The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, October 17, 1996, Page 9, Image 9
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
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;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.
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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
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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
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