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WOMEN’S SOCCER vs. Auburn, 7 p.m. Friday VOLLEYBALL vs. Ole Miss, 7 p.m. Friday CONTACT ITS EQUESTRIAN at Georgia, Friday u ^ MEN’S GOLF at Carpet Capital Classic Story ideas? Questions? Comments? in Dalton, Ga., Friday E-mail us at gamecocksports(ahotmail.com MEN’S SOCCER at Clemson, 2 p.m. Sunday USC FOOTBALL USC loses overtime thriller to Vols GAME 5 gust 20 (3-2,0-2 SEC) T Tennessee (4-0,2-0 SEC) SOUND BITE “We prepared hard all week and the guys came out and played well. We just didn’t pull it out in the end.” DONDRIALPINKINS use QUARTERBACK 217 The Tennessee defense Came into the game giving up only 53.3 rushing yards per game but allowed 217, including 158 yards to Demetris Summers. 148 The Vols and the Gamecocks totaled 16 penalties for 148 yards. Both teams were called for crucial pass interferences, and USC was plagued with several false starts. 51.7 Tennessee punter Dustin Colquitt averaged 51.7 yards per punt, including a 63-yarder. He pinned USC down inside their 20 on four occasions in seven punts. He accumulated 362 total yards on the game. PHOTO BY JAMES DALTON/THE UT DAILY BEACON Tennessee's Cedric Houston runs between two Gamecock defenders in USC's 23-20 loss Saturday in Knoxville. Carolina has a bye this week . BY JIM ROCHE THE GAMECOCK The USC football team (3-2, 0-2 SEC) came up three points short of earning its first-ever win at No. 8 Tennessee late Saturday night in Knoxville. The Volunteers (4-0, 2-0) beat the Gamecocks 23-20 in overtime, despite another big game from USC’s freshman run ning back Demetris Summers, who ran for 158 yards off 27 carries. “I was concerned going into the game about Demetris Summers,” UT head coach Phillip Fulmer said. “He’s a fine back. They did a good job of moving around and getting him holes.” The high point of the game was the Gamecocks’ ground attack that out-rushed Tennessee 217 yards to 117 yards. Tennessee came into the game with a SEC leading best in rush defense, allowing only 53 rushing yards per game. Summers, who had 161 yards last week against UAB, had 115 yards at halftime, making him the first USC freshman to run for back-to-back 100-yard games since Thomas Dendy in 1982. USC’s kicking game looks to be back in sync as well after place kicker Daniel Weaver hit two crucial field goals, a 37-yarder and a 24-yarder that gave Carolina its only lead of the game in overtime. USC quarter back Dondrial Pinkins passed for 154 yards with one meaningless inter ception at the end ,, of the first half. plnk,ns Tennessee quar terback Casey Clausen finished with 149 yards and two touchdowns. The Vols jumped out first when Tennessee’s Marvin Mitchell blocked a South Carolina punt and Derek Tinsley recovered the ball just one minute into the first quar ter. Tennessee got on the board with a 9-yard touchdown pass from Clausen to C. J. Faulten to go up 7-0. Carolina had an answer, driv ing down the field 72 yards as Daccus Turman bulled into the end zone on a 1-yard touchdown run to tie the game. The Gamecocks racked up 68 yards rushing on the drive. In the second quarter, Carolina was stopped three-straight times on Tennessee’s goal line. On fourth-and-goal, USC’s Pinkins hit tight end Hart Turner on a wide open pass to tie the game at 14. But it was Weaver and Summers who kept the Gamecocks in the game late in the second half. Near the end of the third quarter, Weaver kicked a 37 yard field goal to tie the game at 17. In overtime, Carolina got the ball first and moved ever so close into scoring range after a Tennessee pass interference play. But the Gamecocks, who have suf fered from costly penalties all year, were penalized twice and faced a third down with 17 yards to go. Pinkins stepped up and hit Summers for a pass along the sideline but came up short of the first down marker. It was then that Weaver was called upon to try for a possible game-winning field goal. Weaver connected from 24 yards out to put the Gamecocks up 20-17. Tennessee gave the ball to run ning back Cedric Houston who ran for 21 yards on Tennessee’s first couple possessions in over time. The Vols faced third down and three when Clausen hit wide receiver James Banks on a 4-yard touchdown pass for the winning score. “In the second half, our defense had an excellent game, never let ting them in field-goal range,” USC head coach Lou Holtz said. “The TD in overtime was a disappoint ment.” Pinkins was also disappointed after the game and said his team must find a way to move on to pre pare for upcoming games. “We prepared hard all week ^ and the guys came out and played , well,” Pinkins said. “We just couldn’t pull it out in the end.” The Gamecocks now face their bye week and will not play again until Oct. 9, when the Kentucky Wildcats come to town for a Thursday-night game that will be broadcast on ESPN. Comments on this story?E-mail gamecocksports@hotmail.com Men’s soccer drops first two games BY JAY POU THE GAMECOCK The llth-rahked USC men’s soccer team suffered its first two losses of the season in the Husky Classic in Seattle, when it lost to Portland on Friday afternoon and to No. 22 Washington on Sunday. USC (7-2) lost its first match of the season 2-0 to Portland (5-5) de spite out-shooting the Pilots 15-14. The Gamecocks held the match scoreless through the first period, but Portland struck at 55:58 with a goal by Christopher Sanders from six yards out. Kyle Tanner and Bobak Talebi assisted on Sanders’ goal, his fourth of the season. Portland added an insurance goal 17 minutes later off a free kick. Eric Cronkite passed to Paul Robinson, who headed in the Pilots’ goal to provide the final margin. The Gamecocks held a 5-4 ad vantage over the Pilots in comer kicks. Freshman goalie Brad Guzan had six saves for Carolina, while the Pilots goalkeeper recorded three. The Gamecocks were shut out again on Sunday, dropping a 3-0 decision to Washington (6-0-1). Despite the loss, USC again out shot its opponent by a 14-11 mar gin, including 12 shots in the sec ond half. Carolina also held the edge in corner kicks by a 6-2 margin. The Huskies’ first goal came at the 24:06 mark on a Leo Totev goal, his fourth of the season. Totev, as sisted by Sean Giudice, slipped the ball past Guzan to give Washington a 1-0 lead going into the second period. Washington quickly put the game out of reach in the second pe riod, scoring two goals within a one minute span to put the Huskies up 3-0. Casey Armstrong headed in a Totev comer kick at the 53:33 mark. Totev netted his second goal of the match a minute later. Guzan had three saves for the Gamecocks, compared to the Huskies’ Danny Waltman who recorded six saves. The loss to Portland gives the Gamecocks a 1-2 record in the all time series, with all three meet ings taking place in neutral sites. USC has now gone head-to-head with Washington four times, with the Gamecocks leading the series 2-1-1. Washington remains unbeaten this season, coming into Sunday’s match riding a 2-1 victory over Kentucky on Friday afternoon. Portland evened out its season record Sunday afternoon, handing Kentucky its second straight 2-1 loss. USC is now 38-22-9 in road tour naments during the past 26 years, including two wins posted earli er this season in the Aaron Olitsky Memorial Classic in Charleston. This was the second time the Gamecocks have competed in the Husky Classic; their first first trip was in 1992. Carolina posted a 1-0-1 record in that tournament, defeating Portland and tying Washington. The Gamecocks will try to get back on the winning track Oct. 5, when they head to in-state rival Clemson for a 2 p.m. kickoff. Comments on this story?E-mail gamecocksports@hotmail.com PHOTO BY MARK SCHILLING/THE GAMECOCK Forward Ryan Deter lines up for a shot against Appalachian State. USC lost Its first two games this weekend in Seattle. Saturday’s collegefootball games proved to be real kickers BRAD SENKIW GAMECOCKSPORTS@HOTMAIL.COM Many games came down to last-minute plays, kicks When Friday came and it sunk in that I wouldn’t be attending the USC-Tennessee game in Knoxville on Saturday, a sharp pain of dis appointment struck my heart. I thought of the steak dinner for the media that I was giving up, the time I could spend with family th^t live in Knoxville and, most of all, the chance to see the Gamecocks break their losing streak at Neyland Stadium. But, as it turned out, staying at home was the right decision for me, as I witnessed what was pos sibly the most entertaining day of college football in recent memory. Since I had no travel plans, watching every game possible was the only staple on my uneventful agenda. And it proved to be one crazy afternoon for any football enthusiast as I watched Florida hreak the hearts of Wildcat fans in Lexington, Ky., witnessed the sight of four amazing overtime games and saw the determination of the USC football team from the comfortable seat of my living room. When I heard the Gators were kicking off the afternoon against Kentucky, instant blowout came to mind, but I knew this series has been cjose, and Florida was throw ing a freshman quarterback into the lion’s den. Florida’s Chris Leak pulled a Brock Berlin by proving to be overmatched and confused in the first half to earn ing the respect of Leak every Gator play er and fan with a spectacular comeback. While this wasn’t the Bluegrass miracle that LSU pulled on Kentucky last season, losing to a team you were demol ishing 21-3 with 10 minutes to play in the fourth quarter isn’t something to remember. There were no moral victories for Jared Lorenzen in this one, as Leak threw two touchdowns late in the game and Kentucky’s place kicker missed an opportunity to send the game into what would have been the first of many SEC overtime games. With the Florida-Kentucky thriller coming to a close, I was in for a couple of other surprises with Wake Forest at Virginia and Arkansas visiting Alabama. The Virginia game proved to show what I’ve been thinking for several weeks now: Wake Forest really isn’t that good and Virginia is better with Matt Schaub, but not great. With-the two teams battling to the death, a kicker once again proved wor thy of being a hero as UVA pulled out the 27-24 victory. Alabama, like Kentucky, was a laugher as the team gave up a 31-10 lead in the second half to lose in the second overtime 34-31. This showed how tough Arkansas is and how they never abandoned their offensive-playcalling to pull off a shocking comeback. Matt Jones isn’t a prototypical quar terback but is one heck of a lead er. On the other hand, Alabama’s loss doesn’t mean much because the team can’t win an SEC title be cause of probation. But the Roll Tide can change its nickname to the “Roll-overs.” As the final game began in Tennessee and the Gamecocks played a tough one, it was great to see the heart and pride USC showed as a team. But, like always, they came up just short of a miracle against a Vol team that has many weaknesses. ... o ..... ,, Weaver So, what did all these incredible comebacks and late-game heroics teach me on that glorious Saturday? I learned that way too many kickers can decide out comes, and I don’t like it. With Kentucky’s kicker, Alabama’s kicker and the unmentioned Southern Cal kicker being scape goats for those team’s eventual losses, it seemed that on that day, the real playmakers weren’t doing their respective jobs. It just isn’t much fun when a 160-pound kid with a swinging leg has the entire fate of his team’s season resting on his shoulders while the lighting quick receivers and strong armed quarterbacks watch help lessly. I guess that’s just one of the special moments of irony that football brings us. Plus, it helps that if the kicker losses the game, he isn’t too big to get lynched by fans — not that I hope that hap pens — but it makes it easier if you’re a Wildcat, Crimson Tide or Trojan follower. I’m just glad Daniel Weaver can make it through another week. Senkiw is fourth-year print journalism student.