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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 29, 2003)
September 29,2003 ira Bus ss leadf .role ennifer Loven SSOCIATED PRESS When first li tush presides o\r iv-ontry into tr ations’ main culW )n here, she will Is ole that melds her pet dons with the Wltit oal of fostering bette tions. rs agree she is the pet to represent the Bttsli tion at the ceremonies Monday at the head- the U.N. Educational, and Cultural Ml. nt George W. Busli a year ago, before the ral Assembly, that the tales would rejoin after 19 years away oup once considered anti-Western, in 1945 to promote al exchanges, helps modernize edu- terns, establish stan- ioethics and presene id natural treasures. 1NESCO has helped rools and establish in post-Taliban i and worked in post- recover looted art!- agan, a longtime cni- )perat ions at the con- leritage Foundation, entry of the United JNESCO has roots in ort — ultimately — to woo U.N. sup- acknowledging is made great strides : United States' igan regards Bush’s h “huge trepidation ig for “constant vig the White House, ish has credibility; Isecause of her l»- in education and her ort for policies Iv sorely needed at o encourage map abstinence mid val-' moff, head of the' office for the pro- Nations Association' I States of America, with Mrs. Bush's — he believes it'd or UNESCO. ash is going with rsonal interest and a than I’ve seen in he said. “We had some good plays but too many turnovers” - A&M coach Dennis Franchione “Their receivers were some big guys, but that really doesn’t make a difference if you are in position. We weren’t in posi- Appel - A&M safety Jaxson from page 1 attempt to spur s in electricity gen- he Senate despite vigorous >y the industry, hat electric percent of renewable •wever, never uring negotiations bandoned. from both parties i a ban on the gaso- MTBE, which to contaminate iter. A four- in the Senate e House’s. House members, izin and Majority DeLay, R-Texas, opping the ban and of the petroleum- e a liability waiver in ination lawsuits, •emains under dis- ugh Tauzin and >se to getting what ording to industry /ing the talks a lobbyist for the >il and gas indus- / of the measures he final bill are yrapple with this uestion” of devel- e energy supply- edges that the 1 bill largely is ed. biggest benefici- the oil and gas ng bill renews the le Arctic National ge to oil drilling ite has repeatedly “He’s probably the best I’ve ever played against, and he’ll make a lot of money playing this game one day.” -Appel on Pittsburgh WR Larry Fitzgerald “We made halftime adjust ments, but the past two weeks we have not got it done” - A&M defensive coordinator Carl Torbush This is a huge win for us.” - Pitt coach Walt Harris Sports The Battalion Page 7 • Monday, September 29, 2003 AP TOP 25 Recond Pvs 1.0U(57) 4-0 1 2. Miami (3) 44) 2 3.0hioSt.(5) 50 4 4. Virginia Tech 40 5 S.FloridaSt. 50 6 6.LSU 50 7 /.Tennessee 40 8 8.Ari<ansas 4-0 9 9. Michigan 4-1 11 10. use 3-1 3 11.Georgia 3-1 12 12. Nebraska 4-0 15 13. Texas 3-1 14 14. Wash. St 4-1 21 IS.F’ittsburgh 3-1 17 16. Kansas St 4-1 16 17.N.lllinots 44) 20 18. Washington 3-1 18 19. Oregon 4-1 10 20.TCU 44) 19 21. Minnesota 50 24 22. Purdue 3-1 22 23lwa 4-1 13 24. Florida 3-2 25 25. Michigan St 4-1 — (Fiist place votes in parentheses) F BAH SPORTS TOP 25 (Record Pvs 1.0U(9) 4-0 1 2 Miami 40 3 3. Virginia Tech 4-0 4 4 Ohio State 50 5 5. Florida State 50 6 6.LSU 50 7 /.Tennessee 44) 8 8. Nebraska 4-0 13 9. Arkansas 4-0 12 10. use 3-1 2 11. Michigan 4-1 10 12. Georgia 3-1 11 13 Texas 3-1 14 14. Kansas State 4-1 16 15. Wash. State 4-1 21 16. Washington 3-1 17 17. Pittsburgh 3-1 19 18.Minnesota 50 20 19.lcwa 4-1 9 20. N. Illinois 4-0 22 21.TCU 4-0 18 22. Oregon 4-1 14 23. Raida 3-2 — 24. Purdue 3-1 — 25. NC State 3-2 r (As voted by The Battalion sports staff, first place votes in parentheses.) QUOTABLE Ag defense collapses in second half By Rob Phillips THE BATTALION Texas A&M football coach Dennis Franchione knew contain ing Pittsburgh’s prolific offense wouldn’t be easy, but he never imagined his team would award them so many opportunities. Costly turnovers and a sec ond-half defensive collapse by Texas A&M (2-2) allowed No. 19 Pittsburgh (3-1) to coast to a 37- 26 win Saturday at Kyle Field. Three A&M fumbles — one snap and two punt returns — resulted in 16 of the Panthers’ 37 points. “We had a 500-yard day offensively but we had some missed opportunities and turnovers,” A&M head coach Dennis Franchione said. “You can’t turn the ball over three times on our side of the 50 and win football games.” Both teams had similar stats, as A&M amassed 544 total yards to No. 19 Pittsburgh’s 478. However, the Panthers played nearly flawless football, committing only one turnover in the game and engineering three touchdown drives of at least 80 yards. Pittsburgh quarterback Rod Rutherford torched the Aggies’ secondary for 283 yards and five touchdowns. His main target was sophomore wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald, who finished with seven catches for 135 yards and three touchdowns. The Aggies clung to a 13-9 halftime lead but could not slow Pittsburgh’s ignited offense in the second half. In the final two quarters, Rutherford threw four touchdowns and the Panthers’ rushing attack, led by backup running back Jawan Walker, gained 139 yards. Pittsburgh head coach Walt Pitt of despair JP Beato III • THE BATTALION Pittsburgh wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald makes a catch between Texas A&M's Sean Weston (31) and Ronald Jones (23) during Saturday's game. Harris said he was proud of his team’s inspired performance after last week’s 35-31 upset loss to Toledo. “A lot of people jumped off the bandwagon, but those peo ple don’t matter,” Harris said. “What matters is those guys in the locker room and those coaches, and the fans that came believed in us.” A&M wasted a golden first- quarter opportunity when soph omore quarterback Reggie McNeal fumbled at Pittsburgh’s 8-yard line. The Panthers recov ered and executed a 93-yard drive that culminated with a 34- yard touchdown pass from Rutherford to Fitzgerald. Save for the impressive drive, the Aggies kept Rutherford under wraps in the first half, limiting him to just four comple tions. The Pittsburgh offense exploded at the start of the sec ond half, however, manufactur ing two consecutive 80-yard drives for touchdowns to take a 23-13 lead. A&M kicker Todd Pegram missed a crucial third-quarter field goal that would have evened the score at 16. Aggie wideout Terrence Thomas then muffed a punt return at the Aggies’ 15-yard-line, which led to Pitt’s third touchdown drive of the quarter and pushed its lead to 30-13. “We’re not good enough to overcome those kinds of plays,” Franchione said. Early in the fourth, after McNeal left with an injury, A&M closed the gap to 30-20 with an eight-play, 75-yard touchdown drive capped by a touchdown pass by backup quarterback Dustin Long. The Aggies wouldn’t get any closer, however. A bright spot for A&M was freshman running back Courtney Lewis, who ran for 57 yards on nine carries and caught three passes for 73 yards. McNeal went 12-for-22 for 215 yards and one touchdown along with 52 yards rushing. Long finished the game and threw for 102 yards, one touch down and one interception. Lranchione would not dis close McNeal’s injury to the media but said he could have continued playing. “I would say probably Reggie starts (next week at Texas Tech),” he said, “but I get the right to reserve (my decision).” Aggie secondary can't keep pace with Panthers' aerial attack By Blake Kimzey THE BATTALION The Rod Rutherford-to-Larry Fitzgerald show came through College Station Saturday afternoon and, as adver tised, one of the nation’s leading offensive combinations proved there is substance to the gaudy numbers the two have produced. Even with home field advantage, it remained to be seen if Texas A&M could stem the tide and hold the Panther pass ing attack in check. A&M held tough through the first half before the levee broke and the Panthers’ impressive offense poured forth. It took some tweaking at half time, but Pittsburgh found a way to grind down the A&M defense in its first ever trip to Kyle Field. “We do like we always do, we didn’t panic,” said Pittsburgh coach Walt Harris. “We held the course and we continued to do what we thought was open. We ran the ball and threw the ball and it was well exe cuted. Rod came on in the second half.” Rutherford, the nation’s leader in pass ing efficiency, wasn’t shy about throwing to Fitzgerald seven times for 135 yards. The 6-foot-3-inch sophomore leads the nation in receiving yards per game, aver aging nearly 150 yards per contest. As the anchor of the Pittsburgh offen sive attack, Rutherford picked the Aggie secondary apart for five touchdown passes, three of which were caught by his favorite and most reliable target: Fitzgerald. “Their receivers were some big guys, but that really doesn’t make a difference if you are in position,” sophomore safety Jaxson Appel said. “(Fitzgerald) is prob ably the best I’ve ever played against and he’ll make a lot of money playing this game one day.” By the time A&M tried to fill the gaps in its defensive secondary, the Panthers had already hit the ground running. The Aggie defense, banged up as it was, man aged to hold Pittsburgh to just 56 yards rushing in the first half; that number bal looned to 195 by the end of the game. Pittsburgh sophomore tailback Jawan Walker, subbing for an injured Brandon Miree, racked up 81 of his 96 yards rush ing in the second half; Walker punished the Aggie defense by running hard and over the A&M defenders. The 37-26 Panther victory came down to the collapse of the A&M defense as much as it hinged on the play of Rutherford and his corps of seasoned receivers. Fitzgerald; who garnered the praise of A&M Head Coach Dennis Franchione, snatched passes out of the air at will. “Fitzgerald may be as good a receiver as I’ve ever seen,” Franchione said. “If he’s not on ESPN highlights tonight, I don’t know.” Growing up as a ball boy for the Minnesota Vikings, Fitzgerald took notes from Chris Carter and Randy Moss that he still studies before each game. Not to be outdone, Rutherford fin ished in a typical fashion with 320 yards of total offense, 283 of which flew over the heads of the Aggie defense. “We are at a disadvantage with them having a really good player (in Fitzgerald),” said A&M defensive coordi nator Carl Torbush said. “I don’t know if we were at any more disadvantage than anyone else has been. I’ve said it before, the only position that hasn’t grown (in size) is cornerback.” No. 3 Aggies post fifth shutout in final non-conference tilt i i Joshua Hobson • THE BATTALION Texas A&M freshman forward Kat Krambeer makes a pass Sunday against Washington State. Krambeer scored a goal in the 2-0 win. By Troy Miller THE BATTALION Texas A&M finished off its non-conference soccer schedule Sunday at the Aggie Soccer Complex by posting yet another shutout, defeating Washington State 2-0. Now all eyes are on the Big 12 Conference, where just about anything can happen. “There were a lot of upsets in the conference today,” said A&M coach G. Guerrieri. “Oklahoma beat Texas, Texas Tech beat Kansas, those are some really eye opening results. We’ve got to get ourselves ready because the next team we’re playing, Oklahoma State, is 10-0.” The No. 3 Aggies already have a conference win under their belts as they beat Oklahoma 4-1 Friday before taking the field against Washington State (3-6). The Cougars came out strong looking for the upset, but it was two spectacular first-half goals that gave the Aggies (8-1) the edge. After several good scoring chances throughout the first half, the Aggies finally got on the board in the 34th minute on a goal by freshman forward Kat Krambeer. Senior midfielder Kristen Strutz played a beautiful serve into the 18-yard box onto the feet of Krambeer, who buried the shot low and to the left of Cougar goalkeeper Katie Hultin. Eight minutes later sophomore midfielder Becky Olson, with her back to the goal, turned with the ball and struck an arcing shot from the top of the 18-yard box that ducked into the upper left corner of the goal just beyond the outstreched arm of Hultin. “It’s a shot that I’ve been waiting on all year,” Olson said. “Eve been practicing it all the time and (assistant coach Phil Stephenson) has so much confi dence in me to take that shot.” The second half saw the Aggies put seven shots on the Cougar net while A&M sopho more goalkeeper Kati Jo Spisak made two of her five saves in the half to preserve the shutout. On paper, the statistics may look good, but Guerrieri was not ecstatic about the play of his team in the second half. “I wasn’t pleased with our effort in the second half,” Guerrieri said. “It was the first time that we allowed our youth to show a little bit. If we’re going to win championships, champions don’t do that.” Now the Aggies must move on to face the Big 12 Conference and defend their 2002 Big 12 regular season championship. “We’re starting over really,” Olson said. “This is a completely different season. This is where championships lie in our hands.” The Aggies face off against Oklahoma State in Stillwater Friday at 7 p.m. SPORTS IN BRIEF Former A&M asst, to take over 'Zona TUSCON (AP) — Arizona coach John Mackovic was fired on Sunday, five games into the third season of his tumultuous tenure in Tucson. Defensive coordinator Mike Hankwitz will take over as inter im coach for the remainder of the season. A national search was planned to find a succes sor for next season. Athletic director Jim Livengood announced the firing at a news conference in Tucson. “John is a good man and a good coach and a good friend,” Livengood said. “It’s not a deci sion that was made without an awful lot of thought put into it.” Livengood offered no specific reason for the firing. “There’s no one single event, no one happening, that all of a sudden had a weight to it,” he said. Mackovic, who turns 60 on Wednesday, survived a player mutiny last season after tearful ly promising to do a better job of communicating.