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I 11 n J I 11.1 At iii A 1A01 PmJlKMiy, NOVwIIMi IWO Gameco I JOSHPENROP Senior Writer The stage was set. The once again new looking Gamecocks took the field donning their all-black uniforms - the fourth different color scheme for the football team and the third different scheme for home games- during warm-ups as they ran across the new looking endzones that f now have "Carolina" etched in their familiar black and red diamonds. The 17 Gamecock seniors were introduced one by one as each player met their parents at the 20-yard line, posed for pictures and walked them to the sidelines under the cover of a dark and cloudy Carolina skyline. A rather large group of recruits were likely hoping that in a couple of years, they too would be apart of the Carolina football tradition. An armed services salute at halftime $ was highlighted by singing from a 400 mpmh#r chnir and a TTSC hand performance that included representatives from all of the armed services. A soldout crowd of 82,808 SEC football fans, accompanied by a regional viewing audience, readied themselves for the Jefferson Pilot SEC Football Game of the Week. And to add to all of the pageantry, Heisman candidate Peyton Manning and his sixth-ranked Tennessee Volunteers found them selves watching the three ring circus that had been directed at them all vear loner. But what should have been the perfect ending to a perfect day never developed as the Gamecocks found the 21-14 deficit they faced going into the fourth quarter to be the closest they would get to an upset that would have shook not only the conference, but also the nation. Instead, the Volunteers took advantage of two time consuming drives that resulted in 10 more Tennessee points and posted a 31-14 victory. "I'd like to congratulate Tennessee, [who] is a good football team and certainly worthy of their national ranking," head f Controversy Yankees ch; 1 safety butz 1 Ifs been a week since the New York Yankees won the Civil War against the Atlanta Braves. Like General Sherman, the Yankees burned Atlanta down in three straight games at Fulton County Stadium, including a six-run comeback in Game Four. However, would any of this have happened if it hadn't have been for a couple of controversial calls in the postr season? Everyone knows about that little brat Jeff Maier, so thafs self-explanatory. This is New York, where fan interference is legal, and like Michael Jackson, they need twelve-year-old boys to score. Nevertheless, there were a few blown calls, and I will be more than happy to point them out. In Gaihe Three, with Atlanta down 3-2, rookie Andruw Jones was called out on strikes after a pitch that was a foot outside. ^ In the final game of the Series, Marquis Grissom was called out on a steal attempt when he was clearly safe. Rugby club d< BRYAN JOHNSTON Asst. Sports Editor r Hie South Carolina men's rugby club defeated the Citadel 29-15 friday night at the Sol Blatt P.E. Center field. With the Gamecocks and Bulldogs being the only two teams in the Palmetto League, the winner is crowned the South Carolina State champs. The win places the Gamecocks into the Southeastern Region Z Final Four, which will be held next semester. USC got off to a fast start when junior Keith Quiller scored from 12 meters out ^ off of a penalty play. The conversion kick was no good and Carolina led 5-0. The Gamecocks took a 10-0 lead when Matt hanley scored a try from five meters out. The score was set up by a nice pass from flyhalf Nick Wilson. Hie Citadel cut the lead to 10-5 before USC scored again. After placing the ball into a scrum down, scrumhalf kelly Grant took the ball into the try zone from seven meters |aaa una luac ^ ,;': i ^b^Bm#oiHi fjp^ wKmrn. % Br Tennessee runnlngback Jay Graham ers Shane Burnham (#52), Darren I (#90). Despite a good effort, Caroll coach Brad Scott said. "They've got a lot of weapons, and ifs veiy hard to contain a team for 60 minutes. "At the same time, I'm really proud of the way our players played. I thought we competed very hard and our football team made a really good showing of themselves. We made some mistakes and gave up some big plays, but when you're playing a team that is as good as Tennessee, [those things don't happen)," Scott said. One of those notable "things" was the abundant numbers of penalties that occurred during the game. On a day that was scheduled to salute armed forces, referees spent far more time worrying about waving yellow flags than the red, white and blue ones. In the game, there was a total of 16 flags for a total of 139 yards. More specifically, there were 12 penalties called in the first half, 58yards of which belonged to the Gamecocks. "Certainly, I think there were some very critical penalties, and that's something that I will have to address to 1 11 u calls give impionship Ifs those inferior American League umpires who could probably blow a phone call if necessary. Just ask Rich Garcia. If you or anyone you love suddenly becomes blind, there's always a future for them as an American League umpire. Speaking of blindness, the Carolina Panthers obviously suffered from it when they arrived in bumed-down Atlanta to face the 0-8 Falcons. I wouldn't be talking about the Panthers if I wasn't planning on making them this week's winners of the Rush Hudson Limbaugh Big Fat Idiot Award. Carolina thought this was going to be another day at the office. The Falcons, however, had another plan in mind in the form of Jamal Anderson. The rookie's 170-yard-plus 1 all-purpose performance along with three Panther turnovers aided them in a 2017 upset victory. Dom Capers should retire. How can you lose to an 0-8 team that always finds a way to lose ball games? Ifs always easy to win at home, but it takes road wins to get to the next level. Carolina is 1-4 on the road with 14 turnovers. They're just not ready for the next level. sfeats Citadel out. The JoJo Dancer conversion kick made it 17-5, Carolina. The Bulldogs scored again on a breakaway play to cut the lead to 17-10. South Carolina scored again when sophomore Byron Kidd took the lineout and pushed into the tryzone by his team members. Kidd placed the ball down and Dancer's kick made it 24-10. The Citadel came back again and tried to make it close by scoring another try, but couldn't get any closer than 2415. Carolina put it away late when Wilson broke free and touched the ball down to seal the victory. The team will play in the Southeastern Final Four next spring with the winner advancing to the Eastern Final Four. The Southeastern tournament features the top team from Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina. SPO game,! vbiie ?| BPw fct?C J ?*? jjHHnM' **j BRYAN JOHNSTON The Gamecock is tackled by Gamecocks defendHambrlck (#18) and Henry Taylor Ina lost 31-14 to the Volunteers. the team. You cannot create penalties in certain key situations," Scott said. Despite the penalties, Carolina still made it a relatively close ball game. lift af fVio flainopftrlfo wo tf?Vi or! Tennessee march down the field for a touchdown in a two-play, 43-yard drive that lasted only 30 seconds, Carolina did a little marching of their own in a fourplay, 69-yard drive that was capped off by a Scott Moritz 13-yard scamper into the left corner of the endzone that ended in the flattening of UT defensive back Terry Fair. After the Courtney Leavitt PAT, the score was notched at seven going into the second quarter. USC would not score again until the third quarter. However, the Volunteers went on to score two more touchdowns in the second quarter after an Andy McCollough 48-yard TD reception from Peyton Manning and a Peerless Price 54-yard reverse for a touchdown to make the score 21-7 at the half. Gamecock freshman Trevon Matthews' first reception of the year resulted in his first career TD as he Gators s1 PWAYNE MCLEMORE Asst. Sports Ec Florida volleyball continued its S this weekend, sweeping the Lady Ga matches and extending its conference G- V;"- GV ' ' i WAS i pi mm ill '5i ?. & . P m. Special Sophomore outside hitter CI and setter Ashley Edlund celel Carolina's next opponent is Coi Local writer; about Game< Staff Reports If you can't get enough Gamecock football coverage this year from all ol the local and national outlets, ther there is one more way to hear aboul all of your favorite Gamecocks. Kamon Simpson, South Carolina sports beat writer for The State, wrote the book Gamecocks Handbook: Stories, Stats, and Stuff about South Carolina Football that is scheduled to be published this month. The book will be one in a series ol popular sports handbooks writter about the nation's top football and basketball programs. Some other football powerhouses to be included in the series are Notre Dame, Florida, and Nebraska. The Gamecocks Handbook takes the reader on a journey from the first game in 1892 to last year's disappointing 4-6-1 season. ?TS gain Vol provided the only points of the third nnnntor fVin T lri/>lr tV\o v^uai tci cuiu, auui uiu ucavut lutiV) uiv gap was closed to 21-14. The tight end's reception was a twoyarder from quarterback Anthony Wright in the corner of the endzone in which he humbly referred to with a low-key approach. "It was just a regular play that we do every day in practice. I was just there at the right time," Matthews explained. Matthews was just one of a handful of regular offensive players that had noteworthy afternoons. Freshman tailback Boo Williams and junior Scott Moritz combined for 104 of the 122 offensive rushing yards in filling in for the absent Duce Staley, who pulled up lame with an ankle injury suffered during the Vanderbilt. Both Moritz and Williams had been readying themselves all week to contribute for the Duce-less offense. "That's what we're here for. You never know," Moritz said. "When something bad happens to your starter, which it did in our case, you have to be ready to step up at any time. I think me and Boo prepared hard this week. We watched a lot of film this week and tried to do the best we could." Wright also had an outstanding game as he completed 15 of 22 passes for 166 yards and no interceptions on the afternoon. He also had several key runs on third down that helped the Gamecocks convert and kept them in several drives. These carries, referred to by one reporter a s "Charlie Ward-ish runs" contributed to possibly one of the best perforafances of the year, but Wright knows the Gamecocks were just a few plays a way from a national upset. "The game was a lot closer than the score indicated," Wright said." It was a lot closer than 31-14. They scored with three minutes left and the game then looked like it had been blown out." Defensively, linebackers Shane Burnham and Darren Hambrick led the iveep Lad1 l't?r to 33 games in a row. . .. Carolina has now los EC domination droppi 17.? "ecocksintro Florida, ranked sec. winning streak land 11-0. The Lady Gators, w season record since 1992 15-5,15-10 and 15-4. The team won agai 15-2. Carolina head coach the team's play despite "The most importar for the weekend was fo good about the way we I we can for the most pai On Friday in Gaines one with a 10-3 lead. Ca falling, with junior Shar The Lady Gamecoc before battling back. Senior Kelly Morrow to close the lead to 10 however, hitting .4751( Game three was tl r Gators, as they took an Sophomore Cindy R 11 kills, hitting .364. Abshier hit .318 j sophomore Ashley Edlu Sunday's match, plj to The Gamecock competitive. Florida oj ndy Robarge one Carolina cla *ata a point. tie itral Florida. Florida was leading J to record a side-out. The authors book ? 1- _11 jock rooioan It also includes some of South Carolina's favorite personalities, history and games. The book's 160 pages are full of 1 facts, trivia, behind-the-scenes stories, and up-to-date statistics. "Writing Gamecocks Handbook was like taking a tour through the 102 seasons of South Carolina football history and learning exactly why it has become such a cornerstone of life in the Palmetto State," says Simpson, p "All the great players, coaches and ! teams are in this book, and they form [ a rich, and thoroughly entertaining, tapestry." i The book is designed to be an opens and-start-anywhere page-turner. The book will be available at South i Carolina Bookstore and other Gamecock apparel retailers, but you can also ; order the book through the publisher at 1-800-4^2-4043. j 0 I t nntoovo i UIIICCIO I defense with 10 and seven hits, respectively. Both worked hard along with the rest of the defense to earn a little more respect for themselves. "Well, that's what we've tried to do throughout the year - get respect form a lot of teams. I think Peyton realized how tough that the defense was. I think he realized that this wasn't going to be a pushover," Hambrick said. And who could overloolUhe play of several key seniors. Corey Bridgesled the team in receptions with five for 45 yards while fellow senior Marcus Robinson, this season's long-play man, had three receptions for 57 yards. Senior right tackle Randy Wheeler remained a constant in an offensive line that blazed the way all afternoon for the tailback duo of Williams and Moritz. Seniors Maynard Caldwell and Terry Cousin went fourth and fifth, respectively, in tackles. And Benji Young, who has been the epitome of consistency all season, finished his final game at Williams-Brice Stadium Senior running back Duce Staley, ah street clothes for Saturday's gam< were honored for their contributions y Gameco( miscue that i t three straight SEC matches, the Lady Gal 11 and 7-4 in the conference. Game twc >nd nationally, moved to 25- 4-0. The Lad fallincrhphini ho have a 66-1 SEC regular -phe Lad\ !, defeated Carolina on Friday Wtting 714 ^ n Sunday 15-11,15-11 and ^ Abshier 1 Kim Hudson felt good about an(! \ ^ the losses. and 11 digs. it thing I wanted to happen Junior He r us to come through feeling digs an<*two competed, and I think that team P'ai t," Hudson sai d. "We show ville, Florida opened up game we played de rolina scored two more before really good tl li Abshier recording five kills, number two ks trailed 10-4 in game two Robarge Y was a hard d r served two consecutive aces ?\ye p]ay( -8. Florida was too tough, ifs tough losi >winthegame haveplayedl ien controlled by the Lady haDDen " 11-pointvictoiy. Hudsona obarge led for Carohna with ^ and recorded 10 kills and d^PPrintin nd chipped in with 35 assists. wa^ away ayed in Columbia, was more Friday ni aened up a 5-0 lead in game while 1,028 i wed its way back to an 11-11 overall serie; The Lady L3-11 when Carolina appeared Thursday ar call was negated by a ballgirl take on Geor Gamecocl 1. Florida (59) 2. Ohio State (5) 3. Florida State (2) 4. Arizona State (1) 5. Nebraska 6. Tennessee 7. Colorado 8. UNC 9. Michigan . 10. Alabama 11.LSU 12.BYU J? 13. Kansas State <\^ 14. Penn State: ^ 415. Virginia s|J :Wyoming ,Jl ;J.17.NotieDameit:|:?,S ^18. 19. Washington Hi 20. Soutl^n'Mass - : 7 respect with another solid performance. "The seniors have really stepped and met a challenge. They recognized that they were not. satisfied and they didn't want to be like last year's team. They want to make it to a bowl game this year. They helped build a team that's on the rise. We're going to miss this class," Wright said. After the game, Marcus Robinson sat clutching his senior ball, given to all the seniors for their Gamecock service, keeping in mind that he and his fellow seniors helped lay a foundation for this young team. "We've come together as a family and together you accomplish things. "We've been down and we've stuck together and toughened it out. I think tjiis year we've become really tight and we seniors have picked it up," Robinson said. Come next season, when this family hits the Williams-Brice field for the first time, these 17 family members will surely be missed. However, there are young players out there ready to join the family. ACHNM HUNT The Gamecock town here with Brad Scott, was In ?. Staley and 16 other seniors > to Carolina football. :ks twice dlowed a ball to roll onto the court, and :ors went on to win the game. ) also saw Florida open up a quick lead, y Gamecocks tied the game 5-5, before i 11-6. ' Gators then dominated game three, id holding Carolina to .063, and winning ed the Lady Gamecocks with 14 kills litting .355, and Edlund added 34 assists lather Larkin, who recorded 11 kills, 10 block assists, was happy with the way yed. ed a lot of fight, especially at home, and ifense really well," Larkin said. "I feel lat we competed that hard against the team in the nation." lad seven kills and said Sunday's match efeat. ed the first two games really well, and ng like that," Robarge said. "We should better the third game, but it just didn't aid she was glad the weekend was over, l't take a game off them, and that's g," Hudson said. "I think the girls will eling they did a good job and competed." ighf s match saw 2,377 in attendance, attended on Sunday. Florida leads the 5 with Carolina 16-6. Gamecocks host Central Florida 7 p.m. id then travel to Athens on Saturday to gia at 7 D.m. k Tod'25x5^ * 21. Miami 22. Auburn 23. Iowa 24. Syracuse 25. Virginia Tech Others Getting Votes; I Bast Carolina Jj|||I W^ViiV 11