The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, September 22, 1980, Page Page 15, Image 17
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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
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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
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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
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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
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rk Trc
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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
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1 i
j^yn IB^^MQBr
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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
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