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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 10, 2002)
( Sports The Battalion Page IB • Tuesday, September 10, 2002 ime has come for Slocum to make QB call JOHN C. LIVAS • THE BATTALION Texas A&M head coach R.C. Slocum has used all four of his roster quarterbacks in game situations already this season, and will use the next week to re-evaluate the QB position. One thing has become crystal clear in the Texas A&M football quarter back controversy: the time has come for head coach R.C. Slocum to stop playing games with starting quarter back Mark Farris and make up his mind who should be leading the Aggies when Virginia Tech comes to town September 21st. If the First two games of the season are any indicator, Slocum doesn’t seem to have any better a grip on who will be playing quarterback than the fans following the team. The debate remains whether Farris, sophomore backup Dustin Long, or freshman fan-favorite Reggie McNeal should be taking the snaps. By yanking Farris in the middle of the second quarter for the second con secutive game in Pittsburgh Saturday, the coach both struck another blow to the confidence of his starter, and gave Long a false hope that he will be the starter at some point, sooner rather than later this season. “Of course I would like to start next game,” Long said following Saturday’s game. “It’s the goal of every quarterback to go out and start the game.” Fortunately for Long, Slocum can’t seem to decide if he should go with the experience and leadership that Farris can bring to the team or the UESDAY I AIRING Points Kevin Espenlaub youth and potential of freshman Reggie McNeal. Backed against the wall by Farris’ second-consecutive lackluster per formance against Pitt, Slocum seems to have taken the middle road and stuck Long into the game thinking it would quiet some of the criticism against the Aggie offense. However, Long’s time at quarter back will likely be short and not so sweet, because Slocum will eventual ly understand that all he can accom plish by weaseling out of the real decision is to anger both the minority that supports Farris and the over whelming majority who want the future of Aggie football, McNeal, on the field. Slocum must come out this week and announce who will be taking the snaps for the rest of the season. Otherwise, the Aggies will continue to struggle, and it is a guarantee that Virginia Tech, the No. 9 team in the nation, will give much more resist ance than either the pushover University of Louisiana-Lafayette or the Pittsburgh team that rallied over the Aggies in the fourth quarter and brought itself within striking distance of winning the game. “I decided to try a new combination and see if we could get something start ed out there,” Slocum said. “We need to improve and I’m willing to tweak some things to try to get that improve ment.” Slocum seems to think pulling your starter in the first half for two consecutive games is only a small “tweak.” It is not. Slocum cannot expect a quarter back to succeed if he is not assured he will be allowed to work through the good and the bad. A quarterback having to constantly look over his shoulder to see if good of R.C. is sending in the next puppet in line to take over his job will not be able to focus on winning a ball game. With four games against teams cur rently ranked in the top ten of the ESPN/USA Today coaches’ poll on the plate for the remainder of the sea son, A&M’s quarterback, whoever that might be, needs all of his atten tion focused on playing the game of football and giving his team the best chance at victory. OU, Colorado coaches still upbeat despite losing starting QBs I DALLAS (AP) — Oklahoma and Colorado watched their starting quarter- Bicks go down over the weekend, but unlike lots of teams, their hopes of suc- a ss didn’t go down with them. I The second-ranked Sooners lost Jmson White to a season-ending knee ifijury in their 37-27 win over Alabama, and No. 17 Colorado rallied for a 34-14 victory over San Diego State after Craig Ochs suffered his third concussion in the past 14 months. I Oklahoma’s Bob Stoops and Colorado's Gary Barnett say they still expect their teams to prosper without their top QBs. “I think our team draws on that,” Barnett said. “We’ve been in this situa tion before. That’s just the way it is in college football.” Most Big 12 coaches agree that if both teams want to compete for a nation al title, let alone a Big 12 title, they’ll have to prove their offenses can be effec tive with a second quarterback. “Our quarterbacks are going to get hit no matter who they are,” said Oklahoma State coach Les Miles. “If you plan to have success in this conference, you bet ter have two quality quarterbacks.” Oklahoma will again tum to senior Nate Hybl, who started 11 of 13 games last season, but was beaten out by White for the starting job during a training camp competition. Hybl performed well in relief on Saturday, completing 16 of 30 passes for 251 yards and a 51 -yard touchdown pass to Mark Clayton. He also led an 80-yard touchdown drive with less than five min utes left that helped Oklahoma take a 30- 27 lead, and ultimately, the win. Barnett is less sure about senior back up Robert Hodge. Hodge, who was in for only 10 plays last year, was on the field for two second- half touchdown drives as the Buffaloes pulled away from San Diego State. But Hodge’s numbers were less than spectac ular: 2-of-7 for 8 yards. “I was not encouraged by the way we threw the football,” Barnett said. “I’d like to think there would be some carry-over from last season.” Last season. Bobby Pesavento came off the bench for an injured Ochs and led the team to five straight wins, including Colorado’s 39-37 victory over Texas in the Big 12 Championship. To duplicate last season’s run to the Big 12 title, Hodge will have to improve quickly. In the next three games, Colorado will play No. 17 Southern Cal, at No. 23 UCLA and conference rival Kansas State. “We have a lot of confidence in Robert and ourselves,” Barnett said. “We’ve been through this before and we should know how to handle it.” Meanwhile, Ochs’ third concussion within a year has led to speculation that his career could be over, but Bamett said that Ochs could return to practice by next week. A CAT scan and other tests per- formed on Ochs were negative. WELCOME BACK STUDENTS! Get your FREE T-SHIRT today! Bank where you live, where you go to school and where you work. For the best in banking convenience, it’s First American Bank - statewide banking for you. 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