The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, November 02, 1988, Page 8, Image 8
| Pep Talk
By Kevin Adams
'
USC overcomei
Met Life Classi
j USC's 23-7 victory over North
'[Carolina State was important to the
iGamecock program in a lot of ways.
After the recent swirl of controversy
surrounding the team, the
Gamecocks went out and played,
aside from the 23-10 win over
Georgia, their most complete game
of the season.
| The 34-0 loss to lowly Georgia
Tech in their last outing, the arrest of
three team members in Five Points
after the game for public drunkenness
and disorderly conduct (one
player was charged with assault), the <
recent allegations of widespread drug i
use on the USC squad by former
player Tommy Chaikin and some j
rather critical comments about team
discipline by new athletic director
King Dixon all had to be weighing
heavily on the minds of the <
Gamecock players and coaches prior
to the game in Raleigh. i
Whether the Gamecocks were
motivated by all of that or whether
they simply blocked it out of their i
minds, I don't know. But whatever I
approach they took, it worked.
The USC coaching staff, under j
trying circumstances, simply came in I
with a beautiful game plan, concen- i
trating on the running game and getting
the ball to a rejuvenated Harold
Green.
It worked. 1
The Gamecock running attack 1
gradually wore down the Wolfpack t
defense, ranked No. 1 nationally i
coming in, by constantly working the i
short side of the field with outside
pitches to Green and backup Mike 1
Dingle. The improved running attack (
also made quarterback Todd Ellis {
more effective as he was able to keep 1
the N.C. State defenders off-balance. i
The Wolfpack had to play the run, I
enabling Ellis to pick his passing
spots and set up the screen. He did so 1
effectively, completing 13 of 23 s
passes, including his last, seven in a c
row, for 172 yards and a touchdown. \
In the past three games, with no run- j
ning attack to speak of, Ellis had t
thrown 12 interceptions. s
The defensive game plan was ^
brilliant, too. Defensive coordinator a
Joe Lee Dunn, known for timely ad- s
justments, devised a zone pass
defense, partly because of the speedy c
Wolfpack receivers and partly c
because the Gamecocks' leading t
tackier, free safety Ron Rabune, was C
:f ' 1 ' ,.s.
,?xrt , #*wvw ^ 4
USC sophomore forward Clark Brisson :
player in the Gamecocks' 1-0 victory Sund
the Metropolitan Life Classic soccer
Graveyard.
GIVE BLOOD, PLEASE
ppf"*" $&, | S-Jr&f
f controversy;
c this weekend
injured. The defensive scheme surprised
the N.C. State coaches
because the Gamecocks had used
man-to-man coverage since Dunn's
arrival last season. Wolfpack head
coach Dick Sheridan admitted it was
a key to the Gamecock defensive
dominance of his team.
And don't forget the players. The
defense, led by Patrick Hinton's
fumble recovery and three interceptions
(one returned for a touchdown)
and the play of David Taylor and
Kevin Hendrix, was stifling. For his
efforts, Hinton was named national
defensive player of the week by The
Sporting New-:. And the offense,
after a slow first half, had several
long scoring drives in the second thirty
minutes, led by Green, Dingle, and
Ellis. Eddie Miller caught his first
eareer touchdown pass and Collin
Mackie had three fie"(d goals, while
the offensive line blocked superbly.
In other words, it was a team effort.
The Gamecocks seemed to come
together as a group and put the past
behind them.
It's been said that overcoming
adversity is the sign of a good team.
Saturday night, the Gamecocks did
more than their share.
Now let's talk soccer.
Mark Berson's Gamecocks are
losting their second annual
Metropolitan Life Soccer Classic at
hp riraypvarH thic u/pphanH Thm?
will be joined by collegiate powers
\ir Force, Indiana and Stanford.
Berson, the only coach USC soccer
las ever had, has also molded the
jamecocks into a true national
^ower. This year, the Gamecocks are
11-3-3, nationally-ranked and comng
off a big win over region rival
^.C. State Sunday.
Since 1983, when the Gamecocks
'inished 8-11-2 (Berson's only losing
;eason), USC has compiled a record
)f 78-17-9 (.821). They've made the
^JCAA tournament the last three
fears and have also finished in the
op ten each of those years. Last
eason, the Gamecocks finished No.
! in the final regular season poll. And
ill this against one of the toughest
chedules in college soccer'.
So hats off to Berson, assistant
:oach Trevor Adair and the USC soc:er
team. And if you want to see the
>est in college soccer, be at the
jraveyard this weekend.
DAS A PURSER/1 he UamecocK
shields the ball from an N.C. State
lay at The Graveyard. USC will host
tournament this weekend at The
+ American
Red Cross
Pleased M
By KEVIN ADAMS
Sports editor
USC head football coach Joe Morrison saic
Monday at his weekly press conference that hi:
team showed a lot of character in last Saturday':
23-7 win over North Carolina State in Raleigh.
But he warned that they'll have to play even bet
ter this week at Williams-Brice Stadium agains
No. 5 Florida State.
The victory over the Wolfpack was Morrison':
100th as a college coach, and it couldn t have comi
at a better time, as the Gamecocks were reeling
from a 34-0 loss to Georgia Tech two weeks ago ii
Atlanta, the arrest of three football players tha
same night and recent allegations of widespreac
steroid use in the USC program by former playei
Tommy Chaikin.
Morrison, however, preferred to talk football.
"They were a good, good football team," Mor
rison said of N.C. State. "There's no doubt abou
that. But we felt good about our young men anc
the way they played."
"I think any time that you take a group of young
men into a stadium that was loud and certainlj
noisy, and they play like they did and come awaj
with a win, I think that they showed a lot ol
character," Morrison said.
"And they showed a lot of character to me, par
ticularly there in the fourth quarter after North
Carolina State had come back and made it a 13-"
ballgame, to take the ball and march down the fielc
and get it in the endzone for a touchdown. Because
I think we all know there's been a lot of funny en
dings up there to some of the ballgames that we've
played, and that kind of eliminated that. I tolc
them after the ballgame that I was very proud ol
them ... for their efforts."
HH " ^ i
^ v' i;
^ :>?* ... ?5-v ~
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' ' ' , . . -: "
USC quarterback Todd Ellis hands off to Keith Bi
the running game helped the Gamecocks against tl
against No. 5 Florida State.
(
JACKETS?CAPS
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orrison look
USC had lost 23-22 in Raleigh in 1986, when "
Wolfpack quarterback Erik Kramer completed a we'1
1 33-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Danny yeai
s Peebles with no time remaining. An offsides penal- didi
s ty against the Gamecock defense had given the that
Wolfpack one more play even though time had said
already run out. usee
t Morrison said the defense, which held the \
Wolfpack to 27 yards rushing; linebacker Patrick Setr
s Hinton, who had three interceptions and a fumble "
t recovery; and the Gamecock running attack, led by said
I Harold Green's 85 yards, were obvious keys to the . Floi
l win, but he said quarterback Todd Ellis and the of- tion
t fensive line greatly contributed as well. offe
i "I thought Todd played well the whole "
r ballgame. He started making the right decisions as ball
far as the running game goes. Throwing the ball, I moi
thought he threw the ball well, except on the one a lo
interception. aeit
t "I think Todd plays well. I've got a great deal of T
1 faith and a great deal of confidence in him. shoi
"I can't say enough for our offensive line. I Moi
I thought they played well. I thought they came off "
/ the ball well and I thought they blocked well. Late and
! in the ballgame, they started knocking them off the onlj
f ball a little bit." prol
Morrison said he thought that the win over N.C. tricl
State marked the beginning of the Gamecocks' com
1 return from the loss to Georgia Tech. F
' "I would think so. I think we can continue to im- to d
I prove. We're certainly not where we want to be, T
; but I think that the game last week certainly helped beat
get us started back." "
: In Raleigh, USC won in garnet pants for the first no <
1 time since 1986. Morrison, admittedly hav<
f superstitious, said there were a couple of reasons emc
for that. type
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TEDDY LEPP/Tht O
ng in Saturday's 23-7 victory over N.C. State. The rejuvenatic
he Wolfpack and will be just as important in this Saturday's $
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We really hadn't worn those garnet pants, and
ve had them around for the better part of a
r, I'd guess," he said. "Hell, the black ones just
1't work very well over there in Atlanta. I guess
was probably the deciding factor," Morrison
I, adding that the garnet pants will probably be
1 again "in two or three weeks."
lorrison then turned his attention to the
linoles.
Florida State is an excellent football team,"
I Morrison. "I think when everyone thinks of
-ida State, they think of their offensive produc
ana wnai iney ve accompnsnea over ine years
:nsively.
I think they're an outstanding defensive footteam.
It looks like they're blitzing a little bit
e than what I remember in the past. They have
t of talent, and they have a lot of speed on the
rnsive side of the football."
he Seminoles were idle last week, and that
aid give them an extra advantage, said
rrison.
They've got a lot of weapons in their arsenal
I'm sure that having the week off . . . will not
1 give them a chance to get healthy again, but
bably give them a chance to practice on any
cs that they may have had already or will have
le Saturday night," he said.
lorida State used a fake punt in the last minutes
efeat Clemson earlier this year,
ricks or no tricks, USC must be in top form to
: the Seminoles this week, Morrison said.
They're a doggone good football team, there's
ioubt about that," he said. "We're going to
2 to be at our best physically, mentally and
itionally ? all the way around ? to play the
: of game that we want to play."
|jj|
Iiu. Wyoming
11. Arkansas
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15. South Carolina
16. Syracuse
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19. Georgia
20. Brigham Young (tie)
20. Indiana (tie) I
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