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Football teair of two years BRYAN JOHNSTON Asst. Sports Editor The Gamecocks look to continue their winning ways when they host the East Carolina Pirates Saturday at Williams-Brice Stadium. This ball game we have coming up this week is kind of a dangerous situation. It's a tremendous challenge for our football team because East Carolina might be the best football team we face all season," USC head coach Brad Scott said. ECU comes into Columbia after suffering a 10-9 loss to West Virginia in Morgantown, WV. The Pirates scored with 22 seconds left to close within one point. Head coach Steve Logan decided to go for two instead of kicking the extra point and opting for overtime. The pass fell incomplete and the Pirates dropped to 1-1. The Gamecocks, however, head into the match-up coming off a 23-14 victoiy over Georgia. Duce Staley carried the ball 30 times for 170 yards and had 274 all-purpose yards. He was named the SEC's Offensive Player of the Week. Quarterback Anthony Wright completed ?$$ iff :1 O I Achim Hi JST Sports Editor fjr\ Bryan Johr v Asst. Sports Edii KJI Dwayne McL ' g?jfij| Asst. Sports Edit. O Jennifer Stz Guest Picker n A \ Shawn Sing f! II Sports Columr I'D Chris Dix ??$ Viewpoints Edii rh Phillip McCl \mf Gameroom G 7) yd d vllcCH r Namp F l^dlSlw E Sperry Palo D( Adidas Span Linea R< Margaret Jerr I. Nine V Hi IFri. 10am-l |g00 fliverm i is hoping to ago with Satu: 18 of 29 passes for 224 yards and one TD. The defense held a potent Georgia offense to 14 points, and only gave up four yards rushing in the fourth quarter. Sounds like a tale of two teams headed in opposite directions? Possibly, but not likely. The Pirates are a dangerous team with an excellent quarterback in Marcus Crandell. Scott calls him a "seasoned Duante Culpepper* (the Central Florida QB). The Ail-American candidate will lead a potent ECU multiple-set offense that is truly multiple. Tm of the opinion that if you're going to be a multiple-set team, you better be a multiple-set team," Logan said. "If you go out and show three or four different sets, and that's the end of it, then very quickly its not very multiple." Look for Crandell to throw the ball a lot to split end Larry Shannon (12 receptions for 163 yards this year) and halfback Mitchell Galloway (83 career catches). The Pirates' rushing attack is led by fullback Scott Hariey. The 5-10,200pound sophomore has rushed for 221 yards and one touchdown on 37 carries. ' " Florid iston usc Ti tor 11-5 ,emore Tier T jr 12-4 p Sfy use Fl< >1(*?P USC T 11st 0-0 on,, USC F1 tor 3-2 usc i uy 0-0 lish Leather Y xna Westies Jest Aigner 'v-:-, '^ v.,-" V : ' . ' : ; : ';:7 7: ;. ;; " : >'7; rag--.. *^iP - J Rttmr** <g 8pm, Sat. 10amont Drive Colui avenge Hom< rday game ag The Pirate offense can be scary at times, cut, that wasn t the case last week for ECU. The Mountaineers pressured and rushed Crandell all game, forcing him to throw three interceptions. USC's defensive linebacking trio of Darren Hambrick, Benji Young and Shane Bumham must do the same. Up front, another strong game will be needed from tackle Henry Taylor. He had seven tackles, two tackles for loss, and had .5 sacks and two QB pressures against Georgia. If the interior seven can't get to Crandell, it'll be up to the secondary, led by free safety Arturo Freeman, to stop the aerial attack. In the first two games, the secondary has held its opponents to just under a 47 percent completion rate, and have picked off three passes. Offensively, the Gamecocks must continue to mix the run and pass effectively. In the first two games, USC has had 888 total yards. Of those yards, 428 yards (48.2% of the offense) have been on the ground, and 460 yards (51.8%) have been through the air. "[ECU's defense! will bring the la/Tenn NfVTexas A enn Texas enn ND ;nn Texas Drida ND enn Texas orida Texas enn Texas KM ^M y :: l d PmHpJJ ot To Se . ^1 L H - ^jjjH Jl ^.^1 SEL?( Kg OES/ 6pm, Sun. lpn Tibia 803-76S ecoming loss ;ainst ECU pressure. Anytime people bring the pressure, then you have to be able to execute on offense," Scott said. East Carolina held West Virginia to 129 yards rushing on 47 attempts, an average of 2.7 yards per carry. "They tried to run the ball at us and they couldn't," ECU linebacker B.J. Crane said. "East Carolina defense is all about stopping the run. Ever since I've been at East Carolina, ifs been stop the run, stop the run, stop the run." Crane vows that Staley will not have games like he had against UCF or UGA. "Ihis week, well stop the run," Crane said. If Crane and his defensive mates can make his words stand up, USC could be in for a long night. Yet, if the same Gamecock team that came to play against Georgia shows up, Carolina could move to 3-0. As of 5 pm. Thursday, approximately 200 tickets remained. Another 100 remain available for students with a valid I.D. They can be picked up at the Students' Ticket Window on gameday starting at about noon. uburn/LSU tffcei^orfiMfooa Auburn Mizou Auburn Clemson I Auburn Clemson ? LSU Clemson | Auburn Mizou ? LSU Mizou Auburn Clemson j ,:v-- - . I ^ ! Ml mm A A I I ^ M e If To Bt .m k%l r'v lelllBiaiSlllESiH 10p our huge :tion of qual gner footwe jnder one ro i-6pm Take i-0002 To P< ACHIM HUNT Sports Editor South Carolina head ceach Brad Scott was pretty excited about the Gamecocks performance against SEC rival Georgia last M " Saturday night He liked W .. the way the defense ' ^ responded to Georgia's running same led bv ^ Robert Edwards and the poise of redshirt ^ sophomore Anthony ^ Wright under the pressure applied by the WPffflE , Georgia front line. SCOTT "We had a good win this past Saturday, and it was a team effort. We had great effort from our players, and especially the way that they played in the second half. It was veiy encouraging on both sides of the football." "Now we still have a long ways to go, to where we will be a real physical football team. What we are playing on now is a lot of emotion, and I think our coaches are doing a good job of coaching are players correctly. We are still doing a lot of teaching and learning." "We are doing a lot of things right now that is helping our football team win on Saturdays. One of those things is for the high turnover ratio that are team has right now. We have fumbled the ball only once and have taken the ball away six times, that is a sign of a good football team." "We have got a lot of improvement to do, but I like the way our team has responded to the challenges so far this year." "I thought that this (the Georgia win) was a big step for us, and I like the enthusiasm that are team is displaying. To win a close game and to feel it almost slip away, and the way that the defense just refused to lose, they came out there and played with intensity in the second half." "The offense played with great maturity in the fourth quarter. They got all of the yards they needed and were able to put the score on the board That score probably put the game out of reach." "Our crowd was tremendous, it was really one of the best environments pis N. y x fi M m Ml > fy/rs ilieve It! Illlll |ft|?ili::;i |ii| I Pennsylva mg House Furn IB I rn 500 Rivermont C ITY aq g g Downtown Columbia OF! 1-126 To The ZC innsylvania Hous I have ever been a part of. They kept the intensity level of our players at an all-time high." While he was excited about the imHk Georgia game, coach I Scott is still not totallv a assured that his team will win the East Carolina game. He is confident however that his team will be competitive on Saturday ballgame this week is really a dangerous kind of situation, it is a dangerous team , because they may be the best that we have played this year. They are dangerous on offense one because they never give you the same look twice. This is a veiy multiple offense." "They spread the field wide open and they have a great quarterback. A guy (Marcus Crandell) that is in total control. He sits back in that pocket with a great awareness and he can really pin-point his throws. He has the ability to make the big play, he scrambles veiy well, and they have a very balanced offense as well." "Their defense is an extremely well-coached defense. I think one of the things you notice when you watch East Carolina is how well-coached they are. They are very sound and they love to bring a lot of pressure. They have a set of athletes that sell out for them, and they are a very solid team on the defensive side of the ball." "In the kicking game since coach Logan has been there they have made use of a lot of formations and plays on their kicking game. They have something like 21 fake kicks since he has been there and 17 of them have gone for either, first downs or touchdowns, and I can account for two of those, Til tell you that." So now the stage is set for a battle on Saturday night. It was not too long ago that the Gamecocks had Steve Logan's East Carolina team scheduled for Homecoming. After 1994's game East Carolina is coming in with a lot of respect and if Carolina is not careful they will leave with their second victoiy in a row. 1 er Z__ 00^7 o/X 9/ i ma Columbia rture ZOO irive 0 (D < ((L 1-126 ? CD gj < a >0 Exit Next ? ClIMMlillMA ?c r ui iiiiui c