The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, October 13, 2000, Page 9, Image 9
Gamecock Sports Schedule
"Vj| ■ Swimming vs. College of Charleston, Fri., 6:30 p.m.
■ Volleyball at Alabama, Fri., 7 p.m.
■ Women’s soccer at Ole Miss, Fri., 7 p.m.
■ Football vs. Arkansas, Sat., 1 p.m.
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Friday, October 13, 2000 03IHCCOCk Page 9
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Carolina returns home to face Razorbacks
. * %
Sean Rafforo The Gamecock
South Carolina running back Derek Watson makes a move against the Mississippi State defense. Watson and the
Gamecocks are going for their sixth win of the season Saturday when they take on the Arkansas Razorbacks.
by Michael Haney
The Gamecock
South Carolina will look to become eligible
for a bowl Saturday as they take on the
Arkansas Razorbacks at Williams-Brice Stadium.
The Gamecocks (5-1, 3-1 SEC) are current
ly tied for first place in the SEC Eastern Division
with the Florida Gators. Carolina found a way
to win last Saturday against Kentucky, edging the
Wildcats 20-17 in Lexington, Ky.
Arkansas (4-1, 1-1 SEC) is coming off of a
52-6 drubbing of out-manned Louisiana-Monroe.
Carolina is looking to avenge a 48-14 blowout
last year against the Hogs in Fayetteville, Ark.
The Razorbacks scored early and as often as they
could as they cruised to the victory, one that has
the players focused this week.
“I think they ran it up on us,” senior linebacker
Andre Offing said. “I don’t know if it was
something with the coaches or what. But we’re
going to try not to let that happen again.
“They talked a lot of smack and it was hard
taking that abuse,” Offing said. “We had a lot of
embarrassing moments last year, and that was the
worst of them all.”
Carolina’s defense will try to continue its mo
mentum from last week, when the unit held the
high-powered Kentucky offense scoreless in the
second half. Carolina’s defensive unit is ranked
12th nationally and 14th in scoring defense.
Carolina has two injured starters heading in
to the game Saturday.
Starting offensive left tackle Travelle Whar
ton and starting strong safety Rashad Faison both
have shoulder injuries. Faison was injured in last
Saturday’s game, while Wharton was injured at
Tuesday’s practice. USC head coach Lou Holtz
has said both should play depending on their per
formances in practice this week.
Arkansas hasn’t been doing well on the injury
front so far this season. The Razorbacks lost their
first and second string tailbacks in their game with
Alabama earlier this year.
Cedric Cobbs, who was an All-America
candidate as a sophomore, separated his shoulder
against Alabama and had to undergo season-end
ing shoulder surgery. Cobbs had rushed for a team
leading 291 yards and four touchdowns in just
three games this fall before getting injured.
Fred Talley broke his wrist against the
Crimson Tide and is the team’s third leading ground
gainer on the year. Talley resumed practice this
week and may see limited action this weekend.
Freshman tailback Brandon Holmes will see
his first start of the year. He has led the offense
in rushing the past two games.
“Brandon is going to start the game and we
are going to try to get him going,” Arkansas head
coach Houston Nutt said. “He is a big back and
I think he is just going to get better.”
Offensively, Arkansas is one of the SEC’s
highest scoring teams, with its 32.6 per game av
erage ranking second in the conference and 21st
in the nation. The Razorbacks are also averaging
5.2 yards per offensive play.
Razorback quarterback Robby Hampton has
thrown 11 touchdown passes and is completing
more than 57 percent of his passes.
Arkansas also features one of the SEC’s top
receiving corps. Boo Williams is regarded as one
of the premier receivers in the SEC. He is aver
aging nearly 23 yards per reception and 73.4 yards
receiving per contest. Three of Williams’ four
touchdown receptions have been for more than
50 yards (79, 75, 54). Rachard Smith leads the
team with 22 receptions for 216 yards and one
touchdown.
On defense, the Hogs are very aggressive and
physical. Arkansas is ranked second in the SEC
and eighth in the nation in pass defense (149.8),
Football see page n
Gamecocks hoping victory over Arkansas will lead to bowl bid
■ Team's last bowl
was '95 Carquest
by Rick Johnston
The Gamecock
y
With a win in tomorrow’s game against
the Arkansas Razorbacks, the South Caroli
na Gamecocks will win their sixth game of
the season, giving them the number of wins
needed to be eligible for a postseason bowl
game.
The last time Carolina was close to go
ing to a bowl was 1996, when the Gamecocks
went 6-5. Despite a rumored invitation to the
Independence Bowl, the Gamecocks did not
play in the postseason play that year.
Carolina’s last bowl appearance was in
the 1995 CarquestBowl in Miami, which saw
the Gamecocks win their first bowl game in
nine tries with a 24-21 triumph over West
Virginia.
Although there is still plenty of football
to be played this season, here is a look at the
bowl games that Carolina may be going to.
The Southeastern Conference has a bid
in seven bowl games, including a Bowl Cham
pionship Series bid to the SEC Champion.
The bowl schedule was taken off of
NCAAFootball.net and the conference match
ups were taken from CNNSI.com.
On December 29, Nashville’s Adelphia
Coliseum will host the HomePoint.com Mu
sic City Bowl. This bowl will feature a team
from the SEC facing the No. 4 team from the
Big East Conference.
Also on December 29 will be the
Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl at the Georgia Dome
in Atlanta, Ga. This game will feature a team
from the SEC against a team from the At
lantic Coast Conference.
On December 31, the Sanford Indepen
dence Bowl in Shreveport, La., will feature
the No. 6 team from the Big 12 Conference
and a team from the SEC. If the season were
to end today, either Texas or Texas A&M
would serve as the Big 12 representative.
New Year’s Day, the traditional day of
big college football games, has three bowl
games the Gamecocks might be able to at
tend.
One is the Outback Bowl in Tampa, Fla.,
which will feature an SEC team playing
against the No. 3 team from the Big Ten Con
ference. If the season were to end today, ei
ther Purdue, Minnesota or Michigan would
serve as the Big 10 team.
Another New Year’s Day affair will be
the SBC Cotton Bowl in Dallas, Texas.
This game will showcase an SEC team com
peting against the No. 2 team in the Big
Twelve. This will be the loser of the Big
Twelve Championship game, which would
currently pit Kansas State against Oklahoma.
The last New Year’s Day bowl game is
the Ourhouse.com Florida Citrus Bowl in Or
lando, Fla. This will pit an SEC team against
the number 2 team in the Big Ten, a spot cur
rently held by Ohio State.
The best case scenario, however, would
have the Gamecocks winning the SEC Cham
pionship game, giving them an automatic
berth in the BCS.
This year, the SEC Champion is will play
in the Nokia Sugar Bowl, which will take
place on January 2 at the Louisiana Super
dome in New Orleans. The SEC Champion,
provided they are not the top two teams in
America, will face a BCS at-large team.
The sports desk can be reached at
gamecocksports@hotmail.com.
Ninth-ranked men’s soccer team prepares
for home game against strong Furman team
by Casey White
The Gamecock
The ninth-ranked South Carolina men’s soc
cer team (8-1-2) will be looking to build on a
successful start to the season this weekend at
‘The Graveyard” when they take on the Furman
Paladins.
The Southern Conference team has an over
all record of 11-2 and has yet to lose an away
game during this season. They claimed their
most recent victory over Wofford Wednesday
night, defeating the Terriers 2-1.
The Paladins boast an extremely strong de
fense that has managed to hold their opponents
to only 10 goals this season, while the offense
kicked 44 into the net. The backbone of the de
fense is All-South goalkeeper Scott Blount, who
has allowed only nine goals against his record
ed 33 saves for 4 goals against average of 0.82.
The Furman offense has also posted out
standing numbers this season, as they have
taken twice as many shots as their opponents
with an average of 3.7 goals per game.
The stronghold of the offense is junior All
American John Barry Nusum, who is on the way
to being Furman’s all-time leading scorer. The
forward from Bermuda leads the Paladins in
points with 26, including 10 goals and six as
sists.
The Paladin freshmen are certainly con
tributing to the cause this season as well. Lead
SOCCER SEE PAGE 10
Sean Rayford The Gamecock
Gamecock midfielder David Testo tries to elude a sliding Clemson defender during the two
teams’ 0-0 tie on Sunday. The Gamecocks’ next opponents are the Furman Paladins.
Volleyball road trip
continues with games
at Auburn, Alabama
by Charles Tomlinson
The Gamecock
The Gamecock volleyball team will
embark on another road trip this week
end, facing Alabama Friday and Auburn
Sunday. Both matches will be televised,
and the Auburn match will be the SEC
Match of the Week.
Alabama is 154 and 5-1 in SEC play
after a victory over Mississippi State Sun
day. Head coach Judy Green is leading
the team for her fifth year. Last year, the
Crimson Tide had their first winning sea
son in five years, finishing with a 17-15
record. All of last year’s starters have re
turned this season.
“There is no doubt in my mind that
this is by far the most talented group in
my tenure,” Green said. “I feel like this
group has the mindset and desire to make
the next step for this program.”
Senior outside hitters Michelle Green
and Monica Morales form the intimi
dating offense for Alabama. Green, a first
team All-SEC selection, led the Crim
son Tide and the SEC in kills as a
junior. This season, she leads the Tide
with 300 kills and has also racked up 167
digs. Morales, a fifth-year senior, leads
the team in digs with 188 and has con
tributed 219 kills this season. Sophomore
middle blocker Shelly Adamcik has the
highest total of block assists for Alaba
ma with 52.
Senior setter Allison Lange, along
with sophomore setter Bridget Studnic
ka, have contributed solid defense to the
Tide this season.
Freshman Erin Price has proven to
be a new strength for Alabama. She has
already contributed 73 kills and 29 block
assists this season.
Alabama leads the all-time series with
USC 10-7. However, USC has emerged
victorious in five of the last seven meet
ings.
“Alabama is a real aggressive team,”
said USC junior defensive specialist
Liz Price. “They’re defensively really,
really good, so our hitters have got to be
on, and our passers have got to be on,
and we’ve just got to go for the win in
both games.”
After defeating Georgia State Wfednes
day night, Auburn is 10-8 with a SEC
record of 1-5. Last season, the Tigers fin
ished second in the SEC Western Divi
sion with a 19-11 overall record and an
8-7 SEC record. This is coach Kevin Ren
shler’s first season in charge of the squad.
USC hopes to earn their fifth straight win
over Auburn on Sunday.
On the outside, the big names re
turning for Auburn are senior Brooke
Volleyball seTpage ti