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State broken tackles, big plays on third downs dim bowl hopes for USC By DOUG AUBE Sports Editor RALEIGH, N.C. ? Two weeks ago, the USC football team was riding high with a 4-1 record and courting a number of bowl scouts after an impressive Homecoming victory over East Carolina. tu 1 ? .u:_i.:? u 1 u:a~ a -tv.., tc IIIC piaycia wcic uuiiKiiig LNJWI uiua anu IUJ; tannings. Time has a way of shattering dreams. Saturday afternoon in Raleigh, N.C., USC's bowl bid and Top 25 ranking hopes were put in serious jeopardy by a good N.C. State team. The Wolfpack sent the Gamecocks packing with an impressive 38-29 victory in front of 45,800 fans in spite of a stellar performance by Gamecock quarterback Bobby Fuller (27-46, three touchdowns and 356 yards). USC Coach Sparky Woods was subdued to say the least "We're trying hard, but we are tackling poorly and just not locking up when we make the hit," Woods said. "I feel like we are struggling now .... You've got to tackle well if you want to be good on defense." At the beginning of the season, most of the criticism concerned the offensive side of the ball, but on this day the problem was defense ? or lack of it. The USC defense gave up 459 total yards and allowed 6.1 yards per carry. The Wolfpack converted nine of 16 third down conversions and had possession of the ball almost six more minutes than the Gamecocks. Woods credited the poor play of the defense to the missed tackles. "We missed a lot of tackles," he said. "We've got to do everything we can to try and put our players in better position to make the tackles." Offensively, the Gamecocks looked to open things up as was evidenced on the first series of the game. USC started the first possession from their own 23-yard line but were stifled on three plays by an aggressive Wolfpack defense. The Gamecocks lined up in punt formation on fourth-and-six from the 27-yard line, but instead of snapping long to punter Daren Parker, Randy Bunch snapped short to running back Rob DeBoer. A surprised Wolfpack defense watched as DeBoer rambled down field for 36 yards and a Gamecock first down on the State 37-yard line. However, State's defense held, forcing USC to tum the ball over on downs as runningback Mike Dingle was hit for a loss by free safety Fernandus "Snake" Vinson on fourlh-and-one from the Wolfpack 28-yard line. The Gamecock defense came in and appeared to be ready to shut down the Wolfpack, allowing only seven yards in three carries and forcing a State punt attempt. The USC special teams responded to Woods' call for a "character check" by charging into the Wolfpack's backfield and blocking punter Preston Poag's kick. Gamecock walk-on Bralyn Bennett scooped up Bru Pender's block and raced 20 yards to paydirt to give the Gamecocks an early lead. "We tried to make some things happen early in the game with the fake punt and the blocked punt," Woods said. This was to be the last hurrah for USC, however, as the point-after attempt failed when the snap was mishandled. USC's 6-0 lead was to be their only one of the afternoon. The USC defense again held State without a first down forcing another State punt, but Gamecock punt returner George Rush fumbled after a 17-yard return and the Wolfpack went to work on the USC 40-yard line. The teams traded penalties (facemask against USC and holding against State), and the Wolfpack faced a second-down-and-goal situation from the USC 15. See FOOTBALL page 9 1991BSN STUDENTS. Enter the Air Force immediately after graduation ? without waiting for the ^ results of your State Boards. You can earn great benefits as an Air Force nurse officer. And if selected during your senior year, you may qualify for a five-month internship at a major Air Force medical facility. To apply, you'll need an overall 2.50 GPA. Get a head start in the Air Force. Call USAF HEALTH PROFESSIONS 919-850-9549 STATION-TO-STATION COLLECT mm n m mmr 0r sihp )/*?' CAROLINA PROGRAM UNION '?^ Ideas and Issues Committee presents t The Cousteau Society Feter burtcneii ?. 1 "Environmental Issues iof the 1990's" v * Monday, October 29, 1990 L7:30 p.m. Admission: Free For more information call the Carolina Program Union at 777-7130. ^ /\A\ This program is sponsored, in pari, by student activity fees. ^ y \ 1 r"t'^ * USC defensive end Corey Miller puts pressure on the N.C. State quarterback in last season's loss. USC fell to the Wolfpack Saturday in Raleigh, N.C. 38-29, putting USC at 4-3 for the season. Schedule of Events Monday Men's Tennis ? USC in ITCA Volvo Qualifying Tournament at Athens, Ga. Tuesday Volleyball ? USC at College of Charleston, 7 p.m. Men's Tennis ? use in ITCA Volvo Qualifying Tournament. Wednesday Soccer ? use at Davidson College. Friday Volleyball ? Memphis State at USC, 7 p.m. Men's Swimming ? Tennessee at USC, 4 p.m. Men's Golf ? USC in ODU/Seascape Invitational, Seascape Golf Links in Nags Head, N.C. Women's Golf ? USC in Tiger-Tide Intercollegiate at Seascape Resort in Destin, Fla. Saturday Men's Golf ? USC in ODU/Seascape Invitational. Women's Golf ? USC in Tiger-Tide Intercollegiate. Football ? Florida State at USC, 12:10 p.m. Men's Swimming ? Cincinatti at USC, 9:30 a.m. Sunday Women's Golf ? USC in Tiger-Tide Intercollegiate. Soccer ? USC at Jacksonville, Fla. $50 MINIMUM EACH DONATION Your plasma is needed if you have or recently have had any of the following infections!!! 1) Mononucleosis 2) Strep Throat 3) Chickenpox or Shingles 4) Measles 5) Mumps 6) Chlymidia or Herpes (must be free of other STD's) Minimum $20 donation for males with blood types A or B [ jC | 2719 Middleburg Dr. I I Suite 105 ^ ^ Columbia, SC 29204 Serologicals (803) 254-6537 Make time CjGll now. . . OR . . you won't Wm*et paid later! Employers are interviewing NOW for positions after you graduate!! Stop by the Career Center TODAY!! H. William Close Building (BA) 6th Floor 777-3166 USC offense ] defense needs For the second week in a row, the Gamecock football team put plenty of points on the scoreboard. And for the second week in a row, | the Gamecocks' once highly reIgarded defense missed too many tackles, blew too many coverages and allowed too many points for Carolina to win. I Saturday's 38-29 loss to N.C. State in Raleigh saw the Gamecocks waste a brilliant performance by quarterback Bobby Fuller. The junior signal-caller from Miami, Fla. completed 27 of his 46 passes for a whopping 356 nnrl fkfaa t/MiaVi/l/Alt/nc Tf nnt yaiUd anu uu^t luuwuuuryiw. n nui for several dropped passes, Fuller would have easily surpassed 400 yards in the air. N.C. State coach Dick Sheridan I had nothing but praise for Fuller following the game. "I told Sparky before the game to tell Fuller how much I respect him," Sheridan said. "I really like the way he plays. He shows great i judgment, is calm and plays with a lot of confidence." Sheridan went on to say that Fuller "is very accurate and consistant. We haven't faced what I think is a better quarterback, and we've seen some great athletes such as Jones from (Georgia) Tech and Shawn Moore (of Virginia). I just like the way Bobby plays. He's a quality player and had a great day." Also having a great day for the Gamecocks was wide receiver Robert Brooks. Brooks returned to the line-up for the first time since having arthroscopic knee surgery following the Georgia Tech game. All he did was catch five passes for 112 yards, including touchdowns of 43 and five yards. Each of Brooks' catches were either for a touchdown or a first down, in eluding a clutch 18-yard grab on fourth and 10 in the final quarter. Despite his big d?y, Brooks was less than ecstatic after the game. "After a loss, you always feel down," Brooks said. "I tried to contribute to the team as much as possible, but this is a real hard loss to swallow. It was a big game. We both had bowl hopes riding on it" When asked if it is frustrating to score 29 points and have the defense give up 38, Brooks answered with class. carand 1 The Choice of STUDENT TICKET DK foi West VirginiE Novembi Russel Monda; Wednesd & Thurst 9 AM i . i i r* Student tickets tc game will be disti three days. You ca both football game playing well, i to improve Rich Taylor * ' - / - Pep Talk "It's the offense's job to score more points than the other team," he said. "We were trying our best, but we came out with a loss." A loss indeed, and despite D ?/%/xbo * mPnrol ?/\ nnint On\7 fin DIUUKd lUUdai IU JASliil an; nilgers at the defense, the following facts remain. Over the last two games the defense has: allowed 76 points had no interceptions registered only one sack surrendered 855 yards total offense allowed nine scores in a 10 possession stretch (Citadel's final three and State's first seven possessions). Coach Sparky Woods cites poor tackling as the primary source of USC's defensive woes. "We've got to tackle," Woods said. "If we just tackle well, we have a lot better chance of winning the game. We have to lock on, grab some cloth and get them (ballcarriers) on the ground. "You can't be a good defense if you can't tackle. I don't care how many fronts we put them (USC defense) in or how much we blitz or don't blitz. You've got to tackle to play defense. You don't have to be a great coach to see that we kept missing tackles." Senior linebacker Patrick Hinton echoed Woods' concern about poor tackling. "Our guys were trying hard, but we should have went for the tackle instead of the big hit," Hinton said. "Poor tackling really hurt us. The whole key to their offense moving the ball was our missing four or five tackles before bringing them down. They didn't overpower us ? we just didn't play well." Poor tackling, penalties and missed assignments continue to plague Carolina defensively. Although players such as Corey See PEP TALK page 9 :mck rental the Gamecocks . Help Mom & Dad celebrate their weekend with you. Have them call Budget Rent a Car pTl at 252-7368 and tj|y rent a car for as |P little as $18.99 per 5iir day! FOOTBALL 5TRIBUTION the i vs USC Game -r 22,1990 il House y, Nov. 5, Lay, Nov. 7 Iqv Mav ft ***J J * ? t w -4 PM >r the SIU vs. USC hbuted on the same in pick up tickets for