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A Gamecock Sports Schedule ■ Men’s soccer vs. The Citadel, Fri., 5:30 p.m. M at Mt. Pleasant Invitational, Charleston L ■ U V V ■ ■ ■ Swimming at SEC East Tournament in Knoxville, Fri., AU Day ■ Football vs. Tennessee, Sat., 12:30 p.m. —— ... .. " Page 10 %\it 0aihCCOCk Friday, October 27, 2000 Gamecocks ready for Volunteers by Michael Haney The Gamecock It’s that time of year again. South Carolina prepares to take on Ten nessee, and the Volunteers come into town bringing their traditional aura of national and SEC Championships. Tennessee features one of the most suc cessful programs in the country over the past decade. Since 1989, UT has posted a 113-26 2 record (.810), won a national championship, claimed four SEC championships and par ticipated in 11 consecutive bowl games. This time is different however, as the 17th ranked Gamecocks (7-1, 5-1 SEC) are the ones vying for the SEC East title, not the Vols. “This is exciting,” nose guard Cleveland Pinkney said. ‘This is what I came here for, to play in big games. This is not the normal Tennessee game. Now it means something. Every game means something. We’re talking about championships. These are the type of games you live and die for.”’* Tennessee (3-3, 1-3 SEC) hopes to play the role of spoiler this weekend, as they will try to salvage a season that has turned out worse than most expected. With a victo ry over Alabama last weekend though, Ten nessee seems to be on the right track. Freshman quarterback Casey Clausen found a rhythm and was able to lead the Vols to a much-needed SEC victory. Clausen looked solid in his starting debut last week as he com pleted 17 of 24 passes for 213 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Vols to a 20-10 vic tory over the Crimson Tide. “Offensively is where they are really start ing to come together,” said South Carolina head coach Lou Holtz. “The offensive line is young. I think they finally settled on a quar terback, Clausen, who has really made them a dangerous football team. His confidence is going to do nothing but get better.” The game will feature two of the top three tailbacks in the SEC. Derek Watson and the Vols’ Travis Henry are second and third re spectively in SEC rushing. Henry ranks 23rd nationally in rushing and is averaging 102 yards per game. He is only the ninth player in UT history to rush for more than 2,000 yards during his career. Henry was a preseason All-SEC candidate. Derek Watson leads the Carolina rushing attack, averaging 109.5 yards per game. He ranks 16th in the country in rushing and is al so the team’s leading scorer with 10 touch downs, which is tied for second best in the SEC. The game will also showcase two of the nation’s best defenses when they meet this Saturday. The Volunteers rank 9th in rushing defense and are giving up an average of 2.6 yards per carry and only 79 yards on the ground. They are 19th nationally in total defense. “Derek Watson is gonna be a poster child in the Tennessee locker room. I can guaran tee you that,” Holtz said, implying that the Vol defense would key on Watson. The Gamecocks bring the 12th rated de fense in the country into Saturday’s contest. The Gamecock defense has yielded only 11 touchdowns the entire season and only 17 points in the fourth quarter. The Game cocks already have come up with 16 inter ceptions on the season to lead the SEC. USC has also allowed only two passing touch downs on the season, coming against Ken tucky and last week at Vanderbilt. This game always brings about a good bit of trash talking between the two teams as both schools heavily recruit in each other’s state. Volunteer defensive tackle and South Car olina native Albert Haynesworth threw the first punch. “It’s like, ‘Oh, what about them Game cocks, don’t you wish you would have gone there?’ “Haynesworth told reporters. “I’m like, ‘No, I really don’t.’ This year could be a fluke.” Carolina players Jermale Kelly, Brian Scott, Cleveland Pinkney and Derek Watson, all in-state players, were heavily recruited by Tennessee but chose the Gamecocks over the Vols. “Everybody still underestimates us,” said Kelly. “It’s hard because we’re 7-1 and we know people are doubting us. It kind of hurts because people are still downplaying us and think we’re no good.” “I want to go out there and show them that I’m a pretty good player and that I made the right decision to come to USC, Watson said. “I want them to leave with the feeling, ‘I can see why he came to USC.’” Haynesworth kept the talk alive by ad mitting that Watson is talented, but then added, “Supposedly, he’s their savior. I hope he can save them Saturday.” The sports desk can be reached at gamecocksports@hotmail.com. Sean Rayford The Gamecock Gamecock running back Derek Watson fights through the Georgia defense. Watson looks to have a big game against a Tennessee defense which is ranked ninth in the nation in rushing defense. : Sean Rayford The Gamecock USC quarterback Phil Petty has been a standout player for die Gamecocks this sea son, throwing for nearly 1,500 yards. Petty goes from scapegoat to winning quarterback in 2000 by Andrew Festa The Gamecock Seven starts have translated into seven wins for Gamecock quarterback Phil Petty. Petty was sidelined for most of the Al abama loss, USC’s only loss of the season, with an ankle injury. But upon entering the game, Petty fired a 19-yard touchdown strike to Jermale Kelly a little over a minute later, and the sparks he provided almost sal vaged the game for USC. Petty’s performance this season has proven the redshirt junior has what it takes to guide Carolina to victory. Petty came to USC as a highly touted re cruit from Boiling Springs High School. He was named Shrine Bowl Offensive MVP and the thirteenth ranked quarterback prospect in the nation coming out of high school. After being redshirted his freshman year, he completed 55 passes for 642 yards with seven touchdowns and five interceptions in 1998. In 1999, he started six games and threw 65 passes for 803 yards, one touchdown and seven interceptions in a season plagued with offensive line injuries. But with still three games remaining this year, Petty has completed 53.3 percent of his passes for 1,476 yards, rushed for 86 more, and added six touchdowns to go with five interceptions. He averages 195.2 yards per game, which trails only three players in the SEC. Petty, along with the rest of the Caroli na football team, is beginning to fulfill his potential. His career game came against Missis sippi State a little more than a month ago. Petty went 19-40 for 305 yards and two touch downs, including a 58-yard score to Corey Alexander - the longest touchdown pass of Petty’s career. Obviously, Petty and the Gamecocks have not always known this kind of success. Last season, with the team ending up 0-11, Pet ty was often viewed as the scapegoat for USC’s mishaps. “I have never been one to worry about outside opinions or whatever else,” Petty said. “But obviously when you’re inside the football team, you know what’s going on. You know what the problems are and stuff, and we overcame that, not just me, but a lot of guys did.” This season, with a new offensive strat egy and renewed team unity. Petty is having an outstanding year. The new offense spreads out the field and better suits the backs, of fensive line and receivers, Petty said. Petty said his goal for this year was to make it to a bowl game. Mission accomplished. USC is now 7-1 and has already locked up a bowl bid. Giving his feelings on the team’s situation, Petty now said he is happy to have, but is not content, with seven wins. “We’ve got three games left, and we can really do a lot in those three games,” Petty said. “That’s something we’ll work hard to do.”__ The sports desk can be reached at gamecocksports@hotmail.com. Men’s soccer receives eye-opener by Kyle Almond The Gamecock The USC men’s soccer team had been coast ing through its regular season schedule, jumping out to a record of 8-1-3, knocking off top-ranked Virginia and achieving a No. 5 national ranking. Last weekend however, it hit a speed bump. The Gamecocks (9-2-3) were upset by the Buck nell Bison 2-1 in the opening game of the Game cock Soccer Classic. USC did rebound in their following game, a 3-2 overtime win against Lehigh, but the damage was already done. The Gamecocks plummeted to No. 22 in the NSCAA poll. This weekend, USC looks to get back on track with a couple of games in the Mt. Pleasant Invi tational. Carolina will face The Citadel Friday, and then Charleston Southern Sunday. The tournament will take place in Charleston. Forward Jordan Quinn, the Gamecocks’ leading scorer, sees the Bucknell loss as an eye opener for the team. “Maybe looking at the polls got into our head.,” Quinn said. . “In the long run, though, I think that loss to Bucknell will help us.” Quinn also said the team’s recent problem of scoring goals can be attributed to a lack of con centration. “I think that we just aren’t focusing,” he said. “At the latter part of the season, guys are tired. Our efforts are there, we want to score, but when the ball is there lying in front of the goal, we aren’t concentrating. We’re hitting it over, hitting them wide and even over the fence.” Head coach Mark Berson agrees that focusing is the key for the Gamecocks. “The key for us is to focus on one game at a time,” Berson said. “And our total focus is on The Citadel Friday night.” The Citadel come into Friday’s meeting a strug gling club. The Bulldogs have a 4-11 overall record and are winless in the Southern Conference. Berson warns that the game won’t be an easy one, however. “It’s a big in-state rival, on the road, with a lot of fans in the crowd,” Berson said. “We know that it will be a tough situation to go into.” Host Charleston Southern has an overall record of 8-6-2 and a 2-3-2 mark in the Big South. The Buccaneers have defeated perennially strong UNC Asheville this season as well as North Carolina State from the ACC. After this weekend, the Gamecocks have on ly two more games remaining on their schedule. USC returns to Columbia to play No. 4 North Car olina on Nov. 5 and then Florida International Nov. 12. Berson stresses the importance of finishing strong. “A lot of the things that we want to accomplish for this season hang on the results of these last four games,” he said. As for dropping in the polls, the coach isn’t concerned. “We don’t dwell on [the polls],” Berson said. “That’s just somebody’s opinion. The NCAA Tour nament Selection Committee doesn’t dwell on that either. They have their own set of criteria.” Quinn, the team’s leading scorer with 10 goals on the year, says the Gamecocks are ready to get back on the field. “We learned from this weekend,” the sopho more said. “We want to get on a roll again.” The sports desk can he reached at gamecocksports@hotmail.com. Women’s soccer falls to Furman ■ Florida up next for Carolina by Casey White The Gamecock The South Carolina women’s soccer team fought hard but dropped its final road match of the 2000 sea son to the Furman Paladins in Greenville. This was the first win for Fur man (18-1,9-0 Southern Confer ence) against the Gamecocks (4 14,1-7 SEC), who entered the game with renewed strength after their win over Alabama last weekend. The first half ended with an empty scoreboard as both defens es silenced the opposing team’s of fensive efforts. Gamecock forwards Amy Cad dies, Kanika McAlpine and Becca Epstein proved to be key contribu tors up front, as they created chances for a Carolina score against a strong Furman line-up. Lydia Bienias led the defense in making it difficult for an outstanding Paladin offense that has notched 77 goals this sea son. Furman came into the second half with a newfound intensity, how ever, to blast three early goals past goalkeeper Jessica Freas in un der five minutes. Kaye Brownlee found an open Sarah Tollick to strike first for the Paladins at the 50:14 mark, driving the ball from the left side to the high right corner of the net. Paladin Emily Turgeon, as sisted by Danielle Petro, scored next on a breakaway run at the 51:46 mark to put the Paladins up 2-0. Soccer see page h