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Friday, November 27, 1998
Williams vs. Nguyen highlights Texas vs. A&M
By JIM VERTUNO Associated Press Writer
AUSTIN - Inside Texas tailback Ricky Williams' apartment hangs
a Texas A&M helmet.
A trophy acquired after a great victory? Nope. Just a gift
from a friend, Aggies linebacker Dat Nguyen.
The two best players in the state's biggest rivalry face off
for the fourth and final time Friday in the 105th meeting between
the schools. Kickoff is scheduled for 10 a.m. with the game televised
nationally on ABC.
At 6-feet, 225-pounds, Williams is the front-runner for the
Heisman Trophy. He needs just 63 yards to break Tony Dorsett's
Division I-A career rushing record of 6,082 yards.
Nguyen, 5-11, 220, was born in a Vietnamese refugee camp in
Arkansas. He is sixth-ranked A&M's career tackles leader and
a finalist for the Lombardi and Butkus awards.
They are guaranteed to spend much of the game trying to run
over each other.
In three games against A&M, Williams has averaged 163.7
yards per game and 7.1 yards per carry. Nguyen has averaged 11.6
tackles over the same span.
"They are two of the best players at their position in
the country," Texas coach Mack Brown said. "The thing
I like about Dat, he plays with so much emotion. It looks like
he's having fun."
Williams and Nguyen met at the Playboy All-America team presentation
last year in Phoenix. Nguyen later gave Williams the helmet.
"I told him he'd better try to hide it until he got it
to his room. He might get in trouble," Nguyen said.
"We spent the whole weekend together. Whenever we could,
we sat down and talked about last year's game, his team and my
team," Williams said. "I have a lot of respect for Dat.
He's a great player."
The respect is mutual. Both players have sensed at one time
or another they didn't belong. Williams' dreadlocks turned off
some Texans. Nguyen's foreign background did the same thing.
"Most people like to stereotype you," Nguyen said.
"When they see him with his dreadlocks, they say 'Oh man,
he's different.' They look at me and see I'm Asian, and always
something comes to mind."
Nguyen said he hopes Williams breaks the rushing record - so
long as A&M (10-1, 7-0 Big 12) wins the game. Texas (7-3,
5-2) has won two of the last three in the series.
"He's gotten a lot of publicity, but it's nothing he doesn't
deserve," Nguyen said. "He's the best player I've ever
played against and I have to play against him four years in a
row. He is so powerful and so big. You want to drill him, but
you can't. You'd just bounce off him."
Williams' run at the record has taken over the usual rivalry
hype.
"This will be a historical game," Brown said. "Everybody's
talked about it. They are fully aware of every yard. There's no
question, those young guys are obsessed to help Ricky get the
record."
Dorsett will be on the sidelines for the game. Should Williams
break the record, the ball and his jersey will be sent to the
National Football Foundation Hall of Fame in South Bend, Ind.
Following the game, a two-minute video tribute will be played
on the stadium scoreboard.
The Aggies have won 10 in a row and the Big 12 South title.
A victory keeps alive their slim hopes of playing into the national
championship picture.
The Longhorns, who were 4-7 a year ago, already have qualified
for a bowl and hope to raise their profile in the bowl selection
process. They had won seven straight before a loss to Texas Tech
clinched the division title for A&M.
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