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Wednesday, November 26, 1997

Angelo State's roll reminiscent of 1989

By RICK TAYLOR / San Angelo Standard-Times

SAN ANGELO, Texas -- When Angelo State players and fans heard that California-Davis was beating Texas A&M-Kingsville on Saturday, they let out a hearty cheer.

The Rams have had their problems with the Javelinas in recent years and if they could avoid them in the playoffs, it might mean a long run for the Rams.

Then it began to sink in: UC-Davis actually beat Texas A&M-Kingsville.

It's one of those good news, bad news situations you always hear about: The good news is that Angelo State doesn't have to play Texas A&M-Kingsville; the bad news is that Angelo State has to play the team that beat Texas A&M-Kingsville.

"It's like living with the truth," Angelo State coach Jerry Vandergriff said. "We've risen out of the ashes of Kingsville one more time."

Vandergriff was hinting at the eerie comparisons between this season and the 1989 season.

During the 1989 season, the Rams were ranked highly all season and entered the Texas A&I game with just one loss. In a highly touted game in Kingsville, the Rams lost. While the Javelinas lost their first-round playoff game in '89, the Rams won a pair of playoff games to advance to the NCAA Division II semifinals.

Sounds familiar?

That scenario is playing out almost exactly the same this season. The only notable exception thus far is that Angelo State has not reached the semifinals yet.

That chance comes when Angelo State plays UC-Davis at 1 p.m. Saturday at San Angelo Stadium in the NCAA Division II quarterfinals. The winner plays the winner of Saturday's New Haven-Slippery Rock game in the semifinals.

The victory against Texas A&M-Kingsville was no fluke for the Aggies. They beat the Javelinas last season in the first round of the playoffs at Kingsville. They then turned around and beat another Lone Star Conference team, Central Oklahoma, in the quarterfinals before losing in the semis to eventual national champion Northern Colorado.

After watching game film from the Aggies-Javelinas game, Vandergriff knows fans won't go home disappointed.

"It has all the makings of a great, great football game," Vandergriff said. "There's going to be firepower the likes of which haven't been seen at this stadium in a long, long time."

Keep this in mind, the Aggies had more than 530 yards total offense and 37 points against A&M-Kingsville's defense, which was ranked No. 1 in the nation.

The Aggies are one of the few Division II teams left on the West Coast. They used to play in a California-based Division II conference that split apart in the mid-1990s. All of the other schools either bolted for Division I-AA or just dropped football.

Therefore, UC-Davis (8-4) has been competing as an Division II independent. The majority of the Aggies' games are against I-AA teams and top-flight Division II teams. Of their four losses, only one came to a Division II team, South Dakota State.

"They really run the gauntlet," Vandergriff said. "They're a very good ballclub. Teams are supposed to be like that at this point in the season."

The Rams are one of only eight teams remaining in Division II. They're 10-1 with a berth in the quarterfinals. Impressive milestones that don't escape Vandergriff.

"This is what you get in the business for," he said. "The great thing about this season has been watching these guys pull themselves up. Nobody could have predicted that we would be 10-1 at this point in the season and in the quarterfinals.

"The impetus for this has come right from those players."

What gives Vandergriff confidence this can continue is the way the Rams played in a 46-12 victory against Western State last Saturday. It was clearly the Rams' most impressive performance of the season in every aspect of the game.

The Rams won the offensive battle, the defensive battle and the special teams' battle. And they won all three quite handily.

"To see all three phases of the game come together was good," Vandergriff said. "That's the best football game we've played all year."

The defense was the best it's been all season, allowing only minus-1 yards in the second half. The only points the Mountaineers had were following a bad snap late in the second half that gave them the ball on the Rams' 13-yard line.

The special teams were outstanding. The Rams blocked a punt, kept Western State pinned deep in its own territory on punts and kickoffs and converted three field goal attempts.

The offense struggled early, but was devastating in the second and third quarters, scoring 29 points in the middle quarters. One of the reasons was the return of running back Eric Standley.

The senior had missed a month with a hamstring pull. The Rams running game survived nicely with Derrick King and Lewis Jackson - "They were a Godsend, they kept us rolling," Vandergriff said.

Yet Standley gives the Rams another dimension.

"The other backs are good, but Eric has it all in one package," Vandergriff said, citing speed, experience, strength and pass-catching ability.

The only thing different Vandergriff would like to see is better offensive execution for a complete game. Three first-half turnovers and 12 penalties will not beat UC-Davis.

"We need to see a full bag this week as well," Vandergriff said. "I know one thing, we can't turn the ball over and have the penalties we had or we'll get blown out of the park."

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Distributed by The Associated Press