The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, November 05, 1997, Page 8, Image 8
Thoughts on
the first nine
football games
Back on Labor Day, the popular theme park
Carowlnds located on the North Carolina/South
Carolina border closed for the winter season.
With that closing, it ended another season of thrills,
dips and loops for the people of the Carolinas.
Another theme park opened on Labor Day,
though. that Dossesses one of the craziest roller
coaster rides in the nation. That theme park is
Williams-Brice Stadium. The ride is Gamecock football
1997.
When this season started, anyone clad in the
garnet and black was already thinking about getting
their bowl tickets reserved for what surely
would be a successful Gamecock team.
I mean, Head Coach Brdd Scott and his assistants
had told the media and fans starting
back in spring about how much improvement had
been made on the team and how they were ready
to compete with the best of the SEC.
They talked of that bowl trip, and of closing
the gap between Florida and Tennessee in the SEC.
And those fans who listened to these promises
showed up in droves as they always do to
watch the Gamecocks debut against the Golden
Knights of Central Florida.
The defense that was heavily hyped in the preseason
gave up several big plays to the explosive
offense of the Knights. But the offense came back
and won the game by just simply outscoring UCF.
The team didn't look as good as first thought
in that game, but everybody thought, "Hey this is
just the first game of the year, and Central Florida
was just a little better than everybody thought."
Right? Wrong!
The next week these Gamecocks went down to
Athens for a battle with the Dawgs of Georgia. Mike
Bobo and Olandis Gary ran over the Gamecocks,
and their record stood at 1-1 heading to hated rival
East Carolina.
But the Pirates are probably the worst team
the Gamecocks will play this year, and USC completely
dominated that game. They won 26-0, and
all Gamecocks were back at the top and ready to go
o 1 \/r:?:?: :
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But the Bulldogs defense, led by defensive mastermind
Joe Lee Dunn, stopped the Gamecocks in
the second half and cruised to a 17 point victory.
Gamecock fans were back in the valley.
USC returned home for a big game against
Auburn and hung tough against the Tigers for the
first half. The Tigers ran wild in the second half,
and they took control of the game to win 23-7.
That was the lowest point of the season. The
media and the fans were questioning Scott and his
staff. Fans called and complained to local talk shows
and they basically didn't like what they were seeing
from this year's Gamecocks.
Everybody thought the Gamecocks would drown
against the Wildcats of Kentucky and their All-SEC
candidate, quarterback Tim Couch. And everybody's
worse fears were realized when the Wildcats jumped
out to a quick 14-0 lead.
But something happened. When everybody
thought the roller coaster ride could get no lower.
it started to climb again. The Gamecocks came back
and scored on special teams, defense and offense,
soundly defeating the Wildcats to even their record
at 3-3.
After two wins over two of the worst teams in
the SEC, Vanderbilt and Arkansas, the Gamecocks
stood at 5-3 heading to the first game of the "Orange
Crush."
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Being a college kicker is no picnic.
On most days, you come off the sidelines,
do your job, receive a few congratulatory pats
on the helmet and head back to the bench.
But on those days when the expected becomes
the impossible, youll be the loneliest guy on the
field.
It's not something you get over easy" said
Matt Davenport, Wisconsin's kicker. "You miss
a big kick and everyone looks the other way.
You're hanging out there all alone."
But a good week can change a guy's outlook.
Davenport sealed a Badgers' victory over
Indiana Sept. 27 with a 43-yard boot in the
game's closing seconds. In fact, the Big Ten
named Davenport special teams player of the
week for his work in Wisconsin's 27-26 victory.
"You wait for moments like that because
you know you're going to be a hero ifit goes
through," Davenport said. "On the flipside, everyone
wants your head if you miss, but that's
the chance you take. Your job is to kick field
goals. If you don't do it, there's no reason for
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Wildwood Country Club and Cari- an estimat
tas Health Fitness Club for being cpmpa
head football coach at the Universi- P311^ $368,1
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ment con
Not bad for a coach whose record ^ike pr0Sp
for the last three years is 13 wins T
and 15 losses. athletes h
The outside income for ex- and most al
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you to be on the team. If you can't do it, you're
gone." r
Such is the life for many NFL kickers who ?
find themselves looking for a job on Monday af- e
ter missing a game-winning kick on Sunday.
Carlos Huerta was a standout at the Uni- i
versity of Miami in the early 1990s. f
But after getting cut three times in his first r
three years out of college, Huerta knows the ?
pressure on kickers can be unbearable. ?
"There are minimal wants from a coaching
staff," Huerta said. "You put the ball through
the goal posts or you una another job.
Last season, Huerta replaced Kevin Butler
as the Chicago Bears' starting kicker. But J
after missing four of his first seven attempts, 1
Huerta was cut after the third game. s
"You have to go out there and do your best 3
every time, make every kick count, because if
you don't, they'll send you walking. They're just c
looking for a reason to hold you back," said Huer- t
ta, who was cut by the Buffalo Bills at the start
of this season."
Davenport says he's not feeling that pressure
just yet, but imagines it's similar to what 1
he goes through now. 1
ome soaring:
sity?included $250,000 "There aren't 10 ba
m Nike, $73,000 a year coaches in this country thi
Dall camp revenue and difference, and yet we f
r TV radio shows. extraordinary fees," said L
etown basketball coach lach>a University of Utah s
ipson owns or has options ^ory professor and form*
bares of Nike stock, worth Council member. "Why
ed $4.2 million, and the ^at? ^ keePte
iny paid Thompson's com- institution A or institutioi
000 this year for "services Lute Olson, who led
mrsuant to an endorse- versity of Arizona basket!
tract," according to a to a national championshi]
tectus. son, agrees: "There is no
rstem where some college we are overpaid.
ave needed food stamps Then Olson, whose u
thletic programs are mon- compensation is at least!
Dig-time NCAA coaches adds: "All I know is that wh
1 revenue. here, the basketball budg
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e uprights
"It can be intimidating, but I always give
nyself the best opportunities by staying focused
ind using a lot of positive thinking," said Davinnnt4
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Despite dropping two matches to
then-No. 3 Florida this past weekend,
gj the Gamecock volleyball team remained
No. 26 in the nation according to the
I latest USA Today/AVCA Poll.
Carolina (17-5, 9-2 SEC) will
W look to get back on the winning track
this weekend when they face Tennessee
and Kentucky on the road.
iniir*"*
The Gamecocks will play at 7 p.m.
J|gg Friday against the Lady Vols and at 2
?*"1 p.m. Sunday against the Wildcats.
Mil USC swept UT last week and defeated
UK in five sets last weekend, as
SEAN RAYFORD The Gamecock
Crystal Moore (1) and Fernanda
Laires celebrate Friday night during
their match with Florida.
for coaches
isketball the red, and last year, after all exit
make a penses, we were somewhere around
>ay them $3.5 million on the plus side."
'ar^9^~ But even though Olson and oth^NCAA
erS a ^uSe ro^e i11 making pro
do we do K"?8 successim>1116 nas ireig
up with ^ about the flow of cash to coaches.
a B." "Philosophical questions arise
his Uni- when coaches receive total compenball
team sation far in excess of that received
p last sea- by any member ofthe faculty or staff,
question including the president," said a June
1993 NCAA committee report.
adversity But in the same report, the com$523,000,
mittee noted: "The committee does
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snvisioning successful kicks while listening to
notivational music. "I just concentrate on those
ew seconds that I'm out there. I envision winling
kicks all the time. I see them in my head
ill the time. Before a game, thafs all I can think
ibout."
Ask most coaches about kickers, and thafs
ill they think about as well.
"You try not to be fickle but thafs their
ob," said Jack Pardee, a former NFL and col
ege head coach. "Whether you're looking for
lome padding on the lead or a game-winner,
rou expect the kicker to go out there and score
ivery time. Unless there's some kind of break
lown, you want to see that ball sailing through
he goal posts."
And if it doesn't?
"Well," said Pardee, "that kid better hope
le knows how to tackle or catch or do something
jecause why else do we want him around?"
BRYAN JOHNSTON Sports Editor
Briefs ,
Football
South Carolina's home football
game with nationally ranked Florida
on Nov. 15 in Columbia will be
televised by Jefferson-Pilot Sports
as the Southeastern Conference
Game of the Week.
Kickoff time at Williams-Brice
Stadium will be 12:37 p.m.
This marks the eighth time the f
Gamecocks have played on television
and the fifth time they have been
featured on the SEC Game of the
Week.
Soccer
The No. 8 USC men's soccer
team defeated No. 22 Richmond Sunday
to win the NIKE Invitational
Championship at the College of
Charleston. f
It is Carolina's third in-season
tournament championship, already
having captured the Aces Soccer
Classic in Evansville, Ind., and the
Sunbeam Soccer Classic in Columbia
earlier this year.
USC defeated the Spiders behind
goals from Kim Eriksen and
Nathan Watkins. Both goals came
in the second half.
Goalkeeper Henry Ring collected
the shutout. ^
Carolina (12-2-1) will travel to
Raleigh, N.C., to face N.C. State on
Thursday and will host North Carolina
in the Gamecocks' final regular-season
game at 2 p.m. Sunday at
The Graveyard.
Swimming and Diving
Both the men's and women's
Swimming and Diving teams defeated
UNC-Charlotte Sunday in the "
Carolina Natatorium.
The men defeated the Seahawks
152-87 and the women won 130-112.
Chad Seldon won both the onemeter
and three-meter diving events
for the men. The team of Jon WaldemQT70T*
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Chris Lyons won the 200-medley relay
for the Gamecocks.
On the women's side, Kim Woo |
won the one-meter and three-meter
diving events for USC. Ali Kemmerling
won both the 200 freestyle
and 500 freestyle for Carolina.
Other winners on the men's side
were Julio Aparecido, Andrew Cho,
John Bruenning, Jamie White and
Matt Allen.
Lisa Webb and Katie Milling
were among other winners for the f
women's team.
The men are now 2-2 and the
women are 2-0.
Volleyball
The Gamecock volleyball team
held down the No. 2 spot in the latest
District 4 volleyball poll.
No. 4 Florida holds down the
No. 1 spot. USC is followed by No.
23 Arkansas, Georgia, Central Flori- 9
da, Auburn, Kentucky, ArkansasLittle
Rock, Lamar and Arkansas
State.
compiled by bryan johnston