OCR Text |
Show Page 38A - THE HERALD, Pfovo, (Jtati; " Thursday, Aujrust 30, 1984 ' On Opposing Players White leaves By DOROTHY KNOELL Herald Sports Writer 1 It was late on a hot, humid night in Waco, Texas, during r the 1983 season football opener. The Bears' fine running back Alfred Andersen took the handoff and headed through a hole, legs pumping and knees high as he headed upfield for what looked like a " J long gain. Instead, Andersen ended up in a heap a few short yards beyond the line of scrimmage. Alfred Andersen, meet Leon White. Actually, Andersen isn't the first and won't be the last -- fh A "$?iC J7, ' I - "' ' " :r" 1 : """" player introduced to BYU's Leon White in that manner. In fact, White, a junior outside linebacker for the Cougars, introduces himself to opposing players that way quite regu- larly. ;r. V And while that type of intro- duction doesn't usually mark the beginning of a lasting friendship, it does leave a rather lasting impression. White has been making an impression since he first introduced himself on the fodtbal field at BYU BYU three years ago, fresh from Helix High in San Diego. The 218 pound VV J jf it imrt. White (then only about 208 pounds) had played safety and pre-seaso- Leon White (left) and Kyle Morrell greet Baylor running back Alfred Andersen as he comes through the line. pre-seas- soft-spoke- under control because you're not getting hit, you're doing the hitting." outside linebacker coach Ken Schmidt of White's adjustment from safety to linebacker. White said he didn't find college football that different from high school, except for the number of people who turned out to watch. "On the field, the game's not that different," said White, whose high school team won two championships during his three years of playing. "The biggest difference is the crowds and the TV camaras and such. That took some getting used to. "But," he added with a grin, "I got used to that pretty fast. It's great playing in front of so many people." By his sophomore year, White was a starter, playing opposite linebacker Todd Shell. He finished the year with 26 unassisted tackles, 61 assisted tackles and nine quarterback sacks. "It was great being a starter. There's more pressure when you're a starter, because you're expected to get the job done. But I'd rather be a starter and have the extra pressure than not be starting and have less pressure," White said, adding he was "pretty happy" with his play as a sophomore. This year. White has been n named to some lists and is expected to be one of the Cougars' top defensive players. n "That (being named is a great honor. It's a great honor even to be considered one of the top players in the league. 1 just hope I can uphold it," White said. 't Schmidt doesn't seem to think White will have trouble living up to his billing. "The great thing about Leon is that he does it all," Schmidt said. "He's got speed, quickness, good strength, agility. He can cover the pass, rush the passer and come up to stop the run. He's just one of the top notch athletes on the team." All-WA- C . 6-- hard-hittin- un- p BYU-Baylo- running back in high school. "I didn't know that much about BYU except that they passed a lot," he said of his high school days. "Bin (former BYU quarterback coach) Ted Tollner was good friends with my high school coach and he told me it was a good school. "He told me to make a visit here and check it out. I did and I liked it, so I came." And when he came, the Cougar coaches decided to make him into a linebacker. Which was just fine with White, since he'd rather be the hitter than the hittee. "I'd rather play on the defense," said White, who is as n and polite off the g field as he is and fierce on the field. "I like hitting, not getting hurt. When you play defense, you are more defensive points (with eight assisted tackles) in the Holiday Bowl against Ohio State. And that was when he was to just a freshman back-ustarter Brian Hansen. "You might say he picked things up very quickly," smiled White knows about getting hurt he missed half his high school senior year on the side- lines with a knee injury. Calcium deposits in his leg then forced him to redshirt his first year at BYU. He also knows a lot about hitting, as witnessed by his first year playing in a Cougar uni1982 form when he was finally healthy and ready to go. The impressions then came thick and fast. He was named e teams first game of the Vegas. year against Nevada-La- s He racked up seven tackles against Georgia. He led BYU in special player-of-the-gam- in the Tiger Coach Surprised, Pleased With Grid Job By TOM WALTON Herald Correspondent If you had told Steve Downey 10 years ago that he'd be the Orem Tiger. head football coach, he probably would have thought you "It was surprising to me to find that was coaching football. Really, my emphasis was more I on coaching basketball or base- ball," he said. Coming out of high school, star, but Downey was an he opted to attend the University Yet there he is, having been on of Hawaii on a basketball scholarthe Orem staff for eight years, ship. "I had a few scholarships for football, but I was just more five as the head coach. were crazy. all-spo- rt interested in basketball time," he said. at the for two years on t church mission, Downey transferred to Snow College in Ephraim where he starred in baseball, being named a JC He finished out his education at BYU. "I wouldn't trade coaching football for anything," said Downey. "For me, football has more you After a LDS time-ou- can' sink your teeth into than any other sport. It's more like a chess game. There are so many details that you can get involved in." Perhaps because of his involvement in baseball and basketball, Downey teaches finesse more than just brute strength. "You're not always going to have the good kids. Sure, I'd like to just be able overpower every team we play, but you just can't do that every year. "As a result, we don't try to overpower our opponents. We want to them," said te Downey. Downey goes on to explain. "Our whole program, both offense and defense, is based 100 on execution. I like to have smart kids in my program. Kids that know what to do. And then we just drill and drill and drill." |