The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, October 19, 1998, Page Page 6, Image 6
msssasm d
Michael brings us Fri
another NITRO
report. US'
Men's soccer
hosts the Sunbeam
Soccer Classic.
Seco
staff writer BROCK VEROAKIS
What started out as an exciting upset
attempt against the 17th-ranked
Razorbacks Saturday afternoon ended
up as yet another Gamecock defeat,
bringing USC's record to 1-6,0-5 in SEC
play.
Carolina held an 11-point lead at
the half, playing some of its best football
of the year. However, in the
third quarter, Arkansas dominated
USC, scoring 24 unanswered points.
"We played as good as we could in
the first half," said Carolina coach Brad
Scott. The second half was a different
story though. "We played about as poorly
as we can play in the second half. I
don't think I've ever experienced two
halves so different," Scott said.
Carolina encountered difficulties at
the outset of the game, but showed composure
by overcoming three penalties
on their first drive to score on a pass
from Anthony Wright to Ben Fleming.
It was the first time USC had
taken the first lead in a game since they
opened against Ball State.
Ahead 7-0, Scott decided to pull out
his bag of tricks, attempting an onsides
kick.
HP Jn
The fans enjoyed the first half o
Arkansas, as the Gamecocks carried
Petty shov
staff"uritar CHARLIE WALLACE
College football is a game of two halv<
team can take the lead in a game, but w
the game in the second half is the tru
It looked as if USC's two-headed mon
quarterback, freshman Phil Petty and
Anthony Wright, had enough to put Arl
away.
It was not so.
USC tried to combine the two quarte
Saturday, but nothing seemed to work, as
of consistency proved to be the Gamecock
ic flaw.
Petty, a 6-foot-3,193-pound redshirt
man from Boiling Springs, is the future of
football team. And with a record of 1-5 gc
to Saturday's game, coach Brad Scott h
cided in previous games to use Petty n<
in backup roles but in key game situati
well.
That opportunity arrived for Petty wii
left in the second quarter.
Arkansas tailback Madre Hill had jus
bled untouched 30 yards into the end 2
give the Razorbacks their first lead of the
at 10-7.
Carolina got the ball back, and after tv
ning plays that resulted in a first down
threw his first pass of the game ? a com]
to sophomore Jermale Kelly for an 18-yai
to the Arkansas 34-yard line.
Six plays later, he found tight end 1
Matthews wide open in the end zone to
the lead for USC, 14-10. A perfect dri
chestrated beautifully by the freshman si
the Hogs.
Arkansas went three plays and out o:
subsequent drive and once again Petty mi
the Gamecocks down the field. He com
a 13-yard pass to Kelly and then a nim
pass to running back Troy Hambrick, g
the Gamecocks to the Arkansas 10-yard 1
senior wide receiver Zola Davis in the i
where Petty rolled to his right and f
Davis' awaiting arms.
Going into halftime, Petty was 5-of-8 j
and 2 TDs ? about as much as you coul
man backup.
However, as Petty and the whole US
football is indeed a game of two halves.
Arkansas got the ball to start the sec<
after only four plays when quarterback (
pleted a 51-yard bomb to junior wide receiv
to close the lead to 21-17.
The first series of the second half st
ty, but ended disastrously.
After a nine-yard scramble and a coi
ly for 16 yards, Petty threw into triple
day
C 12 13 15 13
: 15 15 13 15
na n;
"We wanted to give our football team
every chance to win this game," Scott
said.
The attempt failed, however, and
gave the Hogs the ball on their 48.
Arkansas managed to drive down to the
USC 6. A sack on third down forced
Arkansas to take a field goal.
Leading 7-3 at the end of the
quarter, Carolina had controlled the
time of possession and held Arkansas'
ground game to minus-11 yards.
! In the second quarter, Arkansas
temporarily took the lead when Madre
Hill went up the middle virtually untouched
for a 30- yard touchdown. It
would be a sign that UA's running game
had finally shown up.
The Gamecocks didn't get discouraged,
though, and played the rest of the
half like true contenders. Switching to
redshirt freshman Phil Petty at quarterback,
USC drove to the Arkansas 10
before calling a timeout. ^
On the ensuing play, Petty connected
with a wide-open Trevon Matthews to
retake the lead, 14-10.
Good things continued to happen,
as the Carolina defense stopped the
Hogs deep in their own territory, forcing
a punt. Receiving the ball with 2:39
left on the clock, the Gamecocks made
K Mill ' W- mm
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SEAN RAYFORD Sports Photo Editor
f Carolina's football game against
a 21-10 lead into the locker room.
vs signs of
hHHH % *J
rrevon f
a their
Quarterback Phil Petty looks
P , one of his two touchdowns aj
e-yard
getting rover back Zach P;
line. He then found Arkansas went on
2nd zone on a play Petty recalled how 1
ired a bullet into to open the second
"They dropped i
)assing for 60 yards were smaller holes
d ask from a fresh- Was something I fo
The rest of the
>C team found out, as be was sacked
Anthony Wright v,
md half and scored to find open receive
ylint Stoerner com- Petty played so
er Michael Williams ter an incompletior
was intercepted bj
arted well for Pet- score and boost the
On his second i
nplete pass to Kel- [Green] was runni
coverage and UA make a good play."
1
o
OPC
all dc
one final drive to end the half. Petty
took the team 46 yards, getting to the
Arkansas 10 with time quickly evaporating.
With time for one last play, Petty
fired a pass to Zola Davis for a touchdown
to give USC their biggest lead,
11 points, at the half.
During halftime, Arkansas realized
it was being humiliated by the unranked
Gamecocks and needed to make adjustments.
"As a defense we could have done a
lot better," said C. J McLean of Arkansas.
"Coach told us we needed to make
something happen early in the third
quarter, and we did," said Arkansas QB
Clint Stoerner.
Arkansas struck quickly, taking only
two minutes off the clock before Stoerner
threw a long one to Michael
Williams for a 51-yard touchdown. This
time the Gamecocks couldn't respond
and turned the ball over on a Petty
interception, giving the Hogs another
scoring opportunity.
"I should have never thrown it," Petty
said.
Once again the Razorbacks didn't
waste much time in making the most
of a good situation, as they scored in
under three minutes in only eight plays
when Stoerner found Anthony Lucas
in the end zone.
On Carolina's next possession, Petty
was injured, forcing Scott to replace
him with Wright. Wright proceeded
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On his third snap, the Arkansas defense
broke through and forced a sack.
Before Wright hit the ground, he fumbled,
turning the ball over.
Frustrated, the Gamecock defense
didn't fare much better than the offense.
Six straight running plays later,
Arkansas had powered the ball into the
end zone. In the minute and 27 seconds
they had the ball, USC was called for
two penalties.
Only down 31-21, Carolina still had
an opportunity for a comeback. However,
as is the pattern this year, the
Gamecocks turned the ball over. On the
first play of their next drive, Wright
threw an interception to Ontraia Moss,
who returned the ball 31 yards before
finally being tackled on the Carolina
21.
' brilliance
JaB a
jus j^m < ,!W
SEAN RAYFORD Sports Photo Editor
over the defense before throwing
gainst the Razorbacks.
ainter was there to intercept the pass,
to score a touchdown and take the lead.
Arkansas changed their defensive scheme
half.
off a little, and played some zone. There
to throw the ball. That first interception
reed in there," Petty admitted,
game, Petty found himself on his back,
three times. When he wasn't playing,
ras running around desperately trying
;rs.
me in the fourth quarter as well, but afl,
he threw a pass down the sideline that
j Orlando Green. Arkansas went on to
s lead to 41-21.
nterception, Petty explained, "The guy
ng stride-for-stride and he managed to
f
^ JL V JL U
>es in
"We brought a lot of this on ourselves,"
Gamecock RB Troy Hambrick
said.
It wasn't long before the lightning-quick
offense of Arkansas struck
again.
In one minute, they had put three
more points on the board to take a 3421
lead. By the end of the third quarter,
USC had blown an 11-point lead
and found themselves with a 13-point
deficit.
"It's almost like it wasn't meant to
be," said USC's Boo Williams.
Running back Boo Williams jukes ti
Williams had racked up 31 yards on
24 unans
mi/
ililiU UU(
staff uriter SHAWM SINQLETON
After 30 minutes of football Saturday
afternoon, a confident Gamecock
team led the 17th-ranked
Arkansas Razorbacks 21-10 in their
homecoming game at Williams-Brice
Stadium.
Fifteen minutes later, the Gamecocks
found themselves on the short
end of a 34-21 score on the way to a
41-28 beating.
The Razorbacks bolted out of the
locker room after halftime, took the
second-half kickoff, and raced 68 yards
on four plays.
The drive was capped by a touchdown
pass from Clint Stoerner to
Michael Williams to cut the Gamecock
lead to four points at 21-17.
The Arkansas defense then took
over on the Gamecocks' first secondhalf
possession, picking off Phil Petty
Petty was hit by senior Razorback
linebacker Harry Wilson as he threw,
leading to the interception.
On South Carolina's second possession,
Petty was sacked by middle
linebacker Jamel Harris, forcing a fumble
that center Jamar Nesbit recovered.
He was then replaced by Anthony
Wright, who promptly fumbled the ball
away to the Razorbacks.
I don't think it was adjustments
on their part. When you look at
turnovers and fumbles, that was pressure
on our quarterback. The interceptions
were good plays on their part,
but we underthrew a couple of long
balls. I don't know if it was as much
as them making plays or us not
making plays," said Gamecock coach
Brad Scott, talking about the thirdquarter
turnovers.
Once again, turnovers proved to
be the undoing of the Gamecocks, as
they committed three of them on three
consecutive drives, leading to 17 unanswered
Razorback points.
Interceptions thrown by both
Wright and Petty, along with a Wright
fumble, gave Arkansas a relatively
short field for their scoring drives.
The USC cross country te
won the South Carolina St
Championships in Rock H:
S.C. Joyce Peebles led the
way, placing third in the
individual results with a tin
of 18:19.
i Car*
In the final quarter, the errors continued
to mount. Rotating quarterbacks,
Scott put Petty back in.
Three plays into the Gamecock's
first drive of the quarter, Petty threw
an interception.
Arkansas fans were sensing victory
then, as the infamous chant of "Woo
Pig Sooie" echoed in the southeast endzone
of a near-deserted Williams-Brice
Stadium.
The Hogs didn't let their fans down,
scoring one more time on a pass from
Stoerner.
ivo Arkansas defenders early in the
5 rushes.
iwered tx
irter decii
"I thought we came out in the third
quarter and played like we were
supposed to. I was disappointed at halftime.
I tried to send a message in the
lockerroom that that's not Razorback
defense.' We don't miss tackles. We
don't tackle high," said Arkansas coach
Houston Nutt about the third quarter.
Added Nutt, "The team showed a
lot of character, and had a knockout
punch early in the third quarter.
"When you get turnovers and an
offensive line that will come off the
ball like we had, and you're healthy,
you've got a great mixture and that's
what we strive for."
The Razorbacks have been a second-half
team all season.
Going into Saturday's action, they
had outscored their opponents 51-9 in
the third quarter.
Running back Troy Hambrick rus
being crushed by the Hogs' defens
III ll ?
ani Nate says the comite
bined record of the
ill, Gamecocks and
Vanderbilt, who meet
this Saturday in
ne Nashville, is a stellar
1-12.
Dlina
The Gamecocks weren't able to perform
the miracle necessary to make the
comeback, scoring only once more.
"We put the defense out there too
many times, and that's tough on any
program in the country," coach Scott
said. Despite his words, the Arkansas
defense was actually on the field longer.
Arkansas' time of possession was only
25:39, compared to the 34:21 that Carolina
held the ball.
Corey Atkins summed up the game,
saying, Until we go and prove it on defense,
people just won't respect us."
SEAN RAYFORD Sports Photo Editor
game. By the end of the contest,
>ints in
ie game
The Gamecocks scored 21 points
in the first half; Arkansas scored 24
in the third quarter alone.
The Razorbacks racked up 146
yards of total offense in the third quarter,
as opposed to just 108 in the first
half.
The multi-faceted running attack,
led by Chrys Chukwuma and Madre
Hill, along with the passing of Clint
Stoerner turned the defense"s inspired
effort into quick points.
Summing up the loss, which
dropped the Gamecocks to 1-6, Scott
replied, "It was a frustrating loss, a
disappointment.
"The players came out and played
well in the first half, but in the second
half, we went back to some of the
turnovers.
" It's a difficult locker room right
now."
SEAN RAYFORD Sports Photo Editor
hed for 69 yards Saturday, despite
e on the above play.