Washington, Sporting New Look, Beats Texas A&M;, 19-6

L.A. Times Archives

Sept. 10, 1989 12 AM PT

Associated Press

SEATTLE — Don James unveiled his new one-back, short-passing offense Saturday, and things went well for his Washington Huskies.

With Cary Conklin doing the passing and Greg Lewis doing most of the running, the Huskies defeated 15th-ranked Texas A&M;, 19-6.

“It was fun to see our offense move up and down the field,” said the 56-year-old James, who is in his 15th year with Washington.

“It’s amazing to think we could run with the one-back offense and do to A&M; what they did to LSU last week,” he said, referring to A&M;’s 28-16 victory over the Tigers last week.

The Huskies scored only one touchdown, on a 22-yard pass play from Conklin to Mario Bailey in the opening quarter, but their new-look offense was a major success.

John McCallum kicked four field goals for Washington, from 35, 36, 36 and 37 yards.

“We knew they’d throw the ball more than they have in the past, but we didn’t think it would be like this,” Texas A&M; Coach R.C. Slocum said. “They kept us off balance with short passes and did a good job of running the ball.”

Washington’s defense, last in the Pacific 10 against the run last season when it gave up an average of 201 yards, held Texas A&M; without a touchdown.

Layne Talbot kicked a pair of field goals, from 32 and 27 yards, for the Aggies’ points.

Conklin completed 23 of 37 passes for 224 yards with no interceptions.

“I just went out there and played catch with the receivers,” he said.

Lewis had 29 carries for 133 yards.

Texas A&M; was held to 266 yards, only 77 on the ground.

Aggie quarterback Lance Pavlas completed 18 of 32 passes for 189 yards with one interception. Highly-touted Darren Lewis led Texas A&M;’s running attack with 52 yards in 15 carries.

“I’m getting discouraged,” Lewis said. “There wasn’t a whole lot of running opportunity that I could see.”

Washington linebacker Martin Harrison said: “I think we accomplished more than we expected to, shutting down a Heisman Trophy candidate running back and holding them to 77 yards. We heard a lot about being the worst defense in the league and we decided to go out and prove differently.”

Washington’s switch to a ball-control, spread-out passing offense with no fullback, was a dramatic change from James’ first 14 seasons in Seattle, when he relied primarily on a power-I formation.

Former Idaho coach Keith Gilbertson, added to James’ coaching staff since the end of last season, is somewhat responsible for the new look.

“I was very pleased with our offensive balance,” Gilbertson said. “But I know that we can play a lot better, particularly with our productivity inside the 20.”

Conklin said there are adjustments going from an I formation to a short passing attack.

“Instead of a five-to-seven step drop, I had to get the ball off quicker,” he said.

The Huskies used some power-I plays against Texas A&M;, but they went mainly with short passes from Conklin and Lewis runs. Conklin’s longest pass completion of the day was his 22-yarder to Bailey.

Washington led 13-3 at halftime, getting a pair of McCallum field goals in the final 2:11.