(
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.
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