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IS ports Fhird 11 urnovet Rogers f\ By Mike Chfbbaro Sport* Editor LOS ANGELES ? The location for Saturday night's South Carolina ? Southern Cal football game was most appropriate ? the movie capital of the world. It iliac o wnnnK IAV t??o u (MU^Cl veiling because for one half of Southern Cal's 23-13 victory, it was "just like in the movies." For about a half I the Gamecocks played the role of "Rocky." The Gamecocks were the unHorHndC tho nnlrnAumo nn/l IV?V? VtV^U f VIIV Uimiiv/TTIIO auu they were matching the champs (Southern Cal) blow for blow. But in the second half, reality stepped into this movie-like scene. Reality came in the form of an 80yard Trojan touchdown drive and a pair of costly interceptions. (SOUTHERN CAL took the opening kickoff of the second f half and marched 80 yards in 15 plays for a touchdown. 1 Minutes later, following an [ intercepted pass, the ? Trojans struck again with a { Gordon Adams to Kevin I Williams nine-yard touchIdown pass. The two sudden jolts gave the fourth ranked | Trojans a 23-6 lead with 8:20 I to go in the third quarter. I Despite the defeat, South H Carolina head coach Jim ; Carlen praised his team. "Our players played as hard as they could," Carlen said. "I love these young people and they really extended themselves tonight." The post game atmosphere in the Carolina 1 ? * locnerroom gave evidence 10 the intense physical nature M M IP?* Southern 5 BHHHBHRBI quart s hurt C ights for of Saturday's contest. Several Gamecock players were sitting in front of their lockers motionless, unable to muster up enough energy to remove their equipment. A weary George Rogers, who had been swarmed upon and attacked by herds of Trojans all night long, assessed the opponents. "This was without a doubt the best defensive team I've 'This was without defensive team / anninct Thnv w/or + m a m ^ j mm w? tough and they ha night.' ever played against," Rogers commented. "They were very quick and tou&h and they had good pursuit all night." Despite the multitude of Trojan defenders that keyed on Rogers, the 6-2 224-pound Ail-American still managed to gain 141 yards on 26 carries. This was Rogers' 13th straight 100-yard rushing performance. a m m n rw *r ^ " U rt 1T11!i V, U L IV UP FENSIVE tackle Chuck Slaughter echoed the sentiments of Rogers. "They were a lot quicker than we expected," Slaughter noted. "It was the most physical game I had ever played in...they really hit." The Gamecocks, however dished out plenty licks of their own as the Carolina defense, with the exception of the 80-yard drive, held the Trojans pretty much in check all night. "I thought our defense played extremely well," Carlen noted. "With the exception of that one drive, 1 thought we did a good job of shutting them down." Linebacker Walt Kater led the Gamecfrck defense with -- \; -5 %'n Cat tailback Marcus Allen 1 ^v/.v.v; wMwm. ///; :; CI JH %J> arolina; 141 yds. eleven individual tackles. Cmi?kA?n ?L - uuuuici ii vai gui uil me scoreboard first when tailback Marcus Allen plunged over from the oneyard line with 11:16 to play in the first quarter. The score was set up when Carolina's Rogers fumbled the football at the Gamecock 32-yard line. The fumble was Rogers' first of the 1980 season. a doubt the best "ve ever played e very quick and d good pursuit all -George Rogers Following a blocked punt by Carolina's Harry Skipper, the Gamecocks notched their first score on a 34-yard field goal by Eddie Leopard. Both Southern Cal and Carolina added another field goal apiece in the first half. The Trojans' Eric Hipp booted a 47-yarder while Eddie Leopard connectd trom 20 yards out with seven seconds left in the half to j provide the 10-6 halftime I margain. DISASTER STRUCK for Carolina early in the third quarter as Southern Cal recorded those two quick scores. ? wnc ui uic Acya was uie third quarter drive when we took the ball 80 yards for a touchdown," Trojan head coach John Robinson said. "The interception on Carolina's first possession of the second half was also a key." South Carolina got its only (niiohHnuin of tho noma ivkon .WHV..UVn.. W V4.X- BU...V "?V?? Rogers broke loose for a 34yard touchdown run with 1:29 left in the game. Leopard's extra-point Hr inds himself surrounded b y v.v.v. .*.iv.!'.. ' *i\ // y, /.} f,!.vv V'.'f'^y * s spa Heisman Trophy Candida defense for a few of his 7< : a. r-? i piuviucu uk imat score. How will the defeat affect the Gamecocks? "This is just one game ? we have eight more," Carolina quarterback Garry Harper said. "We'll be back because that's the kind of team we have." Rogers offered some advice for his teammates. 'U/a Ann't Ia? ? ?*:? ?i *t v- van ?. ici uua 50111c ({Cl us down," Rogers said. "We've got to push on. Coming into the game I felt like we were a top ten team and I still feel we're top ten." Gamecock defenders. (Phot \ . I^WW ,v:. -v^. . nHHMHHH rk Trc : ' Pr wB M'1'" ?** B fc;" ...:>.?y te George Rogers breaks th 1 yards. (Photo by Richard V Coach Carlen summarized the feelings of his team. "Tonight we got whupped by a very good football team," Carlen explained. "Southern Cal is one of the two or three best teams in the country and we're one of the top 15. We competed very favorably. You take away a couple of those turnovers and we're in the ball game. We'll be back next week." Southern Cal's Robinson praised the performance of uie visiung uamecocKs. "South Carolina has a very good football team and they Trojans 23 Gamecocks i rp? - i 1 i j^yn IB^^MQBr "^0 o by Richard Vogei/ a'av.v.'a .'.'.'.' v'. . .'.'a'a'i'.'.'wi'a'.1,' v.**, Jans S ',1 t 51 rough the Southern Cal fogei) are going to win some games this vear." Robinson said "You have to give credit to Rogers...he's a fine running back because he got hit more than a few times out there. "In stopping Rogers we used a stacked defense. We had eight men in close and we tried to stay inside out on Rogers as much as possible." The win dropped the 18thranked Gamecocks' record to 2-1. Next week Carolina will travel to Ann Arbor, Michigan to face the Michigan Wolverines. 13 V