivers Bethel
Johnson and Dwain Coynes will
handle return duties. When run
ning back Richard Whitaker recov
ers from arthroscopic knee surgery,
he probably will take Coynes’
place. Last season, Whitaker aver
aged 21.7 yards per return.
In punt return formations, John
son will be the mainstay. The Aggies
averaged 11.7 yards on punt returns
and 20.1 yards on kickoff returns
last season, placing them fourth in
the Big 12 in both categories.
“We put a lot of time into our
special teams,” Slocum said. “It is
an area where we spend a lot of
time practicing and fortunately it
pays off.”
W hen ex
amining
Texas
A&M’s 2001 de
fensive squad,
there are two ma
jor points to take
could argue that the
A&M defense is heavily depleted
at the linebacker spot with the
loss of three playmakers who
have all found homes on NFL
squads this fall: Jason Glenn,
Roylin Bradley and Cornelius An
thony. This is a huge hole in the
heart of the defense, one which
may be difficult to fill.
With the loss of Glenn, junior
Brian Gamble will need to keep
the defense alive this season.
Gamble made 110 tackles last sea
son, and with Rocky Bernard re
turning this season, we will need
some help from Bernard as well as
some of the other young lineback
ers looking to step into the other
linebacker spots.
The Aggies also lost Michael
Jameson, who led the entire sec
ondary with 64 tackles and posted
double-digit tackle games on nu
merous occasions last season.
On the defensive front, the Ag
gies lost Ronald Flemons, who
led the Aggie lineman in tackles
last season.
Flemons tallied 38 tackles last
season , and the Aggies’ only
hope is that senior Evan Perroni,
along with the rest of the defen
sive front, can stay healthy.
The other argument takes a
more positive look at the
strenghts of the defense.
The Wrecking Crew could be
better than ever because of the re
turn of almost the entire sec
ondary and senior Rocky Bernard.
With 75 percent of the defen
sive backs returning this season,
and with the air assaults of the Big
12 looking to be in full swing, an
experienced secondary will help
the Aggie defense. Add the experi
ence and big play tendency of se
nior Jay Brooks, and the Aggie
secondary appears as solid as ever.
Yes, this group of pass de
fenders may be young, but what
better experience could a bunch
of freshmen get than covering a
national-championship-winning
See Questions on page 11
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