Javs ready to win again

A&M-Kingsville looks to recapture team's past glory

By George Vondracek (Contact)


KINGSVILLE -- When one strolls through McCulley Hall on the Texas A&M-Kingsville campus there is an array of shiny golden trophies and black-and-white photographs of past Javelinas football legends, slowly fading after years behind glass.

Steeped in tradition from past greats Gerald Lambert to Randy Johnson to Gene Upshaw to Richard Ritchie to Darrell Green to Johnny Bailey to Earl Dotson to Jermane Mayberry to Roberto Garza, the program boasts seven national championships and 33 conference championship.

Therefore, the well-documented struggles during the past three seasons don't sit well in these parts.

Thus, there is a sense of urgency among the players to return to those days of grandeur as Bo Atterberry's second season as coach dawns.

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Javs geared up for season opener

KINGSVILLE -- Both Bo Atterberry and Chris Mussman agree that there are equal parts of optimism and uncertainty surrounding season-opening football games.

Players are energized, anxious to belt someone wearing different colors. Coaches are filled with angst, wondering if three weeks were enough time to properly prepare their charges for a game in which the variables are more like constants.

For Atterberry, who begins his second season as Texas A&M-Kingsville's coach against Mussman in his debut as North Dakota's field boss, there is one factor that cannot be denied: another 3-8 season won't be acceptable.

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Snap decision

KINGSVILLE -- The quarterbacking situation at Texas A&M-Kingsville the past three seasons has been interesting to say the least. Injuries and grade problems have put the position in a state of flux.

It isn't unusual for those issues to be part of a football team's strife. To have it happen at one position for consecutive years is atypical, and it has contributed to the Javelinas' struggles in the past 32 ballgames covering three seasons.

"I guess the offense wasn't meshing well," said Sinton's Daniel Ramirez, the sophomore who closed the season as A&M-Kingsville's starting QB after injuries felled freshmen Kolten Thigpen and David Garza. "You have that sense at quarterback and as a coaching staff, I believe, that whenever the offense starts jelling together you don't have to say as near as much as you did the first go-around.

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