ueiday, September 11, 200
ports
Tl the battalion
SECTION
Page IB
'Y
OPTICAL
Johnson out
s’ senior wide receiver
\delined by spleen injury
‘indefinitely’
By True Brown
THE BATTALION
pikxi gtasMs, 1 ’
• i the already-thin lineup of
A&M receivers took anoth-
yesterday, as the Aggies
ed senior Bethel Johnson
j/'iplld he sidelined indefinitely,
t, Bryan 7Hohnson suffered a bruised
0
[«Ti
VSiec
KJ*ta fl
nne
[plten during A&M's 28-20 win
^Bnst the Llniversitv of
^H>nune Fhursday night.
^â– Kfter sustaining the injury in
I he third quarter, Johnson fin
ished the game with six catches
ibr 50 yards, including a two-
â– u conversion in the second
Quarter to put A&M up 21-7.
Our only con
cern at this
time is for
the health of
this young man
— R.C. Slocum
A&M head coach
F
he injury was originally
dilgnosed after the game, and
Johnson spent Thursday night
inla Laramie, Wyo., hospital
for observation.
â– Team trainer Karl Kapchinski
accompanied Johnson back to
College Station Friday, and
Johnson was admitted to a Bry an
thospital for more tests to determine
( the extent of the injuries.
I “Bethel is out indefinitely,” said
f/^I/CI head football coach R.C.
'LKj« 1 Slocum. “He had trauma to his
J spleen and he will be kept in the
hospital for the rest of this week.”
H Noi entireh uncommon in
i* 1 sports, spleen injuries occur
cut
when an athlete suffers trauma
to the lower left side of the
abdomen. The most common
injury results in a period of time
with minimal discomfort, but
that is followed by a drop in
blood pressure and an increase
in the heart rate.
Johnson’s injury comes at an
inopportune time for A&M, as
the Aggies have struggled to
find consistency in their first
two games of the season.
The Aggies have this week
end off before taking on
Oklahoma State and Notre
Dame in back-to-back week
ends. A&M also will face
Colorado and Kansas State on
the road in October.
The Aggies are optimistic
that Johnson’s injury will heal
on its own.
“We will take a wait-and-see
approach,” Slocum said. “We
will evaluate his status further
down the road, but our only con
cern at this time is the health of
this young man.”
Johnson, a native of
Corsicana, was expected to take
over as A&M's “go-to” receiver
after Robert Ferguson’s jump to
the NFL after last season.
In his sophomore year at
A&M, Johnson led the team in
yards per catch with a 19.0 aver
age and in kickoff returns, aver
aging 19.3 yards per return.
Johnson has been one of the
Aggies’ most consistent
receivers and has caught at least
one pass in every regular season
game of his career.
So far this year, Johnson
has pulled in eight catches for
68 yards.
Since the injury occurred in
the first two games of the year,
Johnson could apply for anoth
er year of eligibility, but that
decision will not be made for
some time.
Senior wide receiver Bethel Johnson will be sidelined
indefinitely after suffering a bruised spleen during the
GUY ROGERS • THE BATTALION
third quarter of the Aggies' 28-20 victory over the
Wyoming Cowboys Thursday night in Laramie.
QB Carter
pushed in
NFL debut
IRVING (AP) — The
Dallas Cowboys stuck to their
promise of not asking rookie
quarterback Quincy Carter to
do too much in his NFL debut.
Then came the fourth quarter.
Carter was asked to do
more on his last two drives
than he’d been asked to do all
game. The rookie couldn’t and
Dallas ended up losing 10-6 to
Tampa Bay on Sunday.
Carter threw only 10 pass
es over the first three quarters,
then nine in the fourth quarter
— including eight of Dallas’
final 10 snaps.
He completed four of those
late passes, but for only 13
yards. The final attempt was
caught by Tampa Bay safety
John Lynch, ruining any hopes
for an upset.
The Cowboys were
extremely cautious with Carter
early on, calling for some short
passes and a lot of handoffs.
The biggest wrinkle was hav
ing him occasionally hand the
ball to a fullback or a receiver,
not just Emmitt Smith.
The aggressive approach
led to Dallas’ best drive of the
day. They got consecutive
completions for the first time,
their only third-down conver
sion. a 16-yard pass interfer
ence penalty that was longer
than any of Carter’s comple
tions, then sprung Smith for his
longest run, 14 yards.
Suddenly, the Cowboys
were 30 yards from the lead.
But Carter could not pull
it off.
“It had to be a perfect
throw, up and down over the
linebacker's head and between
him and the safety. Lynch,”
Carter said. “I didn't make it.
Things like that happen. I've
got to learn from it.”
Said Campo: “I think we
did exactly what we
planned to do. We just need
to play better.”
NS
EACH
. Suite D
ihtMngers)
Ion
1103
sts only.
3n * I-visit,
yjle Bucks. ^
02/01
Ags come away with positives despite loss to Stanford
iCIAli
,he Texas A&M volleyball team
faced its first
hurdle of the
season this weekend
[hen the No. 9
anford Cardinal
ime calling.
I The Aggies
tripped over that
hurdle as the
â– ardinal exercised
its muscle and size to
defeat A&M in four games at G.
Rollie White Coliseum.
I For the first two games of the match,
A&M seemed as though it was hitting
against a wall as Stanford seemed to
block almost every Aggie attack.
DOUG
PUENTES
Stanford has four starters more than
6-feet tall, three of whom are taller than
A&M's tallest starter.
“They’re huge,” said A&M volley
ball coach Laurie Corbelli. “They may
be one of the biggest teams we see all
year. Nebraska is probably that big
too. At this level, the blocking and hit
ting make all the difference. 1 thought
we passed as well if not better, served
as well if not better and our ball con
trol is just as good, but the net play
really stood out to me.”
It was not until the third game that
the Aggies started showing a spark,
and by that time, it was an uphill bat
tle. A&M will not have the luxury of
giving away two games once it enters
Big 12 play.
Before thinking the season is over,
however, remember, one loss does not
make a season.
The team actually moved up two
spots to No. 16 in this week’s USA
Today AVCA Coach’s Top 25 poll.
Stanford, which also had defeated
then-No. 4 Penn State earlier in the
week, took over the fourth spot in the
poll, somewhat softening the blow for
the Aggies.
Another bright spot was those who
played well and stepped up against
the Cardinal.
Mount had 18 kills against
Stanford, continuing her stellar early
season play. She leads the team with
4.05 kills per game and is second in
hitting percentage at .375.
Freshman middle blocker Melissa
Munsch also stepped up and made her
presence known against Stanford. Put
into the match towards the end of
game one, Munsch provided the team
with a bigger presence and a spark,
throwing down 16 kills. The team
could benefit if a freshman like
Munsch could step up and continue
her strong play.
Senior outside hitters Erin Lechler
and Michelle Cole never got on track
against Stanford. Lechler managed 12
kills but had 10 hitting errors and hit
ting percentage that was a meager .043.
Cole also notched double digits in kills
with 10, but made eight hitting errors
and had a hitting percentage of .069.
Even though the Aggies lost, which
no team ever wants to do, it might have
been for the best, as A&M gained
invaluable knowledge that will help
them for the remainder of its schedule.
If the Aggies play up to their vast
potential the rest of the season, they
will be glad they stumbled over the
first hurdle and not the last.
Doug Puentes is a senior
journalism major.
1805 Briarcrest
BRYAN
979-776-0999
Lmts&Tr iPmms Uvumt
Come
jowThe
Fun’.
Come One! Come All! Come early!
— Starting Times —
We.dJhux-Sat Friday Sunday
6:45 & 9:00 7:15 & 9:00 6:00 & 8:00
EXPERIENCE THE
I THRILL OF WINNING
r ^C F
If Corporatio n *
Large No n- Smoking Room
i Funs • Griat Food • SKCumrr • Full Tais and Much Maud
Due romvnr changes, no one under IS Is Masts) to enter
Over $30,000 Won Each Week
A Uniaue Country Retreat
Daytime Weekend Rates
starting at $400
Wedding Events • Parties
Family Reunions • Meetings
979-731-8155
www.the-veranda.com
SHOP HASSLE FREE
VARSITY FORD
www.varsityford.net
NO HEAT! NO SALESMAN
UNTIL YOU NEED THEM!
HIGH REBATES
LOW INTEREST RATES
COLLEGE GRAD PROGRAMS
MODEL YEAR END CLOSE-OUT
SPECIALS!
(Quesdons? E-mail us at
ross@varsityfo rd. net)
~&tounf%
v.
Texas @ George Bush
♦ y.
Cicix.
September is “Appreciation Month
r ®B*WK*
brinks
i are 1
l usl
‘THE BEST DEAL IN TOWN^
jST ^5^
JUST GOT BETTER!*
J Cks w/ approved I.D.
Attention All Members of
NSCS
es 10/25/01
wm m
National Society of Collegiate Scholars
Its time for the first meeting of the semester!!!
When: September 13
Where: 225 MSC
FREE FOOD
For more information, contact us at:
nscstamu^yahoo.com
MADWAGON
your basic ride
For less than the cost of a textbook
or a night out partying, you can own a
Madwagon bike. It gets you where
you need to be. Life should be so
simple. Your basic ride.
Get one at madwagon.com
Proud Sponsor, Texas A&M Lacrosse Team
Use this sales code: T1AM1001