The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, September 22, 1997, Page 7, Image 7
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Gamecoc
ACHIM HUNT Sports Editor
From the monsoon to the desert.
The weather at this year's game
in Greenville, N.C. was very different
from last year's in Columbia.
Last year, fans were leaving at
halftime because of the torrential
rain at Williams-Brice Stadium.
But this year at Dowdy-Ficklen
Stadium, the sun was out bright as temperatures
reached the mid-90s, and the
only water on the field was from the
spray fans that rest on both teams sidelines.
But the weather was not the
biggest difference between this year's
and last year's game with the Pirates
from East Carolina (a 23-7 ECU win).
The biggest difference was the
Gamecocks success Saturday.
Last year, the Pirates came into
Columbia, and before all the fans could
pack the stadium, they had already let
running back Scott Harley loose for a
touchdown. On the first drive this year,
the Pirates were not nearly as lucky.
Two incomplete passes and a holding
call backed the Pirates back to their
one-inch line where they went ahead
and punted to the Gamecocks on
third down.
The Gamecocks got the ball on the
Pirate 25-yard line and converted that
good field position into three points as
junior place kicker Steve Florio nailed
a 36-yard field goal to give the Game
cocks the lead 3-0.
After the defense stopped the Pirates
on their second drive, the
Gamecock offense was ready to draw
more blood. After the Pirates appeared
to have stopped the Gamecock's AnGamecock
PHIL KORJNBLUT
Special to The Gamecock
Heading into the third game of the
season the East Carolina Pirates stood
between salvation and purgatory for
the Gamecocks.
Pew in the preseason felt that way.
But the way the season is unfolding,
the Gamecocks had to return from
Greenville with a "W" or kiss off any
hopes of a bowl trip. The 1-1 start and
the lousy performance last week in
Athens, Ga., had some Gamecock fans
up in a arms
A a a a
5MA
ONT(
TELE
Win a tri|
intheCoi
College t
What's the
video (no loneer
the tape to Conar
30 Rockefeller P
NY 10112. Videos
1997. Tapes will t
anceand rocksp
legal U.S. reside
3/4 of members
equivalent) by S
rules, send a SA!
Plaza, Room 486
THE 12TH ANNUA
COLLEGE BANDS
ks sink the
thony Wright on third and long, he broke were
the hold of a Pirate defender and found USC
sophomore Kerry Hood, who raced down Wri|
the field after making the catch for a grou]
41-yard touchdown to give the Game- j
cocks a 10-0 lead to end the first quar- the fi
ter. ofth
After an ugly second quarter, which Gam
featured running backs running into '
their own men and loads of penalties cockf
that led to three third and long situa- yardi
tions. i
With less than two minutes left in quarl
thp first half tV?o Pirntoa waro /Irlvincr am 1 (
?fV*V Ull XV
on what had been a dominant Game- set u]
cock defense. But after two near in- a 29
terceptions, the Gamecock defense ft- cocks
nally got their hands on the ball.
Junior college transfer Kevin stop
Brooks intercepted the ball and returned Gam
it 43 yards to the ECU 42-yard line, time i
After a nifty 22-yard scramble by eat"3
Wright on the first play of the drive, he
tossed a 20-yard touchdown to sopho- fourt
more fullback Jacob Bush who was wide with
open as he raced to the Pirate end zone '
untouched. With that touchdown, the the b
uamecocKs iook a i /-U lead and all the the L
momentum of the game. fourt
"That was the big momentum shift ^ie.^
of the game," head football coach ? ^
Brad Scott said. "If they were able to
go into halftime with anything there, Flori
even three points, the momentum would every
have been with them. That was a 14- i
point swing. To be able to come back mqnr
and counter with a score of our own, cocks
that was just huge." their
USC continued to roll in the sec- s^t1
ond half as they took the opening dri- thouj
ve right down the field behind the run- 218-4
ning of sophomore Troy Hambrick and ]
senior Scott Moritz. The Gamecocks Gam<
:s gain some
Those fans listened when Brad !
Scott talked in the summer about this loyal
being his best team. They bought *0 ^
tickets when the SEC media picked the wor^
Gamecocks to finish third in the East.
And they traveled to Athens last
weekend expecting to see the expected gkou]
.. a finely tuned team with a high pow- r
ered offense and a stiff defense.
two r
OOOPS!!! What they saw was a of ser
confused group of players stunned by Satui
their own inability to compete with the r
Bulldogs. cocks
SH YOUR WA
) LATE NIGHT
VISION!
) to New York
... ?s^ i
nan O'Brien j
land Search!
^ jbBF
5 gig-' Make a five-minute
!) of your band, VHS only. Send
i O'Brien's College Band Search,
laza, Room 4880E, New York, jjB
must be received by October 15, IBf
)e judged on creativity, perform- j EHta
lirit. Band members must be
nts and be 18 or older to enter; 'NBr|
must be enrolled in college (or jfjHb
eptember 30,1997. For official
5E to: Conan Rules, 30 Rockefeller tHI
foE, New York, NY 10112. Rock on!
LCONAN O'BRIEN ,
EARCH IS PRESENTED BY: j
SPOR
Pirate's sh
only able to move the ball to the even the t
three-yard line as on third down cocks woi
jht was called for intentional The
ndin&- the Game
Steve Florio promptly came onto that thej
eld and kicked his second field goal much sue
e day, a 37-yarder to expand the session,
ecock lead to 20-0. ?^re
That opening drive for the Game- ance aftei
j took up 6:25 on 16 plays for 59 game," Sc
3. the place
Then on the next drive of the third more bala
;er, the Gamecocks moved 43 yards these firs1
) plays while chewing up 4:32 to hind, I m
p Florio's third field goal of the day, I forgot n
-yard effort to give the Game- The1
i a 23-0 lead. 23 minuh
After another Gamecock defensive offense h
to start the fourth quarter, the and a ha
ecocks continued to control the did.
of possession as they drove 12 plays <
a lin nf tVip rWlr * i
? ^ siraignt;
The drive was capped by Florio's wasn't be
h field goal of the day, a 30-yarder film. It w?
9:10 left in the game. and after
rhe Pirates were unable to move week, we
all for the rest of the game, and We came
lamecocks ran the ball the whole ourselves
h quarter as the clock expired and That
ramecocks came away with the 26- olina defe
was so go
'My confidence is high right now," of rest bei
0 said. "I'm hitting pretty much win the ti
ihing I kick." And
\fter two disappointed perfor- looked so
?s to start off the year, the Game- they got t
1 looked like they did last year on the offeni
way to a 6-5 season. The biggest the ball e
of them all was not rushing al- the Game
jh the Gamecocks won that battle resting.
^ Anoi
[t was not even passing where the Gamecoc
scocks won 131-89. And it was not the specii
respect aga
3o now the Gamecocks and their ed. They
following make the five-hour ride were an J
te end of the college football
1, also known as Greenville, N.C. Gamecocl
rhere, they found a team that at Mississ
/es no one outside of their quaint quieted tl
lunity believes in them. If anyone off Scott. I
id believe, it's the Gamecocks. 2-1 is ab
fhe Pirates have only won the last should be
neetings and four of the last five One <
ies. And they were favored to win Gamecocl
^ay. Miss., ant
rhis is not a team the Game- though M
should take lightly or for grant- two week
MWPPPliii?i - t
mm
H /;:^MT "WBypr
te*^ 2 ' Wl
I I I
TS
ip with
urnover battle that the Game- HF
most important statistic for
icocks and the one that shows
r were the team that had so *1
cess last year was time of posfound
out we needed bal
(last year's) Mississippi State
:ott said. "We threw it all over k 1
. Against Auburn, were were U
need. I could kick myself about
fc two games. When we got bets
too confident with the pass. ?
ly basics."
Gamecocks won the battle by
js. That means the Gamecock
ad the ball for a full quarter
.If longer than the Pirates lip
were going to line up and go
at thorn * TTamV>ri/<lr aairl aTt
cause of anything we saw on |
is because we're an SEC team,
the embarrassment of last * 'j
took it as a matter of pride,
out and had an attitude about
meant lots of rest for the Car;nse.
That's how the defense Eat
od last year. They got plenty Sat
cause the offense was able to
ime of possession. ^
that is why the Gamecocks ^
i good on defense Saturday, the
;he rest they needed because * coc
se was able to run and pass
ffectively, therefore keeping
icock defense off the field and
sail
tha
ther big difference for the anc
ks was the excellent play of goi]
al teams that have been the
inst East
should approach this as if it
SEC game. the
win Saturday put the the wh
a at 2-1 with a winnable game 2 s
ippi State coming up. The win Aul
le critics and took some heat js n
Did anyone expect a 3-0 start? w-r
out where the Gamecocks ^
for
can assume that a confident
t squad can go to Starkville,
1 have a chance to win, even den
ississippi State will have had dov
s to prepare. beg
I
P M
illtf
****** IfiJaBP
1 foH
Jllllai
r
*%! afn
it Carolina quarterback Dan Gonzalez
urday. The game was USC's first shutoul
iK part or tne uamecocRs ail year, field
>homore Courtney Leavitt and Flo- play
had strong days with their legs, and selv<
Carolina return men gave the Gameks
good field position all day long,
"After that performance last week, good
had to go back to the basics," Scott Dau
i. "I challenged the team this week shov
t we were not going to come in here stop
1 try to trick anybody. We weren't way
rig to throw the football all over the year
Carolina I
However, a loss would have put
i Gamecocks into a tailspin from jjjj
ich they could not recover. With a 1tart
and the prospects of losses to
lurn, Tennessee and Florida, there
to room for error in getting the six g
is necessary to qualify for a bowl,
it's why Saturday was a must-win
the Gamecocks. qc
With the win, there's new confice
and hope. With a loss, the count- 15
m to basketball practice would have
un.
ALPHA EPSILt
Premedical Hor
invites all interested Pre
TUESDAY, SEPT!
7:00 P]
COKER LIFE SCIEN
Speake
Dr. Bill Rambo, Chairman of Admissic
Ms. Wanda Taylor, Director of Admissi
Medical Students, from MUSC.
Come and get answ<
Medical School (
Loaf
V*..M
IUU VI
What's the rush? Enjoy a i
Eat lunch and relax
Have dessert for a change
of bread. After all, at Ri
Bread Company, loafinc
The Much K.neaded >
827 Harden Street Five F
Irmo Station Shopping Center 7491 i
shutout
' * vv
- - gp jps |pa
ACHIM HUNT The Gamecock
is sacked by USC's Sly Miller
t since last year's Vandy game.
. We were just going to line up and
football and find out about ourn
2S.
And finally, the Gamecock defense
Lly showed that they can be pretty
i. After playing second fiddle to the
nte Culpepper and Mike Bobo air
v the past two weeks, they finally
ped the run and the pass on their
to their first shutout since last
's Vanderbilt game.
Playing the first match of the
imada New Carollton Tournamt,
the University of South Carna
beat George Mason 3-0. Carna
is 7-1, while the Patriots move
4-6.
The game scores were 15-7,1515-8.
Saturday, No. 23 Maryland deited
the Lady Gamecocks 3-1 at
>le Field House.
The game scores were 15-10,
-11,10-15 and 15-9.
ichim Hunt
3N DELTA
ior Society
s-Medical students
EMBER 23rd
M
iCES - RM # 211
rs:
?is Committee from MUSC
cms from MUSC.
irs to all your
Juestions!
W~
/ant
soothing cafe latte.
on our deck.
. Take home a loaf
sing High Natural
I is encouraged.
Mternative
oints 254-3113
St. Andrews Rd. 749-BEST