University of South Carolina Libraries
Gamecocks beat Virgir By DOUG AUBE Sports Editor Last week, in a prelude to Saturday's USC-Virginia Tech game, USC head football coach Sparky Woods mentioned Virginia Tech would provide a physical challenge to the Gamecocks. However, Woods didn't count on the Hokies out-muscling the Gamecocks for three quarters. Fortunately for Woods and the Gamecocks, there are four quarters in a game. The Gamecocks, down 24-13 with 7:21 to play, awoke to the physical challenge and rallied for three touchdowns in beating Tech 35-24 Saturday afternoon in Blacksburg, Va. "That's got to be one of the biggest turnarounds I've seen in a long time," Woods said. "We knew Virginia Tech was strong and physical up front. I thought we did a good job along the line of scrimmage there at the end." USC running back Mike Dingle rushed for 68 yards and two touchdowns in the fourth quarter to lead the Gamecock rally. "They (Tech) played hard for four quarters, and I just felt like they just wanted it a little bit more in the first half than we did," Dingle said. "We came in at half time and Coach Woods told us what we were doing wrong. Coach Woods is a damn good motivator, and he just told us what we needed to do and we got it done." The Gamecocks had the first scoring opportunity of the game after a Tech drive stalled at the 50 yard line. USC marched down to the Tech four yard line behind quarterback Bobby Fuller's 27 yard toss to tight end Charles Steward, but the drive stalled and placekicker Collin Mackie's 22 yard field goal attempt sailed off to the left. The Hokies got on the scoreboard first with a 24-yard scoring strike from quarterback Will Furrer L_ $50 MINI1V DONA Your plasma is neeo recently have had ai infections!!! 1) Mononucleosis 2) Strep Throat 3) Chickenpox or Shit 4) Measles 5) Mumps 6) Chlymidia or Herpt (must be free of oth OP ! Serologicals Mm* Tuesday Everyone Welcor [AAfra 1 . 4 . 1 Authentic / | and F? I 10% D with Stuc 719 SALUDj FIVE P 799-c I ' nliiiiimiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii ; rally with iia Tech oil to tailback Vaughn Hebron with :34 left in the first quarter. Tech made it 14-0 in the second quarter with another scoring pass from Furrer, this one a three-yard toss to fullback Phil Bryant. The Gamecocks responded by marching 65 yards in 14 plays, capping off the drive with a Dingle one yard plunge to make the score i a n I4* -/. In the first half, USC was behind in total offense with only 131 yards to 196 for Tech. Dingle was limited to 33 yards on 13 carries as the Hokies were able to stifle the Gamecock running attack. "Defensively they are a real tough bunch .... They throw a lot of things at you," USC receiver Robert Brooks said. Enter Woods and the halftime pep talk, which helped get "the kinks worked out," USC linebacker Patrick Hinton said. "We came in the second half and, ... and we tried to get all the guys together," he said. "We wanted to come out in the third quarter and really shut them down." USC appeared to have things in hand as they took the opening kick of the second half and went 86 yards in 10 plays capped off with another Dingle one-yard plunge. Mackie's extra point attempt was blocked and Tech held on for a 14-13 lead. The missed extra point was the first in 94 attempts for Mackie. "That happens and you move on," Mackie said. "One less thing to worry about." Tech obviously wasn't worried as they answered the USC score with a 7-play, 73-yard scoring drive to take a 21-13 lead and looked to put the Gamecocks away near the end of the third quarter. Furrer and Hebron led Tech 31 yards to the Gamecock five yard line and were knocking on the door with a third down and one play. IUM EACH LTION led if you have or ny of the following ngles 2S er STD's) 719 Middleburg Dr. tuite 105 ;oiumDia, su dvzw 803) 254-6537 For Yourselfj! | I | J ?4? I "j /omen in Business ? will meet I... J I I I j I I I. Sb pt. rie \ It's not too ikte to joih 1111 m TnA I 'Ally All V?| Vfrican Art ashion I iscount lent I.D. \ AVENUE OINTS )889 I 5 IllllllUlllllllllllllllllllllllllllllimimillllllllllllllfm late TD's, the road J a MIKE DINGLE USC lineman Kurt Wilson met Hebron at the line of scrimmage for no gain and Tech had to settle for a 22-yard field goal. "You lick your chops and are ready to go," Wilson said. "You expect a big play when you do that. That definitely gave us life." "We had a little breakdown in the third quarter, but the field goal is better than the touchdown," Hinton said. "We tightened up and tried to get the offense the ball as much as possible because we knew as long as our offense was on the field we could put points on the board." The Gamecock defense did just 1 that as they held the Hokies to 14 1 yards in the fourth quarter. I While the defense was stopping : Tech, USC's offense switched into high gear with 132 yards in the fi- 1 nal quarter. '' "We just executed in the fourth quarter," Fuller said. "The line blocked great the whole game. Ed- ' die (Miller) and Robert (Brooks) ^ man on man ?they're just tough 1 to cover. I knew the way we were moving the ball there was no way 1 we were going to come out ot ; there with a loss." 2 USC cut the Tech lead to 24-19 with 7:20 left following Dingle's ( third touchdown of the game, an 1 eight-yard scoring pass from j Missed opp in 2-1 home By BRANT LONG Assistant Sports Editor Several missed opportunities came back to haunt the USC soccer team as they lost their first home match of the season Sunday to South Alabama, 2-1. The Gamecocks controlled the opening half but could not convert on several chances. At the 16:15 mark of the opening stanza, Clark Brisson passed to a wide-onen Andrp.w Pocminc on - -I vvOO",L' U11 the right side of the goal. Coggins drilled a shot right at Eduardo Caracho, the South Alabama goalie, who deflected it. Late in the period, Brisson raced downfield towards the goal but was shut down by two Jaguar defenders. USC head coach Mark Berson was disappointed by the missed shots. "It definitely was a tough loss .... I thought we missed too many opportunities," Berson said. "We had too many good opportunities to score and we weren't able to cash in. That's what happens in a high-level game." Mid-way through the second half, Brisson collected a pass at the top of the penalty box. He spun around a defender and shot, but Caracho again made the save. Fuller. Fuller also completed a pass to Brooks in the end zone to ?ive USC the two-point conversion ind cut the lead to 24-21. On Tech's next possession Fur-er fumbled and USC lineman Gerild Dixon recovered on the 19 ^ard line. After a Dingle run for no gain ind a Fuller sack, USC was faced vith a third down and 17 yards to jo for the first down. Fuller hit a streaking Miller at he goal line, and the Gamecocks ook their first lead of the game 18-24. "It was a great throw. They Tech) had a lot of pressure on lim (Fuller)," Miller said. "When 'Ou have a good quarterback it just Kg. l|j|| ** m j| / j| fc ?jg&l| jg ^iiiwiiiiiimmm^^^-l38^ jll. ^5;?-' :'y' ^ rj br v ^^iPS^SsESS? S?5??^ :: '???* ' |||.:;-.. ;i : lortunities j i loss to Sou South Alabama struck late in th game at the 73:19 mark. Stebfc Steinsen put the ball past ,US( goalie David Turner off of a Ja guar corner kick to give Soutl Alabama the advantage. With about seven minutes left ii the game, USC knotted the garni at one. After numerous chances ii front of the Jaguar goal, Rubei Tufino found Jeff Love open nea the goal mouth. Love's sho bounced off the crossbar and int( the left side netting to tie tht game. Both teams hurried to break th( tie as the game was ending. USC freshman Ward Harrifor faked two Jaguar defenders an shot from outside the penalty bo> His shot sailed just over the to crossbar. With less than one minute re maining, South Alabama had fou men attacking the USC goal. Stein Loftsson found Derek Deavour open on the right side and Devour scored past Turner to break the tie, "I thought South Alabama had < tremendous play there at the end tt win it," Berson said. "It dis possessed us in the back .... Thej pushed the ball square, and the guj stuck it in." USC scrambled but could not score in the final seconds. Berson makes my job easy." The Gamecock defense shut vAvyyvn isa/ii wn unv^ anu aiter a Hokie 32-yard punt, Dingle took over. Dingle rambled 29 yards on the first play to give the Gamecocks the first down on the Tech 30 yard line. The Gamecock senior running back had runs of five, three and four yards to set up a first and goal on the eight yard line. Dingle ran around right end and came face to face with a Tech defensive back. As the defender prepared for the collision, Dingle catipulted into the air and landed in the end zone untouched for his fourth touchdown of the game, a Mm W J|fl K?py HFtjfc... 1||BjH spg :f:&. pp^^kv.. :i;^|^^^^^L.-'-. ^i Wk < Vv \ s aA y&' ' , V". .S-W^'A } Dlague USC ith Alabama e was discouraged at the loss but ^ thought the Gamecocks played " well. " "They (South Alabama) found a way to win it there in the last minute of the game. I think that's probably the most discouraging " thing that at the end of the game 1 we let it slip away from us," he 1 said. "I think we're getting better," 1 Berson said. "I think we're impro} ving defensively. I was most ; pleased with the fact that we played better in the midfield." USC outshot the Jaguars 17-5 in the contest. With the loss, the ^ Gamecocks fall to 5-2-1 on the ^ season. Berson said to come back, the P Gamecocks must play with the same intensity but convert their opportunities. r "I just think we have to come 1 out with the same intensity. I think s we have to do the same things just s a little bit better on Wednesday,7 he said. "We can't afford to miss 1 our opportunities. We need to be 5 sure to cash in on our opportuni" ties when we get inside. That's re1 ally the big difference." ' The Gamecocks host the Hying Heet of Erskine on Wednesday at The Graveyard. The match will 1 start at 5 p.m. USC record. "Mike was really a key. He ran the ball great in the second half," ; Fuller said. " He took control of the game as a running back." ' On the patented dive play, i Dingle just wanted to get in the I end zone any way he could. "I wasn't really thinking. That might hurt me in the future somel time. I felt like I had to get the ball in there at any cost. I wanted to win, and I knew the team needed a touchdown," he said. Woods felt the win was a show of leadership and character. "I was really proud of our team. See FOOTBALL page 9 lit i -?? $$* s< ' *^*v ' '.. . ' V ^ 'J^W-yA? ggiyi <