The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, October 30, 2000, Page 7, Image 7
I
Gamecock Sports Schedule
■ Women’s soccer at SEC Tournament in Athens,
Thursday, TBA
■ Volleyball at Tennessee, Friday, 7 p.m.
■ Men’s golf at Hilton Head Invitational,
Friday through Sunday
■ Swimming vs. California, Saturday, 2 p.m.
Monday, October 30,2000 'CJiC (BamttOCk v .Page 7
USC Volun-Smeared by Tennessee
■ Gamecocks still eligible
to win SEC East at Florida
by Kyle Almond
The Gamecock
Travis Henry’s 1-yard touchdown run with 26 sec
onds remaining in the game lifted the Tennessee Volun
teers to a 17-14 victory Saturday over then-No. 17 South
Carolina.
Henry rushed for 115 yards on 26 carries for the Vols
(4-3,2-3 SEC), and the senior tailback scored two touch
downs on the day, including the game-winner.
It was a bittersweet loss for the Gamecocks (7-2, 5
2), playing in front of a school-record 84,200 fans at
Williams-Brice Stadium. It was also the last home game
of the season for USC, and the last home game ever for
19 seniors, including wide receiver Jermale Kelly.
“It hurts right now because it’s my last game here,”
Kelly said. “But we have next week off, and we will heal
up and get ready for Florida.”
Despite the loss, the Gamecocks still control their
own fate in the SEC East title race and are one win away
from a spot in the SEC Championship game. With Flori
da defeating Georgia on Saturday, the Gamecocks can
win the SEC East with a victory over the Gators Nov. 11
at The Swamp.
USC head coach Lou Holtz knows that’s no easy task.
“We are going into an impossible situation at Flori
da,” Holtz said. “We can’t even move the ball [against
Tennessee] without mistakes. Realistically, we needed
some momentum going in [to Florida].”
Carolina was plagued by sloppy play throughout Sat
urday’s loss, and two USC turnovers in the first quarter
gave Tennessee an early advantage.
With the Gamecock offense threatening to score on
the opening drive of the game, the Vols’ Rashad Baker
intercepted a Phil Petty pass at the Tennessee 8-yard line.
The turnover halted a 9-play, 48-yard drive that took up
the first five minutes of the game.
USC forced Tennessee to punt on the following dri
ve, but USC’s Derek Watson fumbled the return at the
South Carolina 9-yard line, and Tennessee recovered.
The Vols capitalized on the next play, with Henry diving
in from one yard out to give his team a 7-0 lead.
The muffed punt was just the start of a poor day for
Watson, the SEC’s leader in all-purpose yards going in
to the game. The Tennessee defense, ranked ninth in
the nation in rushing defense, limited Watson to only five
yards rushing on 11 carries.
The Carolina defense tied the game at seven in the
second quarter when Kalimba Edwards intercepted a
Casey Clausen pass and returned it 81 yards for the touch
down. The junior defensive end had a huge game for the
Gamecocks, also recording a sack, seven tackles and a
fumble recovery.
The third quarter was all Carolina. Clausen and the
Tennessee offense struggled to move the ball, and USC
took the lead with a 78-yard touchdown pass from Pet
ty to sophomore Ryan Brewer. Petty completed 16 of 30
passes for 268 yards Saturday,
Brewer s toucnaown gave UaL. a 14- / lead, but it
would be the last time the offense showed any signs of
life. On Carolina’s next three possessions, going from
the end of the third quarter into the fourth quarter, it failed
to get a first down, going three plays and out each time.
Alex Walls cut the Gamecock lead to four with 8:33
remaining in the game, booting a 27-yard field goal. Af
ter USC went three and out for the third time, Tennessee
began its winning drive.
Starting at their own 32-yard line with 6:57 left in the
game, the Volunteers wore down the Gamecocks with a
16-play, 68-yard touchdown drive that took up 6:31.
The Gamecocks were left with only 26 seconds to get
back in the game, and it wasn’t enough.
“Close losses are extremely frustrating,” Edwards
said. “You would rather lose 30-0 than 17-14, because
you think that maybe the other team just had more will.”
This was USC’s ninth straight game. When asked if
fatigue played a part in the defense’s fourth quarter col
1_-■ ■ ._____i
Sean Rayford The Gamecock
Gamecock defensive back Kevin House tries to bring down Tennessee wide receiver Donte Stallworth
during Saturday's game. USC came up short for its second loss of the season.
lapse, Edwards made no excuses.
“We were tired, but our job is to play defense whether
we are tired or not,” he said. “That’s our job.”
Despite coming up short and making some critical
mistakes, Holtz was pleased with his team’s effort.
“I’m devastated,” Holtz said. “I feel for the players.
But they played their heart out.”
Petty expressed the same sentiment.
I
The guys played hard and that s all you can ask for,
he said. “We didn’t execute well, but we will bounce back
and get our heads up.”
The sports desk can be reached at
gamecocksports@hatmail.com.
Associated
Press
Football Top 25
1. Oklahoma
2. Virginia Tech
3. Miami (FL)
4. Florida State
5. Nebraska
6. Florida
7. Oregon
8. Washington
9. TCU
10. Clemson
11. Purdue
12. Michigan
13. Southern Miss.
. 14. Oregon State
15. Notre Dame
16. Ohio State
17. Georgia
18. Mississippi State
19. Kansas State
20. Texas
21. Northwestern
22. South Carolina
23. Auburn
24. Texas A&M
|25. Georgia Tech
Clausen, Henry wear down
Gamecocks in final drive
by George Simpson
The Gamecock
There are 60 minutes in a college football game.
For the first 45 minutes of Saturday’s game, the
South Carolina defense kept Tennessee’s sword
like offense at a standstill.
Unfortunately for the Gamecocks, the Ten
nessee sword was unsheathed in the final 15 min
utes.
The Vols’ offense could only manage a field
goal and a one-yard touchdown run in the first three
quarters. This came from a team that had sliced
opponents’ defenses for an average of 27 points
and more than 330 total yards per game.
USC’s defense kept Tennessee quarterback
Casey Clausen confused, pressured and hurried,
and also limited the impact of Travis Henry, one
of the SEC’s best running backs.
The Vols’ offense could only produce 127 to
tal yards through the first three quarters and was
admittedly frustrated.
In the fourth quarter, though, the Vols nearly
equaled their offensive output in the first three quar
ters, cutting through the Gamecock defense like it
was butter.
A helpless and exhausted USC defense could
only watch as Tennessee went on a 16-play, 68
yard game-winning drive. Tennessee ate up over
six minutes of the clock on that drive alone and
hogged the ball for 12:33 in the fourth quarter.
“Lord, we were tired,” USC linebacker Andre
Offing said. “I was trying to tell the guys, ‘We’ve
got to get off the field.’”
Unfortunately, when the defense did get off the
field, there were only 26 seconds remaining and
USC was down for good, 17-14.
Carolina fans will be looking back on this game
for years, and the one thing that will stand out in
their minds is “The Drive.”
Tennessee executed its offense well during that
possession, but it was the Gamecocks’ defense and
its inability to stop Tennessee on third downs that
cut the deepest.
The Vols converted all four of their third downs
during the drive and came up with big plays when
they needed them.
“Give them credit,” USC coach Lou Holtz said.
‘They made the plays.”
No play was more important, however, than a
third-and-14 conversion by Tennessee early in the
drive. Clausen hit receiver Donte Stallworth over
the middle for a gain of 23 yards and a first down.
“We were in a dime package, and there’s sup
posed to be somebody in the middle of the field at
15 yards, right where their guy caught the ball,”
Holtz said. “I assume somebody shot him or he
went to the restroom. That’s very disappointing.”
Tennessee gave the ball to Travis Henry for six
of the final eight plays of the drive, and he pound
ed out runs of six, three, three, two and three yards.
He finished with a one-yard touchdown run.
Henry ran eight times for 30 yards on the final
drive, and a coolheaded Clausen was six for sev
en in passing for 54 yards.
The cuts by the Tennessee offense came late
but were strong enough to cause the drained USC
defense to bleed.
The Gamecocks’ Kalimba Edwards summed it
up best, saying, ‘That was a sword in the heart.”
The sports desk can be reached at
gamecocksports@hotmail.com.
Game Frames
Women s soccer
falls 3-0 to Florida
by Chris Foy
The Gamecock
The South Carolina women’s soccer
team ended their 2000 regular season just
as they started it, with a tough loss against
one of the top teams in the country.
The Gamecocks (4-16,1-8 SEC) were
shut out by the Florida Gators (13-7,9-0)
Sunday at the Graveyard, 3-0. The shutout
was the first for the Gamecocks in their
past seven games.
With the loss, the Gamecocks remain
winless against the Gators, who lead the
all-time series with USC, 8-0.
The Gators came into the game with
a dominating hold on the SEC, holding
an 8-0 mark against conference opponents.
Yet the Gators’ strong offense was held
to only one goal in the first half.
Florida was lipiited to five shots on
goal and seven corner kicks in the first
half by a Gamecock team looking to pull
off an upset.
Both teams’ offenses remained rela
tively quiet until Florida took the lead in
the 41st minute of the game. Junior for
ward Andi.Sellers found freshman mid
fielder Megan McMillian for a 12-yard
breakaway goal that put the Gators up by
one. But USC was still very much in the
game at halftime.
In contrast to their slow offense in the
first half, the Gators opened up the sec
ond half on a tear. A minute and 37 sec
onds into the second half, Sellers nailed
an unassisted 16-yard shot into the back
right corner of the net to give the Gators
a 2-0 advantage.
The Gators would find the goal once
more in the second half to put the game
away for good.
At the 53:15 mark, junior defender Jill
Stevens found an open Sellers, who put
in her second goal of the game on a four
yard shot. The goal was Sellers’ team
leading 18th of the season.
Despite Florida’s resurgence early in
the second half, the Gamecocks managed
to put offensive pressure on Florida’s de
fense. South Carolina outshot Florida 16
13 and put nine shots on goal.
South Carolina midfielders Becky
Leeper and Melissa Hutson both had three
shots on the day, with each having two
on the goal.
Despite giving up three goals, the
Gamecocks were able to contain a potent
Gator offense, allowing only 13 shots and
eight corner kicks.
After the loss, South Carolina head
coach Sue Kelly was finally able to put a
season plagued with injuries and heart
breaking losses behind her.
“When you face the kind of adversi
ty that this team is constantly facing, it
takes more from you; it wears you down,”
Kelly said. “We’ve put a lot of emotion
and energy into this season, and it’s good
to be given an opportunity to get some
rest and to get healthy again.”
The sports desk can be reached at
gamecocksports@hotmail.com.