» wMilgriday, October 26, 2001 r the accide n family’s latj jus internal d memorandunis &M administu for some :ards and i ate the safetynl said Koldus defendant bee, : was moved toi in 1992, Ui Id’s slope pos« THE BATTALION Page 7 j&gs begin tough road with ISU njured A&M up against tough ISU running game By True Brown THE BATTALION but recommi ng the ground ling up to the s ere several warn I After splitting away games ing the 1991a lainst the University of Bonfire stack] jolorado and Kansas State, the s chose toipftxas A&M football team is imping straight from the frying in into the frier. Saturday’s game against wa State will be round one of Aggies’ brutal four game Jretch to finish the season, illapse conclidi&M’s closing schedule is the l the root causiluion’s third-toughest. and the t was a "tMlniainmg teams have a corn- claimed. Noh in the 1994a e stack was cial con* &M to investi; -oach to decia A&M admims h they disrerai ned 21-5 record. The Aggies (6-1,3-1 Big 12) e a team that is battered with rns and albs juries on both sides of the ball. :ture to be kill (tight end, four players have dents withoui Ame and gone, including starter envision. I lichael de la Torre. De la Torre id the Breen fain as forced to quit football last eston because 's docket there J as others inlei would receive attention. ial will protss id duties 18 months.he; e, such as “wd the tier below,at lst und the stack, sked by A&M oncluded thera . “tunnel vision )y A&M .rded safety coi thout any/wife were reluctfflto inistrators shoulii to ensure i fely. dearly, an the rest of thei ave never; e University.® \&M official the lawsuit. Breen and 1 id in the colla he University eek after being diagnosed with herniated disk in his back. True freshman Thomas arriger, a converted defensive neman, has taken over the tight The injuries have hampered ,&M’s abilities to run the ball, ad the Aggies have been held a combined 93 yards in their two games. “Coming into this season, we t two of our better players on ffense would be playing at tight nd,” said A&M football head oach R.C. Slocum. “I can’t structure to \ p//,ever having a position like Wmd we are starting to run season out of options. We have already moved everyone we can.” Fortunately for the Aggies, Iowa State’s rushing defense ranks in the bottom-half of the Big 12, allowing 185.2 yards pier game. Unfortunately for A&M, though, the Cyclones (5-1, 3-1) own one of the top offenses in the country. ISU is second only to Nebraska in the Big 12 in total offense, piling up 409.5 yards per game. Quarterback Seneca Wallace and running back Ennis Haywood are keys to Iowa State’s offense. Haywood, the Big 12’s leading rusher, was named the conference’s offen sive player of the week last week after running for 196 yards and three touchdowns against Oklahoma State. Wallace, meanwhile, completed 16-of-19 passes for 150 yards and rushed for 67 yards. On the season, Wallace earns 62.5 ground yards per game and averages over six yards per carry. “The presence of Seneca has really helped us,” said ISU football head coach Dan McCarney. “He is off to a great start. There is no question he is a threat running and passing the ball, and that helps keep opposing defenses honest.” A dominating rushing per formance is exactly what the Cyclones want against A&M as the Aggies have struggled this against opponents who Sean Weston and Terrence Kiel (48) bring down KSU’s Aaron Lockett during A&M’s 31-24 win last Saturday. A&M hosts tomorrow at Kyle Field. Kickoff is at 1 p.m. GUY ROGERS • THE BATTALION the Iowa State Cyclones run the ball effectively. Last week, Kansas State plowed through A&M’s defense for 258 rushing yards, while Colorado racked up 170 the week before. KSU quarterback Ell Roberson gained 77 yards. mostly on option plays. “We’ll be seeing the same type of quarterback this week,” said junior linebacker Jarrod Penright. “We opened up too many holes for Roberson to go through last week, so that is something we really need to stop this week.” The Cyclones’ football pro gram is in the midst of a tremen dous turnaround under McCarney, who joined ISU in 1994. McCarney was named the Big 12 coach of the year in 2000 See Turnaround on page 10. ^aM ee od h HORNE# , # Tech now SPORTS IN BRIEF Men’s tennis team in Fort Worth The Texas A&M men’s tennis team will be competing this weekend in the 2001 Omni Hotels Region VI Championships starting this morning. The indoor championship is the second of three national championship events of the season and will include a 128- man singles competition and a 64-team doubles field. The singles finalists and dou bles champions will receive automatic berths in the November 8-11 Omni Hotels National Collegiate Indoor Championships. The A&M women’s team has withdrawn from this weekend’s Tyler Collegiate Invitational and will resume action Nov. 8-11 at the ITA Rolex National Indoor Championships. A&M-Tech game to be on PPV The Texas A&M-Texas Tech football game on Nov. 3, origi nally not scheduled to be on television, will be shown on a pay-per-view basis. The game became available for pay-per-view distribution because it was not selected forover-the-air broadcast, syn dication or cable coverage. According to conference rules, games not picked up for regular television can only be broadcast with pay-per-view. Improved A&M hosts OU, OSU By Jeremy Brown THE BATTALION Last weekend, the No. 15 Texas A&M soccer team went on the road against two improved Big 12 teams and came away with two impressive wins. This weekend, the Aggies will try to repeat that performance at home against Oklahoma and Oklahoma State. Kansas and Missouri were riding high with nine wins each until A&M cut them down 4-0 and 5-2 respectively. With those wins, A&M (8-3-1,5-1-1) passed both schools to move into third place in the Big 12. “We are playing better and better every week,” said A&M soccer head coach G. Guerrieri. “You never know when you are peaking until you get there, but we have been creating a lot of positive momentum.” This weekend A&M will again face two teams on the way up. Oklahoma had its first winning season ever last year with a 10-9- 1 record. This season, the Sobners already have nine wins and are ranked No. 8 in the Soccer Buzz Central Region standings. “Oklahoma is an interesting team because they play with a differ ent tactic than the rest of the Big 12,” Guerrieri said. “First, they are always looking to counterattack because of their fast forwards, but when they have the ball they slow it down. It takes some real discipline to keep the game at our pace.” Oklahoma’s style of play has limited opponents to .63 goals a game and the Sooners (9-4-1, 3-3-1) have had shutouts in three of their last five games. Freshman goalkeeper Catherine Wade played a big part in those shutouts and was named as the Big 12 defensive player of the week on Oct. 9. In Oklahoma’s loss to Baylor, Wade shutout the Bears for 61 minutes until she went out with an injury. After she left the game, the Bears promptly scored three goals to take the 3-1 win. Sophomore forward Logan Womack leads the Sooner’s “coun terattack” with 11 goals. Oklahoma State has already won seven games this season after only winning four last season. The Cowgirls (7-7-1, 2-4-1) are try ing to qualify for their first Big 12 tournament. “Oklahoma State is very organized defensively and are really good at getting behind the ball,” Guerrieri said. “We can’t let up our concentration because they have scored off of some really good individual efforts.” A&M is 5-0 all-time against both the Sooners and Cowgirls. With only three games left, A&M will need help to win the Big 12 regular season title. No. 10 Texas (9-3, 7-0) has won nine straight games and is the only undefeated team in Big 12 play. If Texas wins both of its games this weekend it will claim the regular season title even if it loses to A&M on Nov. 2. No. 9 Nebraska can only claim the regular season title if it wins out and Texas loses two games. A&M’s freshman forward Linsey Johnson was named the Big 12 offensive player of the week after scoring four goals against Kansas and Missouri. Against Missouri, she scored the Aggies’ first hat trick since 1999. A&M will face Oklahoma at 7 p.m. tonight and Oklahoma State at 1 p.m. Sunday at the Aggie Soccer Complex. JOHN LIVAS • THE BATTALION Senior forward Nicky Thrasher charges past a Nebraska defender Oct. 14. The Aggies will host Oklahoma and Oklahoma State this weekend. ■■ Open 3:00 p.m. -1:00 a.m. Everyday 693-4136 120 Walton Dr. Eastgate Across from Main Entrance to Texas A&M CraftMasters’ Mall “A YEAR ROUND ARTS & CRAFTS SHOW ,, Over 170 Booths of Handcrafted Items • Aggie Gifts • Needlecraft • Stained Glass • Baby Items • Floral Arrangements • Woodcrafts • Pottery • Dominoes • Wearable Art • Jewelry • Aggie Commemorative Coins • Aggie Items • GIG EM AGGIES! Aggies head to Norman By Maya Thomas THE BATTALION The Texas A&M cross country team will compete at the Big 12 Cross Country Championships, Saturday, Oct. 27, at the Jimmie Austin Golf Course in Norman, Okla. The University of Oklahoma will host the meet. The Aggies compete for the first time since their title- clinching run at the A&M Invitational on Oct. 13. Both the men’s and women’s teams took first place honors at the Invitational. At the Big 12 Championships, the A&M women’s squad looks to regain ranking in the FinishLynx Women’s Cross Country poll after dropping from the No. 18 spot earlier this month. Neither the women’s nor the men’s team is ranked nationally, but the women are ranked third and the men fourth regionally. In 2000 the Aggies made a strong showing at the Big 12 Championships. The women’s team fin ished fourth overall, the best A&M performance at the Big 12. In 2000, Melissa Gulli finished 13th in the 6,000- meter layout and Andrea 44 I expect the guys to he very strong this year. — Dave Hartman A&M cross country coach Bookout finished 14th. Mike Hummel won individually in the 1,000-meter run at the Big 12 Indoor. Kristy Bonn finished sixth on the Aggie team, and Andrew Cook finished second on the team and 30th overall. The favorite to win at the Big 12 this year is Colorado who was ranked first until the most recent national poll and have finished first in several highly competitive meets. The Colorado men’s team has never lost a Big 12 cross country title. But fresh off their A&M Invitational win, the Aggies have a chance to make a nice showing at the Big 12 Championships. “The men’s team I think we’ll be able to get right back into where the girls were last year, maybe even a little higher, “ said head coach Dave Hartman. “I expect the guys to be very strong this year. Just because we redshirted a cou ple of key guys we were a little down, but this year we have no excuse.” Saturday the men’s 8,000- meter race starts at 10 a.m. and the women’s 6,000-meter race starts at 11 a.m. Mon.-Sat. 10 a.m.- 6 p.m. Thurs. til 8 p.m. Sun. 1 p.m. - 5 p.m. Sto]> by and gel that perfect gift for any occasion. BEAT THE HELL OUTTA IOWA STATE! i 1885 Briarcrest Drive, Bryan • (979)776-0870 FRlili ! OH L'OO When: Before Iowa State Game @ 11 9 Where: lot directly behind lumbotron http;//classcounciIs-fcamu-edu/2003