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uanuw X/?JU?IVA^ By Steve Riddell Assistant Sports Editor g The Carolina varsity football ^ A. _ 1 ?_ _l?f _ _ 1 1 A a 1 ? V team shook on a siuggisn nrsi nan J start and bounced back to post a 24- ? 7 victory over Western Michigan in y its home opener Saturday. fl The Gamecocks got off to a bleak v start as they fumbled the opening a kickoff and Western Michigan recovered the ball on the 20-yard p line. But, a stubborn USC defen- ^ sive unit did not allow the Broncos P f A m AtfA O A atrkM/J vl iu iiiuvc me iwii/an, cinu n Oi-yciiu field goal attempt sailed wide J1 of the uprights. * THE GAMECOCKS got the ball back and moved to the forty-yard line before being forced to punt on 1 a fourth and eleven situation. The ^ snap from center sailed well over 1 punter Jay Feltz's head forcing the 2 senior to scramble back, scoop up the ball and kick it out of the end- r zone on the run. "Jay Feltz made a couple of big ^ plays for us," USC head football d coach Jim Carlen said. "Overall, I think he kicked well." P Redshirt n rliff&ird By Mike Chlbbaro Qamacock Staff Writer Redshirting is a process that allows college football coaches to avoid an overabundance of players at one particular position. It also prolongs the eligibility of an athlete. Redshirting is also employed frequently in the case of an athlete who the coaches feel is not quite ready for the challenge of luuiuaii. A REDSHIRTED ATHLETE is allowed to practice with the team and be involved in all areas of team's game preparations, but is not allowed to dress out for the actual game. Not being able to look forward to a game on Saturday can make the life of a redshirt lonely and frustrating. But judging from the performance of three former redshirts in Saturday night's USC victory over Western Michigan, redshirting can prove to be a valuable learning experience. USC's Pat Bowen, Phil Ellis, and Mark Austin, all who redshirted during their first year at USC, made valuable contributions in the Gamecock win. BOWEN, a 6-1 190-pound defensive back, received a lot of playing time at the strong safety position in Saturday night's game. Bowen responded by picking off an erant Western Michigan pass early in the second quarter. This was the first interception of the year for the Gamecock defense, and it also set up the Gamecock's first score of the year ? a 34-yard Eddie Leopard field goal. The Mechanicsburg, Pa. native exolained how he sna&aed his kev interception. "It was really a bad pass, and I just happened to be in the right place. The receiver was nowhere around," Bowen commented. Bowen, who has been splitting the strong safety duties with tfnfnfon I ah RinnHi sairl that YCVVl UII AJVU JU..V..V,., Biondi has helped him a great deal in his performance at defensive back. Biondi and Bowen received almost equal playing time Saturday night. ANOTHER BRIGHT SPOT on defense for the Gamecocks was the Dckswi Western Michigan found itself in ood field position after the Carolina miscue and marched 57 ards in six plays to jump out to an arly 7-0 lead. A key play in the irive was a 28-yard scamper by reshman tailback Larry Caper, /ho scored the touchdown later on six-yard sweep around right end. The Gamecocks got three of the toints back early in the second uarter on a 34-yard field goal by lacekicker Eddie Leopard. But hey went into the locker room at he half trailing 7-3 still without a ouchdown in their first six uarters of play this season. CAROLINA CAME OUT with a wo tight end offense in the second lalt and drove two touchdowns on hree consecutive series to take a 4-7 lead and break the game open. 'We went to the two tight ends and an right at them," Carlen said. That's what we do best. It's not >o pretty, but we get the job one." USC marched 67 yards in seven lays for their first touchdown of 'led playe mce in U play of redshirted freshman, Phi Ellis. The 6-1 205-pound defensive * J*A 1 'II. A. _ _l_l _ . end was creauea wim six iacKie: and also had one quarterbacl sack. Ellis explained the positiv< side of being redshirted for ? season. "I kind of think that beinj redshirted was to my benefi because when I first came here ; was physically ready to play, but! wasn't mentally ready," Ellis said "Being redshirted gave me i chance to learn our defense anc gain a better knowledge of th< game." "IT CAN BE frustrating beinj redshirted, but after a night lik< tonight, it all seems worthwhile,' Ellis added. The Gamecock offensive lin< was aided by the play of back-u] center, Mark Austin. In the thin quarter, the Gamecocks faced i nMFT^ :^ 11 ffAiftz %w > fi' n desnifc the season when they got the ball early in the second half. Quarterback Garry Harper hit tailback George Rogers in the left flat, and he slipped 23 yards down the sideline into the endzone to give the Gamecocks a 10-7 edge. Carolina next got the football at the midfield stripe and moved in for another score on Harper's quarterback sneak from the oneyard line on a fourth down situation. USC HELD THE Broncos once again on defense and got the ball back inside WMU territory. Harper climaxed the drive which covered 45 yards in 10 plays when he plunged over from the one-yard line again. The big play on the drive was a 13-yard completion from Harper to flanker Tim Gillespie on a fourth down and seven situation. Ro-gers was the workhorse again this week for the Gamecocks. "Big George" picked up 93 yards on 19 carries and got some support from fullback Steve rs make SC win 1 fourth and goal situation on the * Bronco one yard line. Coach Jim s Carlen decided to try a quart terback sneak for the score, and it e was Austin's blocking that paved j the way for USC's quarterback, Garry Harper, on the touchdown plunge. Austin has been sharing \ the center duties with veteran j Quay Farr. 1 DESPITE THE OBVIOUS bright spots in the play of Bowen, Ellis ! and Austin, coach Carlen main1 tained a noncommittal attitude 5 toward their performance and the performance of freshmen in general. ; "I thought Ellis played real well ; at defensive end and Bowen did a good job on the throwing game," Carlen remarked. "I love my 5 freshmen to death, but sometimes, 5 when they get in front of 50,000 i people, it's a whole different i ballgame." ^B' ' ' ^ ' ".' ' '.". . >incons Dorsey and tailback Spencer Clark. "We had trouble executing in the first half because they were so quick off the line," Carlen said. "They were slanting and stunting on defense during the first half," Harper said. "We adjusted to it in the second half." Harper hit on six of the twelve passes he threw during the contest. "Our backs were catching most of the balls because their defense allowed us to go to them," Harper said. "Our throwing game was "|;v ^^^ ^IE^e?SP > A ' :;:v. : sHHIii 3jw^ 5 ;''?TrT Tripped up Carolina tailback George ltarti /ahrtua\ hut ha ie ?/? (below). M astency fnir " ariHpH cpninr flnnlrt?r 7inn McKinney. "We just need to work on our timing." After yielding the early touchdown, the Gamecock defense was very stingy. "Our defense played well," Carlen said. "They ran a lot of misdirection at us," linebacker Cr.?ff ll/ortn *?U T~ J..r? 1 1 vjv,vtl nauc oaiu, nc just liau IU adjust to it." The Gamecocks were a little sluggish, but they still picked up a win. The Duke Blue Devils should offer a slightly sterner test next week. :BWP8^8i^M^''* ;jK-^ '^ r mM13<^*^*^BI111I?IP' ' Sg^fSfi ^;:'"''^^^H!PSx?-: HraSflb : : ;v : , 9| Dava Robuck - GAMECOCK Rogers struggles for an extra iDed UD and anast rlnwn hnrH -i r? -?a" - "? aBPgP' vi^^KB B^g . v ' ^ *' ' ' Oav* ftobaok ? OAMCCOCK