The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, September 30, 1974, Page Page 7, Image 7
James P. Hersh
Asst. Sports Editor
A gentle kick
52-14. It's not good to kick a dying dog, but some
comment has to be made about this football season,
which is becoming old extremely fast. After the em
barrassing loss to Duke and Paul Dietzel's resignation,
most Carolina fans would have been happy if the football
season would have gone away and let everyone alone.
But then came 52-14 and with it the realization that this
season isn't dying--it's growing.
52-14. Fortunately the game was played at Georgia.
After the Duke game at Williams-Brice Stadium the
USC team was pelted with ice and obscenities from the
home crowd for having the audacity to get outscored 20
14. Imagine 52-14. But just wait. Houston (49-12 over
Virginia Tech Saturday) is coming.
The football team--from the head coach down through
the lowliest benchwarmer--is filled with eternal op
timists. "We're still going to have a good season," they
said after the Duke loss and the Dietzel resignation. And
there were those who still believed. Then came 52-14.
Impossible to be optimistic
No one likes to be criticized, and football players, or
coaches for that matter, are no different than anyone
else. But it's hard to find anything good to say about a 52
14 loss or this football team in general. Jay Lynn Hodgin
had another good game, but overall this season has been
a disaster and it's hard to figure out why because before
the season USC looked like it would be as good as last
year, when it had an excit-ng and good C-bam.
And even when it lost last year it was easy to find
something good to say. Jeff Grantz would have an
outstanding game, or Dana Carpenter would make a lot
of tackles, or something. It was easy to be an optimist.
This year? How can you be optimistic about 35-20, 20-14
and 52-14? No way.
It's easy to understand the defense having trouble.
They're playing a lot of young players and are bound to
have a hard time. But would it be too much to expect to
see the opposition punt once a game? Georgia didn't
punt at all. They did run for 502 yards, a school record
joining Georgia Tech in setting school rushing records
against the Gamecocks' permissive defense.
The fallen Heisman
It's not so easy to explain away the offense's, and
especially Jeff Grantz's, trouble. Grantz was built up
into a Heisman Trophy candidate by USC's sports in-r
formation office. Last year he looked different than
other USC players, especially quarterbacks, have
looked in the past. He was good. But this year, after two
seasons in the USC football environment, even he looks a
bad. Against Georgia he ran for 20 yards and completed i
two passes, one to wide receiver Mike Farrell, the other '
to a Georgia defensive man. So much for the Heisman.
Before the season Dietzel called this team the best r
he's had at Carolina, but since then he's managed to t
coach it to an 0-3 record and, sorry to say, there's no
light at the end of the tunnel. Houston comes here next ~
Saturday (0-4) before Virginia Tech (1-4 and Eureka!).
But then come games at Mississippi, with North a
Carolina and at North Carolina State; there's no light s
showing at all in those three games. It's amazing, but
before the season Carolina would have been given a
chance in any of those games. But amazing things have 1
happened in the last nine years of Carolina football, too.
When Dietzel made his resignation as coach public t
after the Duke game, he said his doctor, who maybe p
foresaw something like this season, advised him to quit s
coaching immediately. Wise man, that doctor. s
Geor
3rd d
BY GEORGE MORRIS
Gamecock Staff Writer
ATHENS, GA.-Led by a bevy of
talented runners, Georgia set a
school rushing record of 502 yards
and buried Carolina 52-14 before a
crowd of 50,200 at Sanford Sta
dium.
Ten different Bulldog runners
carried the ball, all of whom
averajed better than four yards
per carry. The best of these was
Glynn Harrison, who pounded out
136 yards in 15 attempts. ~ Also
excelling was quarterback Matt
Robinson, who appears to have
won the signal-calling berth in his
first start. Robinson gained 64
yards on 11 carries and completed
2 of 3 passes.
Carolina coach Paul Dietzel
considered the game one of his
worst experiences in college
,ootball. He said:
"This was not one of my greatest
lays. This would have to rank as
the longest afternoon ever in my
life. We played as poorly as I can
ever remember us playing.
Georgia got beat last week and
came back like wildmen. We got
beat last week and we didn't do
anything about it."
"We just couldn't put anything
together. When things go bad they
go real bad. When you get beat
hat bad it isn't just the breaks, you
Just got beat."
What Dietzel found especially
listurbing was the ability of
Robinson to pick up good yardage
Autumn baseball
Carolir
USC's nationally-ranked
)aseball team will put on a three
game fall exhibition series against
k local amateur team Oct. 3,7 and
1, it was announced last week.
The Gamecocks, 48-8 last season
md cxpected to be even stronger
iext spring, will play the Columbia
lets of the Central Carolina
eague.
"Our guys are looking forward to
he series," head baseball coach
sobby Richardson said. "The Jets
ave a number of players that
>layed at South Carolina and a
umber of our guys play for them
luring the summer.
"The two teams are rather close,
and anytime you get good friends
>1aying each other you should have
good series. We are looking
orward to breaking up the
nonotony of fall practice and
crimmages."
Richardson will put his new
ecruits on display for the first
line. Junior college transfers
teve Cook and Gary Hancock are
utfield prospects, Marc Van
leaver is an Infielder and Greg
[eatley a catcher. Gary McLean,
pitcher-Infielder, Is the only high
chool signee.
The Jets have complied a 36-9 re
rd in the Central Carolina League
ra their two years of existence. In
973 they won the CCL title in a
'layoff series with the Chapin
Iraves and lost the title In 1974 via
be same route.
"Obviously, without the USC
layers that play with us in the
ummer we won't be at full
trength," Jets' head coach Teddy
leffner said. "With Earl Bass and
Va hand
1
efea't==5
Jay Lynn Hodgin
despite good USC defensive
pursuit. Several times in the
contest Robinson appeared
trapped for no gain on the option
play, but a good fake of a timely
pitch constantly frustrated the
Carolina defenders.
"Robinson did a good job; he's a
pretty clever quarterback. We had
a man right on top of him all day
but he seemed to run rightpast us,"
Dietzel said.
The loss was the worst a Dietzel
team had ever suffered during his
career at Carolina. The last time a
Gamecock team was trounced as
badly was a 42-0 Ina i 1.ST I in 1961.
a to play 0
Bobby Richardson
Raymond Lavigne as starters and
Tommy Luckstone as a relief and
spot starter we feel we have one of
the top amateur teams In the
Southeast.
"But those three are playing for
USC and we will have trouble in the
pitching department. Billy Moore
and Jeff Butts will have to do the
job as starters for us with Bobby
Kleinknecht, catcher Eddie Hill
and infielder Tommy Moody
mainstays on the Jets' team. All
played at Carolina.
"We may get George Beam and
Drew Choate but we're not sure,"
Heffner said. "Choate played some
for us last year and Beam played
with Chapin. Also, Mike Johnson
and Robby Rogers may be able to
[S USC
2-14
Marvin Bass coached USC at the
time.
Carolina took the opening kickoff
but was forced to punt after four
plays.- Georgia began to rol im
mediately. Taking the ball on their
own 49, the Bulldogs put the first
points on the-board 10 plays later
when Horace King ran for the
score from two yards out. The
Gamecocks lost their big chance to
stop the drive when Georgia had a
third down and eight on the
Carolina 35. At this point the
Bulldogs surprised USC with a play
out of the unusual "diamond for
mation." Georgia gained six yards
on the play, and got the necessary
first down on the next play.
Georgia scored again on the first
play of the second quarter and a
rout already appeared to be on.
Carolina,however, finally began to
move the ball. Primarily on the
efforts of Jay Lynn Hodgin, the
Gamecocks narrowed the score to
14-7.
The last chance USC had to get
into the game was a big break. In
one of his few mistakes of the af
ternoon, Robinson fumbled and
Charlie Barber recovered on the
Georgia 29. On third down
however, Jeff Grantz was hit while
attempting to pass. Carolina
recovered his fumble, but Steve
Young's attempted field goal was
partially blocked. Taking over on
the 20, Georiga drove the lentht of
the field in 11 plays, and led at the
half 21-7.
Continued on Page Eight
mateurs
play but we're not sure. Mike is in
graduate school at Georgia."
The Jet's pitching staff is further,
depleted by the loss of a pair o
hurlers who are in school at
Newberry and Spartanburg Junior
College.
"With the Gamecocks' hitting I
guess we'll just have to slip out one
night and move the fences back,"
Heffner said. "But most of our
guys we're picking some up from
the rest of the teams in the league,
were on our trip to Alaska.
"And the competition can't be
any better than it was up there.
They had eight Hank Smalls hiting
and an Earl Bass throwing every
game."
The league sent an all-star team
to Alaska and played Fairbanks
and Anchorage, the nation's top
two teams in the recent National
Baseball Congress tournament in
Wichita, Kan.
"We're trying to get the same
thing from this series with USC as
we did In that trip to Alaska,"
Heffner said. "We want
recognition. We play good baseball
In this league and all we want Is a
chance to show It.
"We won't be at full strength
against USC, but we'll still put a
good team on the field. We want
people to come out and If they like
the way we play to come back next
summer and support the Jets and
the rest of the league as well.
"We're shooting for a program
similar to Fairbanks or An
chorage. It'll take time, but If we
can get some support we can have
a team In Columbia that can
compete at Wichita and have a
chance of winning the nationals."