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tnut « \COLLEGE STATION, Tex.— Folks are finding out about Texas AM’s Van Odom rather quicklythis football season.The Aggie coaching staff last year felt that the young defensive guard was one of the most underrated players in the SWC, even though he was the only sophomore in the defensive line.Game after game, Odom would be one of the leaders in tackles, but most of the notice fell on Van’s older brother, Lynn, who earned all-SWC as a senior. Side by side in the defensive front, the Odom brothers made AM’s defense tough up the middle.Things have changed in 1970. Now Van is the only veteran in the front four and in AM's first two games he has responded to the challenge.“He’s a fine player,” CoachREMODELINGand REPAIRGene Stallings says. “He works hard and is real tough. He’s acontact player.”Hard work is an asset on thefootball field but Van discovered it can have its drawbacks elsewhere. After weighing about 233 last spring, he spent the summer pouring concrete on a construction job. A combinationof hard work and some stomach problems caused him to lose a lot of weight and he was around 205 when faU drills started. He was up to 212 for the LSU game and hopes to be around 225 by the time SWC play starts againstTexas Tech Oct. 10.But first there are a couple of mighty big opponents waiting forOdom and the Aggies. When Odom lines up against Ohio State this Saturday and Michigan the next, he’ll get plenty of experience against a lot of muscle.I’m really looking forward to playing Ohio State,” Van says..t Unnl foomcOdom is a Corsicana native who was an offensive fullback and defensive tackle in high school. He played on AM’s first unbeaten freshman team in 1968 and made the All-SWC freshman team. He was an All-SWC sophomore last year.In 1970 he could keep his string going by making all-SWC. People are realizing that Van Odom is that good.He was in the middle of a lot of action the first two weeks against Wichita State and LSU. And, he’ll be battling to bring down ball carriers this week at Columbus,Ohio.— The Utah Stars of . the American Basketball Associationhavp run afrml a mpmhfir of the
Newspaper Details
Corsicana Daily Sun
Corsicana, Texas, US
Thu, Sep 24, 1970
Page 14
Full Page
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Lue O.
USA 25 Jun 2021
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