Football Preview [1996] Page: 4 of 7
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Football Preview
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The North Texas Daily
Page 5
Fall 1996
Page 4
Game 1, 7 p.m., Sept. 7 at Fouts Game 4,2 p.m., Sept. 28 at Texas Stadium
Game 8,2 p.m., Oct. 26 at Fouts Field
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Game. 10,1:05 p.m. (MST), Nov. 9 at Boise State
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the Huskies left the Big West last year to try their luck as an independent. The
downs in 1995, seven of which Poole caught.
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Head Coach; Chris Tormey
tions. A better pass rush would also help to keep opponents' scoring linebackers Steve Smith and Perry Amoo to anchor a defense that gave up 216 Nickname: Aggies
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Gary Coleman/NT Daily relies so heavily on the pass.
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The Huskies, like many of NT's 1996 opponents, will be led by a first-year
head coach. Joe Novak was the offensive coordinator last year. His team was
Location: Normal, Illinois
Founded: 1857
Nickname: Redbirds
Enrollment: 19,294
Colors: Red and White
Head Coach: Todd Berry
Conference: Gateway Football
Who: Arizona State University
Location: Tempe, AZ
Enrollment: 42,626
Nickname: Sun Devils
Colors: Maroon & Gold
Stadium: Sun Devil Stadium (73,656)
Head Coach: Bruce Snyder
Conference: Pac-10
Founded: 1876
Enrollment: 43,031
Nickname: Aggies
Conference: Big 12
Stadium: Kyle Field (70,210)
Head Coach: R.C. Slocum
Who: Boise State University
Location: Boise, Idaho
Enrollment: 14,930
Colors: Blue and Orange
Nickname: Broncos
Stadium: Bronco Stadium (22,600)
Surface: Blue Astro Turf
Coach: Pokey Allen
Stadium: Aggie Memorial (30,343)
Surface: Natural Grass
Head Coach: Jim Hess
Who: Army
Location: West Point, N.Y.
Founded: 1802
Enrollment: 4,000
Colors: Black, Gold and Gray
Nicknames: Cadets, Black Knights
Conference: Independent
Stadium: Michie (39,929)
Surface: AstroTurf 8
Head Coach: Bob Sutton
Game 6,2 p.m., Oct. 12 at Fouts Field
Vanderbilt University
Location: Nashville, Tenn
Founded: 1873
Enrollment: 9,500
Colors: Black and Gold
Nickname: Commodores
Conference: Southeastern (Eastern Division)
Stadium: Vanderbilt Stadium (41,600)
Head Coach: Rod Dowhower
Game 5, 3:05 p.m., Oct. 5 at Northern Illinois
Who: Northern Illinois
Location: DeKalb, Illinois
Founded: 1895
Nickname: Huskies .
Colors: Cardinal and Black
Stadium: Huskie Stadium (31,000)
Surface: AstroTurf
Head Coach: Joe Novak
Brandon Stewart and they will feature an offensive backfield of Sirr Park-
er, D'Andre Hardeman and Eric Bernard. The offensive line will again be
as. big and bold as any in the nation.
The only thing that could serve as a weakness on the A&M defense is
the secondary, but opponents have to be able to pass before the front line
or linebackers collapses the pocket with their sizeable and speedy players.
So how good a coach is R.C Slocum? You don't have to be Einstein to
win with the talent A&M assembles, but you don't go 68-15-2 in seven
years if you don't know how to manage players.
at Fouts Field
Who:
New Mexico State University
Location: Las Cruces, NM
Founded: 1888
Enrollment: 15,165
Colors: Crimson and White
North Texas will see one of its toughest opponents when it travels
to Tempe, Arizona to face the Sun Devils September 14.
ASU is loaded with talent and a peek at the All-West team shows
three Sun Devils to be the best of the West.
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position. The Wolfpack also lost key players who made up what was one
of the most potent offenses in NCAA football.
What Nevada lost on offense is being replenished quickly with Eric
Bennett and UT-Austin transfer John Dutton battling for the quarterback
job. Damon Wilkins will likely be a favorite target of the Wolfpack
passers.
Head coach Jeff Tisdel said he will start to rely more on a stingy
defense which is backed up by All-America candidate linebacker
DeShone Myles. Big West teams will also have to try to pass against a
Idaho, like NT did last Season, is making the jump into 1-A foot-
ball this year but will face a much softer schedule than the Eagles did.
The Vandals will feature quarterback Ryan Fien, who transferred
from UCLA in the offseason. Fien will have to prove himself first and
win the job away from Brian Brennan.
Second-year head coach Chris Tormey is coming off an impressive
first season record of 6-5 and once again he will be the benefactor of
a strong defense. The Vandals gave up more than 20 points in just four
games with an average of 17-6 points overall.
The Vandals will gain a lot of help from their line and also from the
linebackers, who are led by outside linebacker Ryan Phillips. The sec-
ondary is in need of help and that could
prove to be costly in a conference that
The Eagles third game at College Station Sept. 21 could easily be an
Quarterback Jake Plummer and wide receiver Keith Poole will like- responsible for putting up some impressive offensive numbers including __-__________________________
ly light up the Pac-10. Plummer threw for 2,222 yards and 17 touch- being 10th in the nation in rushing. Unlike some of the other NT opponents, Game 7, 2 p.m., Oct. 19
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Who: Illinois State University
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tailback Leeland McElroy and quarterback h’ors d'oevre for the Aggies before taking on Big 12 rival Colorado the
Corey Pullig lull you into any false security next week. A note to NT mommies and daddies. Hide the children before
about this team's strengths. The Aggies have this game starts.
one of the best quarterbacks in the nation in
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What the Sun Devils really have is a vast collection of senior talent. Huskies will join the Mid-American Conference in 1997.
Snyder has 43 of his 47 '95 players back and a strong defense should Northern Illinois features tailback Charles Talley, who racked up 1,540
help ASU to better its 1995 record of six wins and five losses. yards last season. But they probably won't be much of a threat in the air with
They can do that with a better defense which is backed up by line- sophomore Brandon Parker starting at quarterback in only his fourth game.
backers Derek Smith and Scott Van Der Ahe. But the Sun Devils will The Huskies solidified their defense somewhat with the addition of line--
return almost the same secondary unit, which had only six intercep- backer Mandel Hester,-who was out in'95 with a knee injury. He joins fellow
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Jim Hess is the kind of animated coach who tends to use colorful phrases
.when describing how bad his football team can be. The Aggies went 4-7 last
year with a 3-3 mark in the Big West. His offense was eighth in the nation in
offense and fourth in passing, but things will not be as productive this season
because of key losses.
Even though the Aggies lost quarterback Cody Ledbetter to graduation and
some of the school's finest receivers, they will be backed up by an improved
running game. Tailback Denvis Mann's 1,120 yards rushing in 1995 showed
that he can break out at any time.
The defense will see some key returnees in the linebackers, but the defen-
sive front is a questions mark.
"Unfortunately, we were horrible defensively last year," Hess said. "I have Punter Toby Gowin comes under attack fromAlabama defenders "We’vegone out4s Division underdogs
no idea to expect from our team this year." while trying to get off a kick. NT lost to the Crimson Tide 38-19.
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ILLINOIS STATE
Who: University of Nevada
Location: Reno, Nevada
Enrollment: 12,500
Nickname: Wolfpack
VANDERBILT Colors: Silver and Blue
Stadium Mackay (31,545)
Surface: Natural Grass
Head Coach: Jeff Tisdel
p. Game 3,4 p.m., Sept. 21 at Texas A&M
E Who: Texas A&M Aggies
5 Location: College Station, TX
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The Wolfpack was the team to beat in the Big West in 1995. Nevada solid safety in James Johnston, who like Myles, was a first-team All-
Illinois State is not exactly a powerhouse team in the nation, but Head Coach: Bob Sutton The Vanderbilt Commodores may have the toughest schedule in the entire went 9-3 on the season and undefeated in the conference. Their biggest American in 1995.
they are exactly what the Eagles need in a first game opponent: inex- The Cadets will play the Eagles for the first time at Texas Stadium Sep- NCAA. They begin with a home game against Notre Dame, then follow up disappointment was an overtime loss to Toledo in the Las Vegas Bowl. Nevada starts out the Xear with a tough road game at Oregon. That
perienced and undersized. tember 8 Army brings an impressive team to Texas and will give the Eagles with games against Alabama, Louisiana State, Georgia Florida and Tennessee. The offseason was one of many changes at Nevada. Long-time coach game should tell the Wolfpack much about its upcoming season, utatte
This is not to say that the Eagles will dispatch the Redbirds easily, moe than a handful of problems. With a schedule like that it will be hard to improve on last season's 2-9 record. Chris Ault gave up his coaching duties to focus on the athletic director the first game, Nevada will play 10 games that ate all very winnable,
but only that it is a better idea than opening up the season against Mis- Returning at quarterback is one of Army's best in Ronnie McAda. If his Rod Dowhower is in his second season at the helm of the Commodores. He Game 9 12:05 p.m. (MST), Nov. 2 at Utah State
souri in Columbia, as the Eagles did last season. offensive line can back him up, he can run the wishbone to his heart's con- took over for Gerry DiNardo who moved to Louisiana State in 1995. Who UtL State
First year coach Todd Berry comes into a team that Went 5-6 last tent. The running backs, Rashad Hodge and Ron Thomas are also threats to Dowhower is experiencing the same kind of growing pains that Matt Location: Logan Utah
year against such teams as St. Francis, Hofstra and Youngstown State, the NT defensive line. What should really scare the Eagles is that the Cadets Simon experienced lat year. Dowhower has placed quarterback Damian Allen Enrollment1 19 861
The redbirds are led by senior quarterback Bill Hagman, who threw ran up an average of 330.2 yards rushing per game in 1995.. after Ronnie Gordon proved to be a disaster there last year. Colors- Navy Blue and White
seven touchdowns and six interceptions. His favorite target, wide Army coach Bob Sutton brings his five-year, 24-30 record into this season Even the running game is a question for the Commodores. There is no Nickname Aggies
receiver Kenzye Henderson could give the Eagles trouble. with the hopes of a hard-nosed defensive front seven backing him up. experience in the backfield and wide receiver Duane Todd is the most sea- stadium- Romney Stadium (30,257)
Inexperienced linebackers and a weak secondary could make for a The defense is led by linebackers Stephen King and Ben Kotwica, who soned of the offensive crew. Surface- Bent Bluegrass
long season for the Redbirds. could give NT a nightmare of a day. Even if the Eagles pass, Army’s sec- The one aspect of Vanderbilt's game that could provide a spark is the Coach. John L Smith
ondary, with safeties Jerrold Tyquiengco and Tom Mullins could make it hard defense. Vandy returns ten starters including linemen Brian Boykin, Jay Stall- The Aggies of Utah State started off the 1995 season with a whimper,. The Broncos are joining NT and Idaho as newcomers to the Big
for the quarterback to hit his target. - ■ ’ worth and Matt Schuckman. Jamie Duncan could help to secure a linebacking going five games without a win. They pulled their season together by winning West Conferencethis season. The team finished its last season in the
corps that will have to cany quite a load. four of their last six games, finishing with a 4-7 record. Big Sky Conference with a 7-4 record.
Coach John L. Smith said he is hopeful that the '96 season will start Head coach Pokey Allen said he is excited about moving into the
stronger and has he pinned those hopes on an even stronger offense. new conference and Division I-A, but also said he feels that his team
"I think we re going to have a chance to win the league. Smith said. We re is very inexperienced because of the loss of,23 seniors.
bigger, stronger and we re starting to look like a football team. "We're going to be very young, but I think we're going to be very
The Aggies are starting Abu Wilson for the sixth season after the NCAA talented " Allen said.
granted the running back an extra year of eligibility. Wilson's a 6-1 207 pound Allen has announced the return of quarterback Tony Hilde and
senior who gained 1,476 yards last season and is considered to be an All- wide receiver Ryan Ikebe, who will anchor the Bronco offense.
American candidate for 1996. The strength of the Boise State defense comes up front on the line
Patrick Mullins will start his second season as the Aggies quarterback, with Sione Fifita and Chris Wing. The two combined for 11 sacks and
Mullins completed 209 of 383 passes for 2,774 yards, 12 touchdowns and 16 113 tackles last season. Both will have to duplicate or better their pre-
interceptions. > vious season because the rest of the defense is a big question mark.
Utah State's defense is anchored by end Danilo Robinson and Linebacker __________________________________—---------------------
David Gill. The one thing that most seemed to think held the Aggies back last Game 11 2 p.m. Nov. 16 at Fouts Field
year was their weak defense. Utah State will need a stronger defensive output Wn0. UniArsity of Idaho A
to take on non-conference foes Oklahoma State, Texas Tech, and BYU. Location: Moscow, Idaho I-AA
Enrollment: 11,730 IUAHU A
Nickname: Vandals VANDALS AA
Colors: Silver and Gold 45 §
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Football Preview [1996], newspaper, Autumn 1996; Denton, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1430532/m1/4/?rotate=90: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Special Collections.