The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, October 29, 1990, Page 8, Image 8
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.
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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
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Monday, October 29, 1990
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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.
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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
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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.
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playing well,
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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
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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
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FOOTBALL
5TRIBUTION
the
i vs USC Game
-r 22,1990
il House
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Lay, Nov. 7
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>r the SIU vs. USC
hbuted on the same
in pick up tickets for