By ROBERT CESSNA
Several people connected with the Texas A&M football program have been part of the rivalry with former Southwest Conference foe Arkansas that will be renewed Saturday night at Cowboys Stadium, but defensive coordinator Joe Kines has seen it from the other side.
Kines was on the losing end the last time the Aggies played the Razorbacks, which was his only A&M-Arkansas game.
A&M toughed out a 13-3 victory on Nov. 16, 1991, at Kyle Field en route to the first of three straight Southwest Conference championships under former head coach R.C. Slocum.
"I barely can remember what I had for breakfast," said the folksy Kines when asked what he remembered about the contest. Then after a few minutes, he did recall the great pageantry of walking into Kyle Field.
"And A&M had two running backs that were lighting it up back then," he said.
A&M quarterback Bucky Richardson and running back Greg Hill were gashing their way through the SWC until coming up against Kines' defense. ESPN's national audience saw a stunting, pursuing Arkansas defense hold 13th-ranked A&M well under its 35 points per game average.
Richardson had 83 yards on 19 carries with a score, but Hill needed 25 carries to get 47 yards.
The teams combined for 6-of-16 passing for 128 yards, which probably will be exceeded in the first quarter Saturday.
A&M head football coach Mike Sherman was the Aggies' offensive line coach in 1991. His other two games against Arkansas were a 23-22 loss at home in 1989 and a 20-16 victory at Arkansas in 1990.
"They were always great contests, whether we played over there or played here," Sherman said. "They were usually low-scoring games. A lot of times they were defensive efforts, from what I remember. I remember for the most part, as a line coach at that time, being frustrated that we didn't block them well enough at different times. They always had some big, fast guys running around, which is still the case right now."
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Kines' wife, Rubye, enjoyed her time in Arkansas from 1991-94.
"It's one of her favorite places, it's kinda like living in Mayberry -- seriously, [there are] great people in Arkansas," Kines said. "Chickens are big there, freight is big there and Wal-Mart is big there.
"When you'd go to the square on Saturday and buy a dozen ears of corn, you'd come home and there'd be 14 in the sack. It wasn't that the guy couldn't count, it's just that's the way they do business. It's really an enjoyable place to live."
Winters brought one main obstacle.
"We lived on a hill," he said. "Everything on Arkansas is on a hill. They'd block the street off and the kids would slide down the street [in the snow]. So you couldn't find your garbage can lid in the winter. Other than that, it was a good place to live, a really good place to live."
Kines even wore a hog hat and his daughter, Susan, still has one.
"[Aggies and Razorbacks] really love their schools," Kines said. "It takes a really, really good fan to put on one of those hogs hats, but they do it with vengeance."
Kines knows his way around the SEC. He's also coached at Alabama, Florida and Georgia.
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Other assistants on Arkansas head coach Jack Crowe's staff in 1991 were offensive line coach J.B. Grimes, defensive line coach Bill Johnson and running backs coach Ken Rucker -- all of whom would later coach at A&M.
Current A&M tight ends/special teams coach Kirk Doll was A&M's outside linebackers coach in 1991. Gary Reynolds, current director of football operations, was a administrative graduate assistant back then.
Southern Methodist's head coach in 1991 was Tom Rossley, current A&M senior assistant and quarterbacks coach.
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A&M's Big 12 Conference opener against Oklahoma State on Oct. 10 has been moved to 11:30 a.m. and will be televised by FSN.
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Four A&M students -- one representing each classification -- will accompany the team to Arlington and be on the sidelines, wearing 12th Man Jerseys.
"Hopefully, they won't have to go into the game," Sherman quipped.
There will be a drawing at Thursday's yell practice after the team's workout to determine the four students. That should be around 6:30 p.m. at Kyle Field, or in the indoor track facility if there's inclement weather.
"We have the best student body in the country and I appreciate their support this season and last season," Sherman said. "It's an opportunity for us to reach out to them and tell them how important they are to us, and give them an experience that maybe they normally wouldn't have been able to experience."
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Freshman running back Christine Michael (strained calf) and sophomore linebacker Ricky Cavanaugh are expected to play Saturday. There's a chance senior offensive tackle Lee Grimes (bruised ribs) could play, while sophomore wide receiver Jeff Fuller (broken right fibula) is probably 3-4 weeks away. Fuller should be off crutches by the end of the week.
"Jeff Fuller's leg is progressing real well based on the MRI we recently took," Sherman said. "I'm hopeful he'll be back sooner rather than later."
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A&M running back Cyrus Gray and defensive end/linebacker Von Miller both will wear No. 24 in the game to honor DeSoto High School's Corey Borner, who was paralyzed on May 6, 2009 in an accident during spring football drills. Corey, who is a junior this year, wore No. 24 in the spring.
Gray, Miller, defensive tackle Tony Jerod-Eddy and linebacker Garrick Williams are all from DeSoto.
Miller, who leads the nation in sacks, said the DeSoto network is much like the Aggie network. The players just felt this was the thing to do and Sherman applauded the move.
Robert Cessna's e-mail address is robert.cessna@theeagle.com.
TEXAS A&M FOOTBALL
* Saturday's game: Texas A&M (3-0) vs. Arkansas (1-2), 6:30 p.m. at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington
* TV/radio: ESPN2, Ch.28/WTAW, 1620 AM
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