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Gamecock Sports Schedule ■ Women’s soccer at Wofford, Tue., 7 p.m. ■ Men’s soccer at Winthrop, Wed., 7 p.m. ■ Volleyball vs. Kentucky, Fri., 7 p.m. I Page 10 (5ameC0CR Monday, September 25,2000 Gamecocks knock off No. 25 MSU by Kyle Almond The Gamecock They're starting a totally different kind of streak ai South Carolina in 2000 — a winning streak. Last season, USC's football team held the nation's worst losing streak in the nation, with 21 straight defeats But with their 23-19 win Saturday over No. 25 Mis sissippi State, the Gamecocks have won their fourth straight game and stand 4-0 for the first time since 1988. In addition, the Gamecocks are ranked 23rd in the nation by The Associated Press. Erik Kimrey's 25-yard touchdown pass to Jermale Kelly put South Carolina on top with 4:41 remaining in the game, and the Bulldogs (2-1,0-1 SEC) failed to mount a comeback in the waning minutes. USC junior quarterback Phil Petty threw for a touch down and a career-high 305 yards, but it was his back up that garnered most of the post-game spotlight. After Petty had sprained his ankle on the previous play, Kimrey came into the game facing a fourth-and-ten situation with USC trailing 19-13 in the fourjh quarter. The backup took the snap, took a step back and lofted a deep fade pattern to Kelly, who cradled the ball in the end zone for what proved to be the game-winning score. It was the only pass that Kimrey, a walk-on sophomore, threw in the game. "When [Petty] got injured, I looked at Erik Kimrey and he said, 'Coach, 1 can throw the fade,"' USC head coach Lou Holtz said. "If a guy says he can do something, then I'm all for it." "It was a great throw, and Jermale made a great play." The unlikely touchdown completed a fourth quarter comeback for the Gamecocks, who trailed 19-10 going into the final period of play. MSU had held the lead since the second quarter. The Bulldogs struck first in the game when defen sive lineman Mario Haggan returned a Derek Watson fumble 27 yards for the game's first score. The fumble was only the beginning of a nightmar ish game for Watson, USC's leading rusher and top scor er on the year. On the kickoff following the fumble, Watson returned the kick 92 yards for what seemed to be the game-tying touchdown, but an offside penalty on USC negated the score. In the second quarter, the sophomore tailback fum bled again. MSU's defense, ranked first in the nation last season in rushing defense, completely shut down Watson, who finished with -1 yard rushing on 14 carries. In fact, the Bulldogs limited the entire South Carolina team to only 30 yards rushing on the game. But USC got the job done in the air. Petty threw his first touchdown pass of the season, a 58-yarder to freshman Corey Alexander with 4:07 remaining in the first quarter. The score gave South Carolina a 7-6 lead. Petty continued to gain big yards the rest of the game, mostly to Kelly, who finished with nine catches for 123 yards. MSU regained the lead in the second quarter, taking advantage of Watson's second fumble and a blocked punt to score two field goals and take a 12-7 lead. Reid Bethea kicked an 18-yard field goal for USC shortly before halftime, and MSU led by two at the break. In the third quarter, MSU increased their lead to nine Football see page n Sean Rayford The Gamecock USC starting quarterback Phil Petty scrambles to find an open receiver downfield. The redshirt junior threw for a career-high 305 yards in Carolina’s 23-19 victory over No. 25 Mississippi State. Walk-on steps up in clutch situation by Kyle Almond The Gamecock It was a play that should go down as one of the most unlikely touchdowns in South Carolina history. Down by six with less than five minutes remaining and facing a fourth-and-ten situation from the Missis sippi State 25-yard line, South Carolina brought in back up quarterback Erik Kimrey to replace injured starter Phil Petty. Kimrey, a walk-on redshirt sophomore from Ir mo, S.C., came into the game having only thrown eight career passes. His ninth pass, however, will be one that he, and many Carolina fans, will never forget. Kimrey threw a 25-yard touchdown pass to Jermale Kelly on his first play of the game to put the Game cocks up 20-19 with 4:41 remaining. USC held on to knock off the No. 25 Bulldogs, and Kimrey was an instant hero. “It’s what you dream about your whole life,” Kim rey said. “I was just one of the lucky ones that got to li\;^ it /Aiit ” When Petty went down after third and 10 play, USC head coach Lou Holtz approached Kimrey and asked him what type of pass he’d like to throw on fourth down. Holtz had already decided that he would go for a first down on fourth and 10 rather than attempt a field goal. “I only got a fevv warm-up throws, so 1 wanted one that didn’t take too much precision,” Kimrey said. “So I said, ‘Let’s throw the fade route and see how that goes.’” Holtz’s instructions were simple: Look at how the defense lines up, pick out a receiver, and launch the ball. “We knew we weren’t going to have a lot of time,” Holtz said, predicting a Bulldog blitz. And blitz they did. But USC’s line was up to the task. “The line did a great job protecting,” Kimrey said. “[MSU] was bringing the heat.” Kimrey took a couple of steps back and looked for Kelly, who was covered man-to-man, but bumped at the line of scrimmage. “I saw [Kelly] jammed up a little bit,” Kimrey said. “So I put a little more air on it. I said ‘I’m just going to throw it up, and if worse comes to worse, it’s a jump ball.’” It didn’t come to worse, and Kelly didn’t have to jump at all. Kimrey seepage ti 1--<-S—-—I-I-m-i-S-—--—■ - I——--—-——I—m ‘ ; M—i-i-——aBaEBEaE : Sean Rayford The Gamecock USC tailback Derek Watson looks for an open space in Mississippi State’s defense. He could not find one however, as he finished the game with -1 yard rushing on the day. USC ground attack struggles by Charles Tomlinson The Gamecock USC’s 3-0 record going into Satur day ’s gimie could be hugely attributed to their successful rushing attack. On Saturday, however, the Game cocks rushed for only 30 yards against Mississippi State, a miniscule number compared to the 336 yards South Car olina rushed for against Eastern Michi gan in last week’s game. Sophomore tailback Derek Watson was Carolina’s hero in that game, rush ing for 215 yards. But Watson was smoth ered against the MSU defense, finishing with -1 yard. “I don’t believe that you can stop Derek Watson if we can get a little block ing,” said USC head coach Lou Holtz. “He’s a sophomore. I’m married to him. I’m going to be here till four years that he is.” Watson, after hearing that he and his coach were “married,” had a few thoughts of his own. “Yeah, I believe this is going to be when he’s going to start cheating,” Watson said. “I feel like I played with Mississippi Suite. I felt like I was a part of their team.” Since Carolina’s rushing suffered, they used their passing to mend the of fensive problems. SUirting quarterback Phil Petty passed for a career high 305 yards. He also com pleted 19 out of 40 passes against the Bulldogs. “When you bring everybody into the box like [the MSU defense] did, you’ve got to be able to throw the ball, and I tliink Pliil did a great job of it,” said back up quarterback Erik Kimrey, who threw for the game-winning touchdown. “I tliink we are playing really good,” Petty said. “When tough times come, we just stick in there and stick to our game plan.” “I think today shows that we aren’t one dimensional,” Holtz said. In the first quarter. Petty completed a 58-yard pass to junior Corey Alexan der for the Gamecocks’ first touchdown of the game. It was his first touchdown pass of the season and a career long as well. It was also Alexander’s first career touchdown reception. With only 8:08 remaining in the game. Petty made a 55-yard pass to junior Brian Scott. This allowed kicker Reid Bethea to make the 26-yard field goal, bringing USC witliin six points of MSU at 19-13. Kimrey stepped in when Petty sprained liis right ankle in the fourth quar ter, He completed a miraculous 25 yard touchdown pass on a fourth-and-ten play. Jermale Kelly caught the pass and gave the Gamecocks a 20-19 lead. It was Kimrey’s only completion of the game. “I thought that Jermale Kelly and Brian Scott made some great plays,” Holtz said. Kelly finished with 123 yards on Sat- ’ urday. He caught nine passes, increas ing his career reception total to 126 and making him fifth in receptions in USC history. Scott finished with 80 yards receiv ing, Alexander finished with 70 yards, ; and James Adkisson contributed 35 yards and a key third down catch on the game winning drive. The sports desk can be reached at gamecocksports@hotmail.com. UAME hRAMES