Looking ahead
Defense wants to prevent big plays by Arkansas State

By Danny Horne
sports editor

If the Horned Frogs are looking ahead to next week’s trip to Navy and overlooking a winless Arkansas State team, they are doing a good job of covering it up.

Head coach Dennis Franchione said the winless Indians team could be the best offensive club they have seen so far.

“This is a good offensive club with several different weapons that could beat you,” he said. “They’ve got good speed at wide receiver, tailback and quarterback. Our defense will need to make some big plays this week. We can’t let (a speedy Arkansas State team) get the big play.”

The Indians’ offense features senior wide receiver Robert Kilow, senior quarterback Cleo Lemon and junior tailback Jonathan Adams. Based on last season’s game and this season’s offensive production, defensive coordinator Gary Patterson said there is good reason to take this team very seriously.

“They’re 0-3 right now, but they could easily be 2-1,” Patterson said. “They lost to undefeated (North Carolina State) in double overtime by a touchdown, and lost on a last-second field goal to Memphis last weekend.

“Memphis has played well defensively this season, but (Arkansas State) was able to put together a strong offense.”

Through three games, Kilow has 20 catches for 323 yards and one receiving touchdown and averages more than 27 yards per kickoff return. He averages 163 all-purpose yards per game.

Kilow suffered a slight concussion last week and has missed practice time this week after undergoing tests. Arkansas State head coach Joe Hollis told the Associated Press that Kilow should be ready to play on Saturday.

TCU spent much of last season’s game trying to play with double-coverage on Kilow, and held him to one catch for 15 yards. In the process, Adams was able to run for 155 yards and two touchdowns, one of which went for 51 yards.

“We aren’t looking to double-team Kilow as much this season,” Patterson said. “We want to put more into stopping the run. We know we might not completely shut down the offense, but we can try to stop the big plays.”

TCU was burned last week by a big play, despite winning 41-14. Northwestern had 258 yards of total offense, but scored 14 points on plays of 39 and 73 yards.

“If you take out the big plays, then they have about 150 total yards,” Franchione said. “We can’t expect to just give up 150 total yards each game, but we can say we need to stop the big plays.”

Franchione said he wants the offense to be less conservative this season than it was in last year’s 24-21 victory against the Indians.

“Last season was (sophomore quarterback) Casey Printers’ first (start) as a freshman, so we took a more conservative approach,” Franchione said. “This game should be different. We plan to attack (the Arkansas State) defense more Saturday.”

Danny Horne
bravestcu3116@mindspring.com

By Chris Ray
skiff staff

Men’s tennis head coach Joey Rive isn’t one to gamble, but with the hand he has been dealt he can’t resist.
Rive, hired by TCU just prior to the semester, likes the look of his team, especially his strong senior class.

“This team doesn’t just have leadership — it’s like a sense of purpose,” Rive said. “They know what has to be done in practice and the match, and they go out and take care of business.”

At the number one position, senior Esteban Carril, is currently ranked sixth in the NCAA. Carril won the Western Athletic Conference Player of the Year honors after the 1998-99 season and led the Frogs with a 29-9 dual record that year.

“Esteban Carril is one of the greatest players I have ever coached,” Rive said. “Besides that fact he is an overall good person. As a coach he gives the feeling of security. You know he is going to give it his all and most likely win his match. It takes a load off my shoulders when you can guarantee a win in the top spot almost every time.”

Carril said he’s more focused on the team’s goals rather than his own.

“I would like to win another WAC title,” Carril said. “Everyone on the team wants to do that. The feeling last year was so good, we just want to do it again this season.”

TCU returns all of its ranked players and Carril said they could become one of the teams to beat.
Carril was one of the reasons the Frogs made it to the round of eight last year, Rive said.

Trace Fielding, a senior, is the number two player for the Frogs. He was 22-10 in dual play last season and 5-2 record in tournament play.

“(Fielding) will make a huge impact on this team when the spring rolls around,” Rive said. “The number two spot is a key spot and he fits the role well.”

Fielding, when coupled with fellow senior Petr Koula, held a 15-13 record in dual match dubles play last season.

“Trace brings a lot to the table as a tennis player,” Rive said. “He and Petr mix it up well on the court and have a good power game to complement great ability. They both will impact this team in singles and in doubles.”

Rive said senior Scott Eddins is also a strong doubles and singles player for the Frogs.

“Scott Eddins and sophomore Jimmy Haney, when teamed together, are almost unbeatable,” Rive said. “They are ranked No. 11 and play up to that ranking every time they take the court.”

Rive said the return of senior Martin Jirak from a season-ending injury last spring should also help the Frogs’ depth. Senior Sebastian Iannariello and Koula have a combined 37-24 record in dual play.

“It isn’t a question of who will step up and lead, they all want to win and make the team better,” Rive said. “The seniors on this team want to leave the university having left their mark as a team. They want to make an impact, and I think that the NCAA Nationals is the place to do it.

“They got there last year and they know what it takes to make the return trip.”

Chris Ray
j.c.ray@student.tcu.edu

Men’s golf team preparing for NCAA Preview
Frogs to play in invitation-only tournament at Duke U.

By Kelly Morris
skiff staff

After recently battling one of the nation’s toughest courses at the Inverness Intercollegiate Invitational, the men’s golf team now awaits the 7,054-yard, par-72 Duke University Golf Club, site of the NCAA Preview Sept. 25-26.

More importantly, it’s the site for the 2001 NCAA Men’s Golf Championship held May 30-June 2.
Of the 16 teams competing in this tournament, 14 of them are ranked in the top 20, according to the MasterCard Collegiate Golf Rankings. Along with last year’s national champion, Oklahoma State, the field also includes 10 top-ranked teams from 2000. The other six teams receive at-large bids based on geography or by performance in last season’s NCAA Championship.

Because the Preview features such an elite field and is an invitation-only tournament, head coach Bill Montigel said he is honored to take part in the tournament.

“We were not invited to play in last year’s Preview,” he said. “But with our 11th place finish at the 2000 NCAA Men’s Golf Championship, we got an invitation this year which (tend to be) very difficult to receive.”

The Frogs, who have never played the Duke Golf Club before, are taking full advantage of the Preview to familiarize themselves with the golf course before the NCAA Championship.

Sophomore Adam Rubinson said familiarity with a course determines his mental approach through his practice round.

“If I am more familiar with a course, I normally just take mental notes during the practice round,” Rubinson said. “But since I have never played the Golf Club, I will write more notes about yardage during the practice round to help me determine the right club selection.”

The players are using the last few days before the tournament to practice their short game and improve upon the areas of their game that were lacking at the Inverness tournament, Rubinson said.

“Besides resting, I am working on what I didn’t do particularly well at the last tournament,” he said. “I played the Colonial (Country Club) (Wednesday) and will practice today at Water Chase for three to four hours to improve my chipping and putting.”

Senior Aaron Hickman said he won’t let the Preview’s intense competition intimidate him.

“We are treating this tournament as any other tournament we play in,” Hickman said. “Because we have such a great schedule, we are used to playing very talented teams week in and week out. You have to earn your chance to play in the Preview. Playing in it is like a bonus for us playing so well last year.”

The five-man team heading to Durham, N. C., in order of their ranking, is junior Andy Doeden, Hickman, Rubinson, senior Scott Volpitto, and junior Steve Shuert.

Kelly Morris
k.l.morris@student.tcu.edu

By Chris Gibson
skiff staff

After taking last week off, the TCU rifle team is traveling east to face the University of Mississippi and Alabama-Birmingham on Saturday and the University of Memphis on Sunday. Both the Purple and White teams are expected to make the trip.

“We are all excited about this weekend,” sophomore Andy Berkhoudt said. “We have been practicing 1 1/2 to two hours a day, four days a week, since the beginning of school, so hopefully some of that will pay off.”

Berkhoudt said facing future Conference USA opponents doesn’t bother the team, they just try to remain focused.

“(Shooting) has more of an individual aspect than other sports,” she said. “It is better not to pay attention to the other team but to just worry about what you have to do.”

The riflers opened their season Sept. 9 with a second and third place showing in two matches against the University of Nevada.

The women shot in two matches against Nevada’s Blue and White teams. In the first match, TCU finished in the last spot with a combined score of 1390 to Nevada’s winning Blue teams’ 1508. The Frogs were able to bounce back in the second match, finishing just three points shy of Nevada’s winning Blue team, 1428 to 1425.

Only one of the two squads traveled to Reno, and assistant coach Hao Brown said the quartet of seniors Dena Putnam, Michelle Parker, Jennifer Millner and Amber Waska shot very well.

“We did really well considering it was our first match of the year,” Brown said. “We still need to focus more, and work on our concentration. There is definitely room for improvement.”

Brown also said while she and head coach Roger Ivy were pleased with the team’s performance, they realize that in shooting, it sometimes takes a match to get back into the swing of things.

The team returns home Oct. 6 for the Horned Frog Invitational.

Chris Gibson
c.j.gibson@student.tcu.edu

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