Texas A&M comes up big
Posted: Wednesday October 14, 1998 12:37 PM
Here's why the true measure of a team is
the strength of its schedule: After Texas
A&M's upset of Nebraska, Aggies defensive
line coach Bill Johnson said the team had
learned how to play big games because
they had had plenty of them. Going back to
last year's Big 12 Championship Game,
four of the Aggies' last eight games have
been against Top Five teams: Nebraska,
UCLA in the Cotton Bowl, Florida State in
the Kickoff Classic and Nebraska again. The
schedule gets a little easier for Texas A&M.
Only two of its remaining six opponents are
ranked.
Cal bears down
With a 4-1 start, California already
has surpassed last year's victory total of
three. The Bears have done it by winning
close games, including last Saturday's 32-31
comeback thriller against USC. They've also
done it by letting the other team make the
mistakes. Cal has lost only one fumble after
losing six through five games last season. And the Bears have
intercepted eight passes, double last
season's total. Two of those picks have
been made by cornerback Deltha O'Neal,
who is also quite an offensive force.
Against USC, O'Neal had 240 return yards, a touchdown pass and two
catches. Oh yes: he also made four tackles
and broke up two passes.
Can Cowboys take Manhattan?
The best 2-3 team in the nation
has to be Oklahoma State. All six of OSU's
opponents, including Kansas State this
week, have been undefeated when facing
the Cowboys. The trip to Manhattan
Saturday will be the Cowboys' fifth road
game of the season -- but OSU is partly to
blame for that, having moved its Nebraska
game to Kansas City for a $600,000 windfall.
LSU on the ropes
After losses to SEC foes Georgia and
Florida, LSU has gone from West Division
favorite to hanger-on. Fans are in an
uproar, and the Tigers' game Saturday
against dangerous Kentucky is suddenly
huge. Coach Gerry DiNardo is taking a lot
of heat, but he is asking his team to talk of
solutions, not problems and to stick
together. "The tougher it gets, the tougher
we'd better get," DiNardo says, "because
there's a million people out there telling us
how bad we are." As if stopping Tim Couch
isn't pressure enough.
Sports Illustrated senior writer Ivan Maisel is a frequent contributor to CNN/Sports Illustrated.
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