University of South Carolina Libraries
2 Brad Scott ( ACHIM HUNT Sports Editor When Brad Scott arrived in Columbia on January 2,1994, he was billed as the savior of the USC football program that had struggled to records of Power Macintosh' 7200 Pom PowerPC601/90MHz/16MB MM Power1 IXB/iX CD-ROM/15"'display 1.6( Offer apres October //. 7996 Xofunmnl of mkrtsl orpnr.apal uill ht rvaumu ~2(>ay0 svskm is an etimak buxJ an u tuLil loan amnunI of SJ.SI'J 75 umj> j The Xfie CompuUr l/vn has un H-yew loan k-rrn utlb nc fmpa} mivl pen* 'A u i\tu\rUtok f'autr MaanJoJ: amiSAltTinkr an n^i<WrvJ tYaJernarks of yy?v 0. 5-6 and 4-7 during the last two years of the Sparky Woods era. Scott immediately went to work on his first recruiting class, and pulled in Anthony Wright and Zola Davis as his prized recruits. Although past coaches would snag one or two big namea.and a load of mediocre players, Scott got one or two great players, and then the rest of players were not great, but above average. Scott then took the returning players from 1993 (who were not that great) and added his first freshman class, and sent them through what Coach Scott called "the most aggressive work-outs this school has ever seen." TT. i. . . 1_ _ x . x 1 J __ x ne looK a team inai corn a not compete in the fourth quarter in 1993, and not only conditioned them to compete, but led them to the first bowl win in the history of Gamecock football. That history is 104 years old this season. In his first game against Georgia in 1994, Scotfs team fell just short of winning, as a late interception thwarted the Gamecock comeback. How did the T7 4-1 11 4 ruuiuaii i< BRYAN JOHNSTON Asst. Sports Editor The Gamecock football team has high hopes for improving in the 1996 season, following last year's disappointing 4-6-1 record. With a great recruiting class put together by Brad Scott and his assistants, the next few years could be good for Carolina. But down the road is not what fans want, they want a winner now to cheer for. This year's team should be better than last year's, but the Gamecocks are still a year or two away from competing week-in and week-out. So expect better results this year, I The Gamecock I continues to r _ team respond? "That play CO They went on a r * four-game winning 3SK60 my C03I streak, including wins thought the Ik over Danny Ford and CaUSe thOSe tt Arkansas, and a win at Death Valley Brad Scott, footb apainst 1511. kirknff anainct P.l* D rawnvii w^uii iwi vn. And who can forget and a bert| his gutsy call on the ??* second half kickoff against the Clemson Tigers in the regular season finale in 1994. He called the kickoff return throwback that went from Brandon Bennett to Reggie Richardson. "That play could have went either way," coach Brad Scott said. "I asked my coaches if we should have run it, and I thought the headphones were broken because those things went silent. "So I decided to run it because I knew it had a chance against their swarming defense." i nen ne iea tne team to a Dig wm against West Virginia to finish his first year 7-5, and record the first ever bowl win for the football program. Then he brought in another high ranking recruiting class that featured Auturo Freeman, Chad Barnhardt, and Darren Hambrick. sam will ha but don't set your sights on the SEC s< championship...yet. A There are two important reasons h< the Gamecocks are a step away from pi greatness. First of all, they are young, lb start U things off, one of two sophomores, An- fo thony Wright (a redshirt) or Chad Barnhardt, will direct the offense. Nei- m ther have started a college game, so ex- & perience is a problem. The two are set to battle it out in pre-season. CI Sfmnd tVip (tnmprtvlra have a verv V; difficult schedule. After an easy opener against Central Florida, the Game- uj cocks host Georgia, East Carolina and Mississippi State. U TTian nnvt fnn rrVi 1 cktr nf fViaiv ITi XUVII, Hit IH/Al bVUgll VSi XVI ^-3 - J? ir~?? ~*Z|| mu-ML-* 111MV fflC rer Macintosh* 5400 Power Macintosl X'605c/120 MH-J16MB RAM PounK'603c/100 MHz> 1B,'SX CD-ROM/15"display 800MB/IX CD-ROM/14 t jnr 'JO days Inkrest accruing during lbs 00 Ir, JktkhJ uili Ik- added lo theinvuiftd \ndude$ a iunqdejun ha*{rue of $2.0)0 and a 6% Ian on^tnaJton jx Inkrvsl i\ in rid i\ xuhrccl Ig iTtdilufipmjt \l>>r,:hh paymentv mir, tun de'.mdmR <m uJual am tmf-ukr, Inc r.m\r Mac ^ a tradi-rrark Cnmfmkr, Inc ftmvriK! ts u trademark nove progre uld have went either way. I ches if we should run it, and I ladphones were broken belings went silent." all head coach, on the second half jmson in 1994 that led to a 33-7 USC h to the 1995 Carquest Bowl Expectations for a big winning season were rampant and people were expecting a nine- or ten- win season, and a major bowl. And then came along a little thing i:u~ 4. li i:i~. we iiA.e w can rcaiiiy. Coach Scott said the Gamecock fans were on a wild ride, not really knowing where they were going. Well, the fans found out soor enough when they came crashing of that horse against Georgia. Last season was awful, as the defense struggled to even show up foi some of the games, especially thos< against Kentucky, Tfennessee and Flori da. After the horrible showing last year Scott made some changes in his coach ing staff, including his secondary anc defensive line coaches. Then he went nnt and nnlleH ir some of the nation's top rated players ,ve ups ar :hedule begins. Road games at uburn and Kentucky, followed by a )me game against Arkansas, should ove to be a challenge. After a light week with Vanderbilt, SC better hold on, because they're in r a rough trip. On November 2, USC hosts Tenessee, and then travels to "The vamp" to take on Florida. Finally, the annual grudge-fest with lemson is on November 23 in Death alley. Here's the way I see things shaping 3 for the 1996 Gamecocks: SC 49 Central Florida 3. The rugnts wm score 11 tney are lucKy VJfPI vi I lafl iBiMial Set an AppI iDor Now Available at: " Phone: #03/777-4160 Fit: 8CJ/777-H73 ii 5260 7 mm -n ?diy<uiy Free and uill bear interest. which uill be tndwkxl n the rtfiayment schedule l\ rtahLf based on the lYtmc Kale as njxrled an Ilk 5lb business day uf ibt r, ifvler system J rices, kJul bun amounts, slate and Itxal sales luxes and a ^ tf InlernaJkirud liuancss Machines Ourporalkjn. used under license tbcrcj Friday, September 6,1996 im towards n< including Jacob Bush, Courtney Leavitt and Troy Hambrick. All of these players have been impressive thus far in practice, but the true test comes Saturday, not only for them, but in many ? fans' eyes, as it is time for the Gamecocks to start winning games. Will he produce? My answer is that coach Scott has all of the right players ? to compete, but those players are really young and have not experienced much, if any at all, big time college footl ball. Most people do not understand this I concept. Think back to our first day on campus. j You were probably nervous and did t not know where anything is or did not know anybody. i Well, that is the same for those firstf year ball players. They have been exposed to only - three weeks of the Gamecock playbook, r and even the players that have come i from the larger high schools have only - played in front of maybe 10,000 fans tops. , There will be 80,000 in the stands - on Saturday. 1 So coach Scott continues to build a i program that was struggling, at best. , i Will he accomplish his goal? Stay tuned | s and find out. I H owns fV X. V4- Vi-vy T T JL AU UX . but will serve as an early season feast ti< for the Gamecocks. th use 24 Georgia 19 This will be A a great ball game. USC wants ta revenge for last year's second-half col- of lapse in Athens. of d? USC 27 East Carolina 17. This ii will be a much closer ball game than " some expect. Two years ago, the Pirates came into Willi am s-Brice and won. If USC takes them lightly, it could happen again. ^ USC 35 Mississippi St. 13. br The Gamecocks should remain unde- _ feated and keep their hopes of a na e Computer Loan* Gt't pay for 90 days For further information visi University Bookstore Comnute: lUisse-Li. nouae Monday-Friday, 8:00am-5:OOpa Saturday, 10:00am-4:00pm or call David or John (Macin at (803) 777-7917 one-year Apple warranl or oomph, /At' month of May 19% had an mkrest rate of 1215% uith an Annual hrcem nunth in Theliili .Street Juurrud, /<lus a $wud of J.9%. Monthly payment and.M'K sfymv u ibanyy in the monthly ixtriaNe interest rate ?1996 AJifde Computer, Inc Ml rights restn rn/m. ition's elite \ .X" mi r? File Photo Samecock football head coach Is known as both a good coach and a motivator. At Florida State he coached stars such as Delon Banders and Charlie Ward. Carolina fans are hoping that he can uo i.itf ?am*> iw piayan lino Zola Davis and Anthony Wright, rhe Gamecocks play their home ?pener tomorrow against Central Florida at 7:00 pm. The next game Is against Georgia Sept. 14. lis season Mial championship alive by thumping le Bulldogs. uburn 31 USC13. Carolina kes the day off against the wrong >ponent and gets waxed. The dream anational championship is ished. SC 35 Kentucky 28. This iould be an offensive show as the Gamecocks come back strong to resem themselves. rkansas 22 USC 21. Ahearteaking, last-second loss to the PREDICTIONS page 3 et a Mac* _ t r Sales tosh Specialists) |h|| ,r P^gs?*! Iaye Rati' (AI'RJ of 1} 9j% A monthly payment of J4R40 for the Power Mac issuma ikfirmcnl of fmnciful and does not include sink or loud sales tax ed A/file, the Apple Inyo. AppieCare, htxiVrikr, Mac, Macintosh, Performa,