The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, December 08, 2000, Page 9, Image 9
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.
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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