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Gamecock Sports Schedule ■ Men’s basketball vs. Clemson, 7 p.m. Saturday ■ Women’s basketball at Duquesne, 2 p.m. Sunday ■ Equestrian in Irmo, S.C., Tuesday r: Outback Bowl South Ohio Carolina State (7-4, 5-3) (8-3, 5-3) PLAYERS -to WATCH Racing a strong OSU rush defense, PM Petty will have to perform well to keep the Buckeyes honest and open up holes for his RBs. Derek Watson has been an all-purpose threat for the Game cocks in 2000. It is important that he get plenty of touch es in the game. Jermate Ke»y has made big catches all season for Carolina The senior has four touchdowns on the vear. Cedric WHams has been a steady force on the Gamecock front line. He was re cently named All SEC by the Associ ated Press. The heart and soul of Carolina’s vaunt I ed defense is nose guard Cleveland Pinkney. The senior is going to want to go out a winner. Sheldon Brown led the Gamecocks in interceptions in 2000 with four. He will match-up with Ohio State’s top WR. Although not a breakaway threat, Ryan Brewer is a f gritty punt returner that makes few mis takes. USC is the sixth team that Lou Holtz has taken to a bowl game in only his second season at the helm. Like Petty, Steve BeBsarl isn’t the fo cal point of his of fense, but his per formance is criticai to the Buckeyes’ success. In OSU’s 1-forma tion, Derek Combs is the biggest weapon. He aver ages 86.3 yards a contest Ken-Yon Rambo*s speed (4.28 in the 40) promises to give the Gamecock secondary all they can handle. Tam Hawkins an chors a strong Buckeye offensive line that thrives in overpowering its opposition. The Buckeyes are two sacks away from a school record, and lineman Brent Johnson has been a key contrib utor, with eight Strong safety Mto Doss has two touch downs on the sea son and will capital ize on any Carolina mistakes. Dan StuHz is a final ist for the Lou Groza Award, given to na tion’s top placekick er. His accuracy has Holtz worried. John Cooper is one of the nation’s most respected coaches. He has taken his Buckeyes to 11 bowls in the past 12 years. k > QUARTERBACKS IMBBSM: RUNNING BACKS WIDE RECEIVERS liters ■ , -1 I I _i [.r....j OFFENSIVE LINE FRONT SEVEN ■fc f n muummmm SECONDARY :wmmsrMsr:;1""mx%M SPECIAL TEAMS COACH 2000 OPPONENTS Sept 2 Sept 9 Sept 16 Sept 23 Sept 30 Oct 7 Oct. 14 Oct. 21 Oct. 28 Nov. 11 Nov. 18 NMSU Georgia Eastern Mich. Miss. State at Alabama at Kentucky Arkansas at Vanderbilt Tennessee at Florida at Clemson 31-0 W 21-10 W 41-6 W 23-19 W 17-27 L 20- 17 W 27-7 W 30-14 W 14-17 L 21- 41 L 14-16 L Sept. 2 Fresno State Sept. 9 at Arizona Sept. 16 Miami (OH) Sept. 23 Penn State Oct. 7 at Wisconsin Oct 14 Minnesota Oct 21 at Iowa Oct. 28 at Purdue Nov. 4 Michigan State Nov. 11 at Illinois Nov. 18 Michigan 43-10 W 27-17 W 27-16 W 45-6 W 23- 7 W 17-29 L 38-10 W 27-31 L 27-13 W 24- 21W 26-38 L BY THE NUMBERS 23.5 1 I 29.5 15.8 l ~ ! 18.0 367.9 I ] 370.3 308.2 I i 319.4 +3 f l +10 Brad Walters and Kyle Almond Tne Gamecock Holtz wary of Buckeyes Gamecocks back in the postseason for first time since 1995 CarQuest , by Kyle Almond The Gamecock It’s been a remarkable season for the USC football team, and to understand that, all you have to do is look at the Gamecocks’ record last season and compare it this season’s. 0-11. 7-4. What a difference a year makes. The Gamecocks’ turn-around has grabbed the nation’s attention and solidified Lou Holtz’s reputation as a Hall of Fame head coach. And most importantly, it has Carolina in a position they haven’t been in since 1946: a New Year’s Day bowl game. On Jan. 1, 2001, the Gamecocks will take on No. 19 Ohio State in the Outback Bowl. “We are really blessed to have the oppor tunity to go to the Outback Bowl,” Holtz said. “I don’t think you’ll find a team, coaching staff and group of fans that are any more eager to go to this bowl game than our people are.” It’s been a long time since South Carolina found itself in the postseason. The last bowl game they played was the 1995 CarQuest Bowl. Since then, Carolina has had a combined 16 wins, 38 losses and one tie in five seasons. With their seven wins this season, includ ing upset wins over Georgia and Mississippi State, Carolina was chosen by the Outback Bowl to play opposite Ohio State, who finished 8-3 in the Big Ten Conference. Holtz is excited about the match-up with the Buckeyes, a team he was an assistant coach with in 1968 when they won the national champi onship. “Ohio State has a great football team,” he said. “I coached there and have followed their program very closely nearly my entire life. When I was a kid growing up in East Liverpool, Ohio, there were two teams that we cheered for in my home — Ohio State and Notre Dame.” To beat the Buckeyes, USC will have to find a way to move the ball against the suffocating OSU defense, ranked first in the Big Ten in scor ing defense. The Buckeyes have been holding teams to an average of 91 yards on the ground, which is seventh in the country. Seniors Brent Johnson and Rodney Bailey Sean Rayford The Gamecock Rashad Faison, Sheldon Brown and the rest of the Carolina defense are excited to be in a New Year’s Day bowl game. fortify a defensive line that has wreaked hav oc on opposing quarterbacks all season. OSU has 45 sacks on the season, which leads the Big Ten. “Defensively, they are simply outstanding,” Holtz said. The Buckeye offense can hurt opponents in the air and on the ground. Southpaw Steve Bellisari has thrown for over 2,000 yards on the season, often hooking up with lightning-quick Ken-Yon Rambo, who has 51 receptions and 729 yards. Derek Combs leads the rushing attack, with 863 yards on the season. Knowing the challenge which awaits his Gamecocks, Holtz vows to have his team well prepared. “The only way you can show your appreci ation to the bowl people is by making great preparation and playing very, very well in the game,” Holtz said. “I do expect us to be a much improved football team when we get to Tampa. ...What we plan to do is work on fundamen tals and become as fundamentally sound as we can be when we go to the bowl game.” The Gamecocks opened the season 7-1 be fore dropping their last three games to the “Or ange Crush” of Tennessee, Florida and Clem son. The Clemson loss was especially painful, considering USC had the lead with less than a minute remaining in the game. But Holtz wants his team to forget the past and concentrate on the task at hand. “We will approach this like a one-game sea son,” he said. The Outback Bowl will be held in Tampa, Fla. and kick-off is scheduled for 11 a.m. It will be televised on ESPN. Students can still purchase tickets through USC from the Russell House or the ticket of fice on Rosewood Drive. Tickets cost $45. The sports desk can be reached at gamecocksports@hotmail.com. Clemson looks to extend dominance ■ Tigers have won last six meetings with Gamecocks by Chris Foy The Gamecock It’s been six years since South Carolina’s basketball team last defeated its arch-rivals, the Clem son Tigers. Saturday, the Gamecocks (4 2) will try to use home court ad vantage to break the losing streak when they take on the Tigers (5 1) at Frank McGuire Arena. South Carolina head coach Eddie Fogler, who has gone 1-6 against the Tigers in his tenure at USC, fully understands the in tensity of the Clemson/Carolina rivalry and believes a win is not only important to the team, but to the fans and the university as well. “This is obviously an impor tant game for our fans as well as our players,” Fogler said. “This is a team that has had our num ber for the last couple of years. It would be a big deal for the fans, the players and the coaching staff to come out with a win.” Last season, the Game cocks were upset by the Tigers, 61-58, at Clemson. The bitter ri valry was intensified after the game as Fogler and Clemson head coach Larry Shyatt exchanged heated words. The players also got into a pushing and shoving match and Gamecock center Tony Kitchings had to be re strained by his own players. Fogler, who expressed con cerns with his team’s overall in tensity in the season’s early go ing, says he has been impressed with the team’s effort over the last two games and thinks Clem son will bring out a lot in his play ers. Clemson see page 10 Sean Rayford The Gamecock Clemson guard Will Solomon is one of the most dangerous players in the country, and the Gamecocks will have to contain him Saturday to win. Track recruits among best in America BY MANESHKA EL I AT A M B Y The Gamecock There was an unmistakable sense of intense keenness and en thusiasm in the air of The Roost Wednesday. The attention of the 60 young men and women who make up South Carolina’s track team was intensely transfixed on one man — the man they all call “Coach.” The man who will, in the next few months, play the figure of more than just a coach. The man, who along with his team of assistants, will push them to their limits and guide them towards their maximum potential. The man they have grown to look up to like a father figure — head coach Curtis Frye. Frye has coached seven Olympians and two gold medal lists in his career, and he is about to lead USC to what he hopes will be another successful year of com petition. With four of the six women recruits coming to USC this sea son ranked in the top five na tionally by Track and Field News, Frye’s recruiting class is already being hailed around the country as one of the best ever. Frye won’t argue with that. “This is the best signing class I have ever been associated with,” he said. “That includes classes at North Carolina that had Marion Jones and then another class that included Monique Hennagan and LaTosha Collander. This class is equal or better. “I can’t imagine anyone in the country having a better women’s class than this one of U.S. ath letes. They are calling this class the ‘Fab Five’ on the Internet. We call them the ‘Sensational Six.’ They are just a fabulous group of young ladies. We are excited more than ever about our possibilities for a national championship. They will make their mark on the NCAA, and hopefully in 2004 will make an impact on the world level.” The 2001 women’s class in cludes: Khalilah Carpenter (Columbus, OH), Lashinda De mus (Palmdale, CA), Alexis Joyce (Denver, CO), Tiffany Ross (Mi ami, FL), Shevon Stoddart (Uniondale, NY) and Erica Whip pie (West Palm Beach, PL). On the men’s side, Frye said he likes his new class, but it’s hard to compare it to the women. “This isn’t the top one or two classes in the country, but we feel it is in the top 10 in the coun try,” Frye said. “We feel this class will help keep us one of the top programs in the country.” “It’s not as deep as the women’s [team], but we need to add a couple more. We are excit ed about the possibilities of these young men in 2001.” The freshmen men include Jamel Ashley (Dublin, GA), Thomas Lewis (Fayetteville, NC) and Ricardo Moody (Colorado Springs, CO). Track see page 16