University of South Carolina Libraries
Gamecock Sports Schedule ■ Women’s soccer at Charleston So., Tue., 7 p.m. ■ Volleyball vs. Appalachian State, Tue., 7 p.m. ■ Men’s soccer at Davidson, Wed., 6:15 p.m. ■ Women’s soccer vs. Utah, Fri., 7 p.m. Elementary, my dear Watson Speedy sophomore gallops over Eagles for 215 yards, three touchdowns in 41-6 rout by Rick Johnston The Gamecock Despite a sluggish start on offense Satur day, the South Carolina Gamecocks.raised their record to 3-0 for the first time since the 1990 season as they downed the Eastern Michi I gan Eagles 41-6. The crowd of 80,922 was stunned on Car olina’s first play of the game, as sophomore Ryan Brewer fumbled a screen pass. The Ea gles capitalized on the turnover, with a 45 yard field goal from junior kicker Toller Starnes. On the ensuing drive, Carolina gave the ball to sophomore Derek Watson, the reign ing SEC Offensive Player of the Week, on five straight plays, gaining only 19 yards. The first quarter wrapped up with the Eagles holding on to a 3-0 lead. The second quarter began with the Game cocks facing more problems on offense. With the Gamecocks seemingly ready to score as they stood on the EMU 11 -yard line, the snap sailed over quarterback Phil Petty’s head, caus ing a loss of 19 yards. The Gamecocks failed to convert on fourth down, giving the Eagles the ball on their own 30-yard line. The Gamecocks got the ball back and start ed to find their groove. Watson scurried 32 yards to the EMU 21-yard line, leading to sophomore Andrew Pinnock capping the dri ve with an 11-yard touchdown run. , Twenty seconds later, Carolina capital ized on an EMU fumble caused by junior line backer Kenny Harney, giving Carolina a 14 3 lead. “I was pleased they worked their way in to the game,” head coach Lou Holtz said. “That’s what good teams do. You aren’t al ways going to come out and have everything happen.” The Gamecocks continued their offen sive onslaught, as Petty found junior wide re ceiver James Adkisson five times on the last drive of the first half, which was canned bv a Sean Rayford The Gamecock Gamecock running back Derek Watson gets pulled up by wide receiver James Adkisson after scoring one of his three touchdowns in USC’s 41-6 win over Eastern Michigan. Watson rushed for more than 200 yards. 22-yard Keid bethea held goal. I he Game cocks went into the locker room with a 24 3 lead. Adkisson finished the half and the game with an even 100 yards receiving. “I wanted to be a difference maker, but I came to help out,” Adkisson said. “I’m glad I had a chance to help out in the passing game. Normally it’s in the running game. I’ve been helping to support Derek, which I have no problem with that.” The second half proved to be more of the same, although tliis time it was definitely Wat son with the big numbers. With about eight minutes left in the third quarter, Watson broke off a 65-yard touchdown nm, and after a Betliea kick, Carolina had a 31-3 lead. “The only thing I was thinking was ‘Please let me get into the end zone,”’ Watson said. It d be kind ot embarrassing to have the kinc of day that I had and then get ran down bj somebody.” Whtson’s run wasn’t without controver sy, however. It appeared that Adkisson com mitted a clip as Watson streaked down the sidelines. “I wasn’t worried, but when I was jogging back after the touchdown, I saw Coach Holtz looking at me and (receivers) coach (Todd! Fitch stepped in front of me and told me tc come here. Coach Fitch had that look and 1 knew I was fixing to get it,” Adkisson said Eastern Michigan tacked on a field goal early in the fourth quarter, but Carolina addec an exclamation point to the game as freshmar running back Trevin Smith had an 80-yarc touchdown run late in the game. With the Bethea kick, Carolina won 41 -b. Watson ended the game with 215 rushing yards, totaling 422 yards in the young season, already surpassing his total front last year. “Let’s not put him in the Hall of Fame. He isn’t in the "Hall of Fame. He’s had three very good games and he’s playing very well,” Holtz said. Of the game, EMU coach Jeff Woodruff called it “a good learning tool.” “It was evident that Carolina was bigger, stronger and faster than our guys, but we play for execution and to get better no matter what the score is at the end of the game,” Woodruff said. The sports desk can be reached at gamecocksports@hotmail.com. “Squeaky” leads Carolina attack i by Jared Kelowitz The Gamecock The USC football team is off to its first 3-0 start since 1990. Along with the steadfast Gamecock defense of the past few sea sons, the offense has also begun to come into its own. The Gamecocks, who scored a total of eight touchdowns as a team last year, already have bested that number with a total of 13 in the first three games of 2000. Anchoring the Gamecocks’ offense thus far this season has been their running game. The ground attack, comprised of sopho mores Derek Watson, Andrew Pinnock, junior Carlos Spikes and redshirt junior Phil Petty, have accounted for 673 total rushing yards, more than half of Carolina’s 1,217 yards of total offense, and 12 out of 13 of the team’s scores. “Derek Watson was exceptional. I hope we get in a habit of saying that. That’s the third week in a row we’ve been able to say that,” Coach Holtz said. Derek “Squeaky” Watspn is leading the running attack so far this season. The sophomore tailback and former S.C. “Mr. Foot ball” has rushed for 422 yards so far this season, which surpasses his 1999 total of 392. Watson has also scored seven touchdown so far this season, compared to none last year. In Saturday’s game against Eastern Michigan, “Squeaky” rushed for 215 yards on 20 carries and scored three touchdowns, all just one week after he crossed the goalline three times against the No.9 Georgia Bull dogs, and was named SEC Offensive Player of the Week. “You can’t iust look at a film and sav that was a {meat nlav. The great players are the ones that when you’re on your way back to the locker room after practice, you say ‘Did you see what he did today, did you see what that kid did today? “ Holtz said. Complementing the rushing attack with Witson are Pinnock, Petty, Spikes and freshman Trevin Smith. First year tailback Smith saw five plays from the line of scrim mage, and rushed for 92 yards. He capped his impressive inaugu ration with an 80-yard touchdown dash straight down the middle of the field with less than two minutes remaining in the game. Smith averaged an whopping 18.4 yards per carry. USC’s first TD came on an 11-yard scamper by fullback Pin nock. Pinnock carried four times on the night for 20 yards. Game cock reserve quarterback Spikes even got into the act as he car ried the ball seven times for 24 yards. f In the 41-6 blowout win against the Eagles on Saturday, Car olina was able to showcase some real depth in the backfield as they used seven different players at the positions of tailback and quar terback. Corey Alexander, Pinnock, Smith and Watson all saw time at the halfback slot. “Our running game is really working well right now. I mean, the offensive line is playing great, and opening a lot of holes for me. Everything is just coming together right now,” Watson said. i The sports desk can be reached at gamecocksports@hotmail.com. Students, fans exhibit genuine support ■ Tickets sell out; attendence at a record high by Jared Kelowitz The Gamecock With a 3-0 start to the 2000 foot ball season a renewed hope has resur faced among Carolina faithfuls. "It is actually fun going to the games this year, because there is a feeling that we always have a chance to win no mat ter who we're playing," said junior ac counting student Timothy Moxie. "It's pretty cool that the student section is staying for the full four quarters, too," 9 Moxie said. The first three games against New Mexico State, Georgia and Eastern Michi gan have all sold out at least two hours before game time, some actually days in advance. "Another thing that's changed this year is, you can't wait until the last pos sible moment to get your student tic'kets anymore. I go one of the first days they come out or else I won’t be able to get them at all," Moxie added. It is a change of pace from last year , when the student ticket distribution could n't give ali the tickets away. Only the Clemson and Vanderbilt game of the five home games reached full distribution. ! Last year, getting students to come to the 1 games was a chore, but getting them to < stay for a full game was somewhat Houdini-like. The only game last season where the majority of the student section stayed until the bitter end was against Clemson. "Last year I would stay and tailgate til day long, I didn’t care about the game, aut this year I leave Tally-ho early just ;o I don't miss the opening kick-off," sophomore journalism student Andy Nel son said. Along with the fans enjoying the ;ames more, the players are also feeding )ff the crowd’s intensity in Williams 3rice Stadium this season. "The fans have been great, and real y supportive of us this year. They've teen making a lot of noise and are in :redibly enthusiastic, and tonight they didn't tear down the goal posts which is probably agood tiling," quarterback Phil Petty said. "It’s great seeing all the stu dents out there, they are a big part of what we do," Petty concluded. Although the fans were notorious for early exits last season, some players feel that they liave always been supportive and a big part of Carolina athletics. "I think the fans have been great since I got here. They supported us last year when we were losing and, of course, they still are now that we're winning and turn ing this thing around," senior Cleveland Pinkney said. The sports desk can he reached at gamecocksports@hotmail.com. Sean Rayford The Gamecock Phil Petty looks for an open receiver during Saturday’s game. The redshirt junior quarterback passed for over 200 yards in the game. The Last Time The Gamecocks... Started a season 3-0 .1990 (Wins over Duke, North Carolina, Virginia Tech; finished 6 5.) Had a 200-vard rusher . .Oct. 5, 1991 (Brandon Bennett ran for 278 yards against East Tennessee State.) Had a 200-vard passing game.Oct. 24, 1998 (Anthony Wright threw tor 279 yards against Vanderbilt.) Had a player score three touchdowns.Sept. 7, 1996 (Duce Staley against Central Florida) Scored 40 or more points . ..Oct. 8, 1994 (Beat East Carolina, 42-56.) Women’s soccer wins its first game Women’s Soccer Roundup The Gamecock The South Carolina women's soccer team stopped its six-match losing streak, defeating Iowa State 2-1 for its first win of the season. Carolina moves to 1-6 on the sea son, while the Cyclones fall to 4-2-1. ISU had defeated No. 25 Georgia 2-0 on Friday. USC took the lead twenty minutes into the first half when freshman Jessi ca Julin connected with fellow new comer Becca Epstein for Epstein's first col legiate goal. The Carolina newcomers fought hard after USC lost four players for the remainder of the season. USC started four freshmen, including Julin, Epstein, Meredith McPartland and Sarah Hamrick. For the match, 10 newcomers saw action. The Gamecocks scored again at the 68:43 mark of the second half. Morgan McIntyre scored her team-leading sec ond goal of the season, an unassisted goal off a comer kick that sailed over ^ae head of ISU keeper Elizabeth Chapman. The Cyclones did not go down qui etly, cutting the lead down to 2-1 with less than nine minutes remaining. ISU midfielder Katie Antongiovanni took the pass from Nicole Williams and launched a 13-yard shot, beating USC goalkeeper Elise Matthews on the one on-one. Matthews and the USC defense were able to hold off the ISU offense the rest of the way, leading USC to its first win of the season. The two USC goals were the most scored by the Gamecocks in a single g;une this season. The two goals were also the most allowed by ISU goal keeper Elizabeth Chapman. "This is a tremendous win for us," Head Coach Sue Kelly said. "It is good to get the win, and it’s an out of region win as well. It’s good to get one on the ward, but we have played better and lost." Carolina returns to action Tues Jay, September 19 against Charleston southern on the road at 4 p.m. l 'f