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Sparky victorie: By TONY SANTORI ti Staff Writer tf In Nashville Saturday the Gamecock football squad will take S on the Vanderbilt Commodores in ^ an SEC match. ^ Coach Sparky Woods' team is 1S coming off their first win of the P< season last Saturday, wnen tney a* defeated the previously 15th-ranked 31 Mississippi State Bulldogs by a ^ resounding 21-6 score. This week- D end they hope to continue to add to di the count in the "W" column. U Vanderbilt, led by 1991 SEC Coach of the Year Gerry DiNardo, is 2-4 this season so far. Much like South Carolina, Vandy has had a f( roller-coaster '92 campaign. The n Commodores have played well in D their two wins versus Ole Miss and h Duke and in their losses to ^ Alabama and Georgia. But they st were defeated by large scores t against both Auburn and Wake Forest. a Vanderbilt's success Saturday $ will depend on how they hanaie the football. Vandy has turned the ^ ball over 17 times on the year n: already, but in the eight games tc since DiNardo took over in which tl( the Commodores have caused more 1? - r usici u i PLAYER PROFILE ^ When Boomer Foster signed to play football for the Gamecocks in G 1991, he had no idea that he would L< play in every game his freshman C; year. The 6'4", 240-pound tight end lil didn't expect much, if any, playing hr time in 1991. Instead of getting redshirted like most freshman play- a ers, Foster was one of only five a? true freshman to earn his varsity g? letter. jo n . r\ i t i corn on uecemDer zu, iy/z, ne was given the name Larry Foster M although his father had another pc name in mind. "I've been called Boomer since I in was about one-year-old. My dad pi called me that after a hockey player ju he really liked named Boom Boom Jefferies. I've gone by that name as pc long as I can remember," Foster ry said. St With a name like Boomer, he was destined to be an athlete, su Foster began his football career in ex the 7th grade and continued to play for his high school team in pi Weekend f COLLEGE FOOTBALL PREVIEW After last week's amazing num- a ber of wrong predictions by yours ba truly, I am sure many of you are th wondering why I would want to try th to predict more games. m To be honest, I am not sure, but cc my journalistic instinct keeps Vi telling me to go for it. So here I st; humbly submit my predictions for the weekend. ry The weekend's biggest game is th in T ne A n rrolac nrhoro T T f"1 tho r\f ill LvUO VY llvl V U1V v/i other USC that is, plays host to Te Washington State. The 13th- hi ranked Cougars are led by quarterback Drew Bledsoe. Bledsoe, who it! is sixth in the nation in total Ti offense, has the Cougars off to cc their best start in over 60 years. vi The Trojans are improving with ar every game. Their defense, which na hasn't given up a rushing touchdown in four games, will be the F1 key to the game. The Cougars bal- A anced offensive attack hasn't seen a 'E squad as good as USC all season, tit If they can keep the pressure off of Bledsoe, Washington State will Bi win. O Clemson plays at N.C. State in in a pivotal game for both teams. The m; Tigers and Wolfpack both have 2-2 th WtlSC-FM/ hopes tc s on the irnovers than they have committed sul tey are 6-2. des Another factor in Vanderbilt's J ame plan will be quarterback jun larcus Wilson. The senior QB led 10< le ShC in scoring last season and 10, averaging more than 100 yards < ix game in total offense. Wilson set id junior tailback Tony Jackson off e expected to lead Vandy's "I- > one" ground attack, a scheme ha\ iNardo helped perfect during his "W ays on the coaching staff at the ' niversity of Colorado. bal Free safety Jeff Brothers is the ma >cus on the defensive side of the ( all for the Commodores. The 6- Ga iot-1-inch, 175-pounder was "W amed Sports Illustrated's Thi efensive Player of the Week after yoi is performance against ] lississippi. Ironically, Brothers she arted the spring drills as a quar- qut :rback. ~ in1 The Gamecocks may have found I leader in freshman quarterback agt teve "The Thrill" Tanneyhill Wi ased on his performance against act lississippi State. The Altoona, Pa., ative threw for 183 yards and two ver >uchdowns on only seven comple- 1 ons. Sta South Carolina's ground game be ip ctiirlpnt *- k-F m. I Jonesboro, Ga., as a linebacker and a p # ? tight end. K* M College football Pp tp followed after he ? was recruited by universities such as eorgia, Georgia Tech, Duke, M ouisiana State and South arolina. "I chose USC because I really ked the atmosphere. It felt )mey," Foster said. con Foster's career statistics include bee touchdown during the 1991 game er ;ainst Louisana Tech. He has Wo lined a total of 115 yards since cha ining the Gamecocks. are Foster felt the revival of Black Sot agic for the 1992 season was a I isitive change. pla; "I think that black is a color of his timidation, but personally I'd / ay in pink jerseys for all I care. I a 3 ct u;ont tn rUav " Prvctpr caiH r\ I a VVUlll IV | 'ILXJ , JL V/JIV1 >HUU. J/1U Foster called this season a disap- bee )intment so far, but saw the victo- / over 15th-ranked Mississippi Fos ate as a "turning of the tides". Gar "The Mississippi State game was saic ich an emotional win. No one lool pected it," he said. " "I think if we keep our focus and futi ay together as a team, we can wit! nil of weal ~~ I L conference record Sat jf and another loss Ok: would be a serious doe blow for any major soo mm- bowl bid. f Clemson suffered rid key loss when freshman quarter- to 1 ick Louis Solomon went down in han e Duke game. Solomon had been sur e sparkplug for Clemson's ane- Jay ic offense, especially during their 5 >me-from-behind win over tim irginia. Richard Moncrief will be wei rrting in Solomon's place. I The Pack also needs a big victo- We . They have played flat since fere eir win against UNC. If the the Tensive line gives quarterback Col ?rry Jordan time to get the ball to to J s receivers, N.C. State will win. ^ In the SEC, Alabama is licking an > chops as Mississippi visits and jscaloosa. The Tide is top SEC ter mtender with this past week's Sta ctorv over Tennessee, and thev asa e making a case for itself as a the itional championship contender. F Unless Georgia is upset by gari orida on FJalloween, it looks like We labama will be playing the the >awgs in December for the SEC Mc le. C Kansas, the surprise team of the ers, ig Eight, is playing host to the: klahoma. The Sooners are kick- thai g themselves for letting Colorado don ake up a 10-point deficit late in bly e fourth quarter this past resi iLTErna: Spo: i build | road Ffered no loss in production ;pite Tanneyhill's effort. Sophomore Brandon Bennett and ior Rob DeBoer both topped the 3-yard barrier, with 129- and 7-yard efforts. Carolina, now 1-5, piled up a ison-high 505 yards in total ense versus the Bulldogs. Woods said in order for USC to re the same success this week, re have got to run the ball." 'We must knock them off the 1 and conhol the line of scrimge," Woods continued. 3n the keys to success for the mecock defense, Woods said, re must play the option well, ey (Vanderbilt) will 'four yard j to death' if you let them. Even with Tanneyhill's strong >wing against the Bulldogs, the irterback duties are not secured Woods' mind. f Tanneyhill does not play well tinst Vandy, freshman Blake Ju lliamson could once again see ion. 'Sure we'd play Blake. He's y capable," Woods said. " rhe game will be in Vanderbilt dium and starts at 2 p.m. It will Vanderbilt's 1992 Homecoming. _ il. 1 _ A _ amieie i ^COn^nUe l,? W^n to i v Sparky Woods an Hk considers Foster ja mL a key player for ^ mfmmk - ' the Gamecocks. ^ Foster "Boomer is a fif guy who has itributed to USC since he has n here. He is a very smart play- a who makes few mistakes, " >ods said. "He displays all the eT: racteristics of a winner and we very fortunate to have him at ith Carolina." w? n addition to being a "smart yer" on the field, Foster carries ability into the classroom. po ^s an English major, Foster has pi .65 GPA and after graduation A1 ns to attend law school to ome a corporate lawyer. ^ Vs for the remaining season, M iter simply wants to help the W necocks in any way he can and ^ 1 the future for the Gamecocks ks bright. I'm really confident that in the ? ire we will post winning records h the talent we have," he said. k games urday. The word out of Norman, fairla., is that if coach Gary Gibbs then :sn't come up with a big win Bra\ n, he'll be fired. tunit Cansas is scoring points at a tor- L< pace. Forty-three points a game the i )e exact. If the Sooners couldn't Wee idle the Texas Longhorns, they man e won't be able to beat the sine* hawks. getti Jure seems like it's been a long with e since the Boz and Switzer Bra\ e there. mak * i n 11 \; Ppnn nlcivc at ic ?h st Virginia. Both schools suf- hanc ?d tough losses last weekend as walk Nittany Lions lost to Boston rock [lege and the Mountaineers lost in T Syracuse. Jeff rVest Virginia was involved in ing ugly brawl during their game paid I eventually blew a fourth quar- to g< lead. At Happy Valley, Penn the te attempted a big comeback tied, inst BC, but still couldn't win pitch game. Stan >enn State will stop their two- bly ne losing skid as they attack st Virginia from the air with ir all-star wide receiver O.J. Duffie. )ne last note to my loyal readall three of you. I hope that se predictions come out better it last week's, because if they 1't the rest of the staff is probagoing to vote that I should gn. riVE90.5 rts i ' : " ; nior forward Jo Jo Hous utgers in the Met Life Clas JSC soc< jrepares ! NANCY SALOMONSKY >orts Editor The USC soccer team trave Charleston Wednesday night feat The Citadel, 2-1, in a n< nference match. The Gamecocks (8-3:eived goals from Matt Haic d Billy Baumhoff. Haiduk, a junior forward fri cksonville, Fla., put USC on ard first at the 40:20 mark ; first half when he shot in th goal of the season. At a little more than two m es into the second ha uimhoff, a sophomore" midfie , scored his third goal of I ar. Junior Bret Kurland also pla) :11 for the Gamecocks. "Bret had an excellent gan i played as a marking back sition that he usually doesi ay," assistant coach Do lison said. ^hop t TIM THORSEN ince this is my last chain y to go Jays!) to insult all yc weather, overniuht. onlv-lik l-because-they-are-good, losei 'es fans, I will take this oppc y to do just that. it's start off the slugfest wi laming of our Bonehead of tl k. The trophy goes to Bravi ager Bobby Cox. Fittingl j it's the only trophy he'll 1 ng this off-season. Of cours a strategic mind like his, tl 'es should be commended fi ing it this far. Yeah, right. Th e guy who put in his best lei led reliever to intentionali ; a guy. Ah, now that took et scientist. Then you broug oronto's World Series MV Reardon to pitch. You blithe idiot. Even if the obvious -off umps had found out a wi et the Braves out of that jar game would have still bee Then you would have had i hn r> f r\f 11 n t K/"\ L Ult ltdl Ui lilt iUUUt W1U1U ton. This series would prob be close without Bobby "T1 COLLEGE Vanderbilt vs. USC UNC vs. Georgia Tect N.C. State vs. Clemsc Penn State vs. West \ Notre Dame vs. Brigh; Southern California vs NATIONAL FOOT Washington vs. Minne w w e should help the Gamecocks sic. USC prevailed Wednesday ; :er defeat' for Met I "We dominated the game 1 o tort tr\ finioh Tha /lr\a r OUUl IU 11111311. 1I1L OV/U1V UVA.O le(j reflect the game action," All to said. 3n. Next, South Carolina will c pete in the Met Life Classit .3) Saturday and Sunday, luk The Gamecocks will lool Peter Duitsman, Ruben Tut om and Chris Faklaris to be key \ the ers in "Pete has been playing 1 his well. His job is to mark the player on the opposing team, in_ he has done a great job for us defender," Allison said. Senior co-captian Ruben Tu ^ will be another leader for Gamecocks. ^ "When Ruben is on his gi he is unstoppable," Allison sai Faklaris, a sophomore forv, rie" should be returning this weel ' a to play in the tournament < 11 1 missing the Citadel game due u? death in his family. "We really need Chris to c TllC * Rmvi /JLJ.JLLI w ' j^\ Brain" Cox. ~" Bi?news ( - ^ - "Whatiz.it", ,e blue blob of Olympic mascot, has been repl e_ by the only uglier thing on E Otis Nixon. Since the Barce ir mascot was drawn while the < was on drugs, the Atlanta folks ^ it only fitting that their mascot ie be the product of drug-influei ?S creators. Right, Ma and Pa Ni: Talk about a face not even a rr er could love. Put that thing e cage and don't feed it for a co ie of weeks. Do us all a favor. ? or singlehandedly driving d< js CBS's ratings for the Serie -t. mean, come on, the Elephant I was ugly, but at least he stayec a of national television. The re; he's so fast is because he had \ n tv of practice trying to chase j/ friends down as they ran a I from him. HHey Atlanta! You wanna k n why the Jays are gonna send ' home with no extra baggage ex :n c to your nasty laundry and a few c ut municable diseases? I got a_ words for you. Jeff Reardon ie much for the all-time save let US 1 Ge >n N.( /irginia Pe am Young No ;. Washington State Wa BALL LEAGUE tsota Wa A Ji WBBF ^ - .i "i - - . , ' " 1 t . - : " Jr 4 i i Lea Clayton/The Gamecock to victory against Evansville and against the Citadel Bulldogs. ; Citadel, Jfe Classic Tom in and start scoring again," not Allison said. ison "This weekend it is going to have to be a complete team effort. :om- Evansville and Rutgers can beat : on any team on any given day," Allison said, k to The Gamecocks have had a ino, tough month with losses to Wake >lay- Forest, Furman, and North Carolina. USC's first tournament ^erY opponent, Evansville is also combest jng 0ff a ioss to indania, 1-0. and "This tournament is very as a important to all teams competing. We need a win before the playthe ?^S* team ^at W^nS ^ave an advantage at the push toward ime the playoffs," Allison said. ^ ' "Every team is strong in our ,3rd region, but the team to beat is tend Clemson. If we beat them on Nov. 1. tat the Gravevard) then that lliu ' ___ to a should be the deciding factor of our chances at going to the playome offs," Allison said. es blow Series What Boston didn't tell you is he's :on- also the all-time blown save leader, nta, Yeah, John Schuerholz is a genius, col- isn't he? The only way the Reardon tves: trade would have been an even one that is if Atlanta would have gotten an Reardon, plus one million dollars, a aced few minor leaguers, a set of Ginsu arth, knives, a case of Turtle Wax, a lona lifetime supply of Rice-a-Roni irtist (The San Francisco treat), and a ; felt really big gun to shoot Reardon also with. Not to mention a player to be need named later, like Roger Clemens, non? Hey Reardon, you brought shame 10tli- and disgrace on your family name in a for generations to come. And now uple he's going to have to have off-seale is son neck surgery from having to own keep snapping his head back :s. I watching baseballs fly past him. Man Hey all you sports fans! Right 1 off nnw I want all of VOU to look at ason that big tomahawk hanging from 'ten- that building on the Horseshoe. All his i can say is, "What a waste of way time!" and "Get a life." I think I'll put a big Blue Jay outside my winnow (jow s0 an yoU can see the mascot y?u of a real team. I hope you people cePl leave that tiling up so I can get a good laugh everytime I leave my apartment, ider " G? (borne) Braves! ;C 116-11 orgiaTech 24-17 State 21-20 nn State 38-14 tre Darnel 44-28 ishington State 31-21 ishington 20-16