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Duce's loos BRYAN JOHNSTON Asst. Sports Editor South Carolina found themselves in another close ballgame Saturday, but this time they found a way to win. After two consecutive four-point losses, the Gamecocks came from behind to defeat Kentucky, 25-14 before a crowd of 50,500 in Lexington. "It was a big win for our program. The last two weeks, we have played pretty good and lost. This week, we didn't play so well, but we were poised and kept competing," USC head coach Brad Scott said. The victory raises the Gamecocks record to 3-3 overall and 2-2 in the SEC. Kentucky drops to 1-5 overall ana u-3 in tne a&u. USC was once again marred by mistakes and inability to convert their opportunities. But once again, senior running back Duce Staley proved to be too much for the opposing defense as he ran for a career-high 193 yards and two touchdowns on 32 carries. Unfortunately for Carolina, the performance by Staley was almost not enough. Things started off ugly for USC as Staley mishandled the opening kickoff and was tackled at the two-yard line. But freshman fullback Steve Mixon bailed the Gamecocks out of the hole when he went off the right tackle for 56 yards. Three plays later, sophomore quarterback Anthony Wright was hit and fumbled the ball. Two possessions later, Carolina's drive to the Kentucky five-yard line ended when senior placekicker Reed Morton's 22-yard field goal attempt was blocked The Gamecock defense set up their offense early in the second quarter when freshman defensive end John Abraham hit Wildcat quarterback Billy Jack Haskins and jarred the ball loose. Junior linebacker Darren Hambrick fell on the ball at the Kentucky 33yard line. The Gamecocks were unable to move the ball and had to settle for a 42-yard field goal from Morton with 13:34 left in the half. The special teams once again let the team down on the ensuing kickoff when Craig Yeast took freshman 1. Florida 246 16. Wyon 2. Florida St. 233 17. UNC 3. Ohio St. 230 18. LSU 4. Arizona St. 220 19. Aubui 5. Nebraska 213 20. BYU 6. Tennessee 195 21. Wash i 7. Notre Dame 193 22. North i 8. Penn St. 187 23. Georj i 9. Alabama 183 24. Syrac 10. Michigan 179 25. virgii ! 11. Miami 160 : 12. Colorado 154 Votes are 13. West Virginia 147 Sports. If ; 14. Southern Cal. 133 call Stu ; 15. Kansas St. 125 Sunday n i i r I ;e in Gameci Courtney Leavitf s kick at the five and returned it 95 yards for the touchdown. The Brian Johnson extra point made it 7-3. The Wildcats managed another touchdown late in the half when freshman quarterback Tim Couch drove his team 67 yards on 10 plays. Derrick Logan took the ball 16 yards for the TD with 14 seconds left in the half to send the Cats into the locker room with a 14-3 lead. "I felt confident that we could come back [in the second half]," Wright said. "We made a lot of mistakes in the first half and we were hurting ourselves. I felt like we could come out in the second half and take the t game and we did." The Gamecocks had their chances to break the game open in the third quarter but failed to capitalize on their chances. With 8:08 left in the quarter, a wide-open junior tight end Jason Lawson dropped a pass in the end zone and on fourth down, Mixon was stopped short of the first down. With 3:10 left, Leavitfs punt was fumbled by Kio Sanford and was recovered by freshman Trevon Matthews on the UK 12-yard line. USC drove down to the one, but Wright had trouble with the snap from sophomore center Jamar Nesbit, who moved to the position after junior Paul Beckwith went down with an injury. Wright fumbled the ball and Kentucky recovered. The next play, Couch tried a sneak up the middle and was injured on the play. Haskins came in and tried the same play, but he fumbled the ball and Abraham recovered it. The Gamecocks finally ended a drive with a touchdown when Staley took the hand-off and went iir? +Via mirlrllo cmH intn +Via on/t Tivno Carolina went for two points, and Wright hit Lawson for the conversion to make it 14-11 heading into the final quarter. South Carolina still trailed at the 8:17 mark when Staley made the run of the game and gave the Gamecocks the lead for good. KfflnuMMten.11 Ruhman iiiin8 si m m - mm $ Staff Report* aing 104 Redshirt freshman N 100 has decided to quit the f< /1 and move back home, acco m 53 coach Brad Scott, ington 37 The Houston, Texas n western 30 is tired of football and just >iaTech 22 doing something he do< use 19 anymore. liaTech 15 He will remain here oi compiled by Gamecock i until the end of the spring ; you would like to vote, I he will be released from hi dent Media, 7-2833, i "Nick and I sat down 1 ights after 7:00. discussed his status wit! team," Scott said. "He tol fthe world is getting smallei smell better. ock victory] Staley took the ball around the right side and broke "? * * i* "? i - l nearly nair a dozen tacKies Deiore Dreamng loose ior a 58-yard TD run. Leavitt's kick made the score 1814, Gamecocks. "It was a push play [sweep] on the right side and they were zone blocking," Staleysaid. "They had pushed the tackle off and I saw the end slant in and once I got to the sideline, I remember seeing the defensive end and the linebacker scraping. "When they hit me, they didn't wrap up. When I looked up, all I saw was the goal line and I tried to get there as fast as I could," he said. "Spectacular" was the only way Wright could describe the run. "We needed somebody to step up and make a play and Duce took it upon himself to step up and make a play," Wright said. "Duce came in and gave us a tremendous effort. He was very tough, determined and showed a great desire on his run for a touchdown," Scott said. "He took the game into his own hands. We challenged our big play-makers to step up and he answered the call." USC added one more touchdown late to seal the ballgame when Wright hit a streaking Corey Bridges in stride for a 27-yard TD pass. The senior's reception made it 25-14. Once again, the defense was impressive. They allowed only 156 total yards of offense and 11 first downs for Kentucky. The defense once again proved it was a second-half team as they shut-out the Cats and gave up only 55 yards. Senior linebacker Benji Young had seven tackles, six of which when he had the first hit. Hambrick had five tackles and a finable recoveiy while junior defensive back Ben Washington had five tackles. "We missed some opportunities in the game with the dropped TD passes, the field goal kick blocked, but we battled through the adversity and won the game," Scott said. "This win is special because we kept our poise and found a way to win. "UK didn't give us this football game. We had to come back and earn this victory. This is a big step forward for our program," he said. quits football team did not enjoy football anymore and " wanted to be released from his obligations ick Ruhman at the university." lotball team The talented offensive lineman was rding to head recruited out of high school two years ago and after graduating a semester ative says he early, enrolled in the university this wants to quit spring and participated in spring practice, es not enj oy During this year's spring practice, Ruhman was diagnosed with a n scholarship cardiovascular problem that forced him at which time miss the last part of spring ball and s scholarship, this year's fall drills, ast week and Ruhman was considered to be a 1 our football bluechip recruit for the football team d me that he out 0f high school. Mb BP I IRONK i SAVTNfi FOR Ij LIKE1 T ^ an t afford to save ^^/The truth is, you J Not when you realize t S can last 20 to 3o years ? to live at least as comfc 5 do now. And that take: t By starting to save r ? advantage of tax defer ^ money time to compou ^ Consider this: Set asid 5 month beginning at ag accumulate over $172, ?. you reach age (t?>. But I you'll have to budget 3 to reach the same goal Start plan 4 Ensurin HHH for thos ? */Li.'ttimihj an inlnrol nits of 7% avdtled h prothnr iviy iUfh jd Nfesbit a true si ICHIM HUNT Sports Editor ' Inexperience has been one of the main liabilities to this year's University of South Carolina football team as their youthfulness has shown to be negative in games against Mississippi State and Auburn. ^ Gamecock sophomore guard, I mean tackle, I mean center, Jamar Nesbifs inexperience has helped him on and off the field in his short time of playing organized football. iNesbit is one 01 tne true stuaent athletes in the game of college football today because he cares about his grades and education first, and then he puts his heart and soul into football. "Well he is 6' 6", 300 to 305 pounds,' and he is a pure athlete," Brad Scott said of his talented offensive lineman. "I am just as proud of his academic performance on our campus, and what he represents for our program. He certainly is the true meaning of the student-athlete in all areas of his life." Academics have always been the foremost in Nesbifs life and football has been second. He tries to keep those priorities the same now, but with all of the pressure of big time college football, that can be tough. "A lot of times I am a reluctant football player," Nesbit said. It's hard sometimes when you tiy to juggle school and outside activities with football. Coming from a time when you just used football as an outside activity to here, where football is the most dominating aspect of my life, it is tough to adjust." Nesbit probably faced the biggest challenge of his short career this past weekend at Kentucky when, early in the game, starting center Paul Beckwith went down with a sprained knee and ankle. The coaching staff immediately called on Nesbit to assume the center duties because they had confidence he could do the job. True freshman Scott Browne is scheduled to red-shirt this year. "He played very well except for one fumbled snap that stopped a Gamecock drive deep into Kentucky territory," Scott said. "I was just starting to get the feel for left tackle with my decent game at Auburn," Nesbit said. "And then they took me from that and throw me into the center. If it is the best for the team then I guess that I have to do it. "I guess that I was gaining confidence because we were moving the ball with me under center, and then on the most iS? " , ^- ^ Si' Iggllfltl? " *.m .. y Y && mk '''J> 'w . Xssar ' ytC i T ?t*4 /%$r^ :ally, the time RETIREMENT IS 1 rou CAN LEAST A] : for retirement? Even it y< can't afford not to. retirement,; hat your retirement to help you or more. You 11 want with flexible jrtably then as you annuity plar 3 planning. ment choice low, you can take service that ral and give your Over 1.8 nd and grow. research pu e just $ioo each their list tor e So and you can join them? too* by the time Call toda wait ten years and to build a si >^i<^ each month have time a your side. ning your future. Call our Enroliti g the future ;e who shape it.SM ' /'//l/l Retirement Aiuiuitieo. I'bio rote uoeA oolely to obi*m- //?< r<7// iron I to. CRKF tvrlifniitro ore (hot rt billed by TIAA-CRl'.l'" liu [udent-athlete important snap of all, we have a bad exchange. "Automatically, I took the blame on myself.T wait to the sidelines and started throwing my helmet and yelling. I was more frustrated than anything," Nesbit said. After a great rookie campaign last year, it did not take long for Nesbit to be named to the prestigious Pre-season All-SEC team as a guard. Fnr mnet nlnvprs thp nr*?sPAsnn hnnnr would make them a little big-headed, but according to both Brad Scott and Nesbit, he has been able to keep it all into perspective. "I know that I must improve, and now I am in a situation that I don't want , to be in because I am not quite as comfortable as a center," Nesbit said of his play recently. "But I am going to have to like this week because that will be my assignment." Nesbit started play very late in his high school days when, in the tenth grade, he played his first organized football. "Even though people look at me as a veteran player, I am still a rookie even compared to the rookies that have come in this year," Nesbit said of his experience. "This is just my fourth year of playing organized ball and that is part of the reason football is not my entire life. Football is just an outlet." Nesbit has also had the chance to live in many different places around the world as his dad is a civil engineer. He has resided in such places as Saudi Arabia, his favorite, and the United States, the weirdest, according to Nesbit. He did not move to the United States until he was in the eighth graue. No matter where Nesbit has lived, however, his parents have always placed an importance on his education first, and then on getting good at football later. "Well, (school first) is the way I have always been raised since the first day that I stepped onto this earth," Nesbit said. "My parents always made sure that I was in school, and that I always did well and was involved. Football was the second thing coming in, and I am trying to focus more on it," he said. From the outstanding performances that Nesbit has given through the first six games of the year, most recently the Kentucky game, he is a lock to make one of the three All-SEC teams at the end of the season. If he continues at this pace there is no question that Nesbit will be named to the All-SEC team. i >1, TO START WHEN IT LOOKS FFORD IT. 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