The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, April 02, 2001, Page 8, Image 8
Gamecock Sports Schedule
■ Softball vs. Tennessee (doubleheader), 4 p.m. Tuesday
■ Baseball at Furman, 7 p.m. Tuesday
■ Men’s tennis vs. Auburn, 2 p.m. Wednesday
■ Softball vs. Tennessee, 4 p.m. Wednesday
USC ends spring practice on high note
■ Football team's
potential shines
in spring game
by Kyle Almond
The Gamecock
Gamecock fans saw a glimpse of the
future when the USC football team
competed against itself in the annual
spring football game at Williams-Brice
Stadium on Saturday.
The Gamecocks split into two teams,
and the squads battled it out in front of
a crowd of 15,000 who came to see how
the team is shaping up for the 2001
season.
The White team, led by Andrew
Pinnock and Brian Scott’s two
touchdowns, held off a furious fourth
quarter rally by the Garnet team to win
the scrimmage 33-20.
“I thought it was a good effort, but
I didn’t think the focus was as strong as
we’d like,” head coach Lou Holtz said
after the game.
Holtz was bothered by some sloppy
play on both sides, which included a
combined 12 penalties and seven
turnovers. He was also worried about
the team’s depth at the wide receiver
position and on both sides of the line.
For the most part, the third-year head
coach had good things to say about the
team’s potential and its improvement
over the past year.
“I think we can be better than last
year,” he said. “I see a lot of things that
we’ve really improved on. I think if you
look at the way we run the ball, you look
at our offensive line and you look at the
way we tackle’ you’ll see that we’re a
lot further ahead. <
“It was a very good spring. We made
a lot of progress. Wfe just have to eliminate
the turnovers.”
The Garnet team committed six of
the seven turnovers in the game, and
redshirt freshman quarterback Dondrial
Pinkins threw five interceptions.
Pinkins, who according to Holtz had
an otherwise solid spring, had trouble
getting into sync Saturday. Holtz
attributed that to lack of experience.
“The people who had experience
are the ones who showed up.
“It was good that [we played] in front
of a crowd because some players did not
respond, especially the new ones...
but I think they will. It’s a matter of
experience and a matter of time. I liked
a lot of things that I saw,” Holtz said.
With his team trailing 27-3 in the
fourth quarter, Pinkins almost completed
an unlikely comeback.
After a safety by the Garnet team’s
Carl Smalls, Pinkins threw a 35-yard
touchdown pass to Willis Ham to cut the
White team’s lead to 15.
On the following kickoff, the Garnet
team recovered an onside kick, and
Pinkins led another scoring drive, with
a two-point conversion, to make the
score 27-20 with a little over a minute
and-a-half remaining in the game.
When the Garnet team recovered
its second-straight onside kick moments
later, the game that once looked like a
blow-out was competitive again.
But it was not to be, as Pinkins threw
his fifth interception a couple of plays
later. The White team added a late
touchdown in the final minute to clinch
the win.
Saturday’s game concluded spring
football practice for the Gamecocks,
who are looking to repeat a remarkable
season that saw them go 8-4 and win the
Outback Bowl on New Year’s Day. Holtz
said he realizes that expectations will be
higher following the team’s success front
last season, but added that his team has
its own expectations, too.
“We know the fans’ expectations are
always going to be high, and that’s a step
in the right direction, but we can’t worry
about anybody’s expectations but our
own,” he said. “We have to make sure
we meet our expectations.”
Like the rest of the spring, Holtz said
his team will make Saturday’s game a
learning experience.
“We will take some of the mistakes
we learned today and we’ll turn it into
a plus,” he said. “But it’s been a very,
very good spring. I think we’re going to
be a competitive football team, I don’t
think there’s any doubt about it.”
The sports desk can be reached at
gamecocksports@hotmail.com
Scoring Summary
Garnet 0 3 0 17 —20
White 13 7 0 13 —33
1st Quarter
WHITE — Pingock 1-yard run (Weaver
kick), 11:18
WHITE — Scott 16-yard pass from Petty
(Weaver kick blocked), 2:06
2nd Quarter
WHITE — Pinnock 14-yard pass from
Kimrey, (Weaver kick), 5:54
GARNET — Weaver 21-yard field goal
4th Quarter
WHITE — Gary 6-yard run (Weaver
kick), 14:53
GARNET — Smalls safety, 5:29
GARNET — Ham 35-yard pass from
Pinkins (Weaver kick), 5:08
GARNET — Pinkins 2-yard run (Pinkins
rush), 1:42
WHITE — Scott 43-yard pass from Kim
rey (Bowers kick failed), 0:51
White Team
Petty at
ease with
offensive
scheme
by Kyle Almond
The Gamecock
Pliil Petty tightened his grip on the
starting quarteiback position with a near
flawless performance Saturday.
The senior from Boiling Springs, S.C,.
led the White tpam to touchdowns on
his first two drives of the spring game to
build an early 13-0 lead in tlie first quarter,
a lead that his team would never
relinquish.
Petty credits a lot of his play to a
more comfortable undeistandiiig of USC’s
offensive system. In his previous years
at Carolina, new offensive schemes had
been brought in every year. Instead of
mastering the old system, he would have
to quickly adjust and learn the new one.
Stability is making Petty’s job a whole
lot easier.
“I think tliis is the first year that I’ve
had the same (offensive) system twice,”
Petty said. “For me, it’s second nature.
Now, it’s just a matter of perfecting (the
offense) and getting better on the little
tilings.”
Petty showed on Saturday just how
much he’s perfecting the offense,
completing nine of 11 passes for one
touchdown and no interceptions. In the
first quarter, Petty was six-for-six.
“Pliil Petty is just in command of the
offense,” head coach Lou Holtz said. “He
knows what he’s doing.”
Even with redsliirt freshman Dondrial
Pinkins showing off his massive potential
in spring practice, Holtz and the rest of
the coaching staff made it crystal clear:
Petty is the leader of this offense.
“Phil Petty is so confident,” Holtz
said. “He’s very accurate, he’s got a nice,
quick release, he throws on time, and
he’s very cool. He had an excellent
spring.”
White see PAGE 9
Sean Rayford/The Gamecock
Derek Watson is gang-tackled by a slew of Gamecocks during Saturday’s spring game. Watson finished with 84 yards rushing on the day.
Spring Game Notes
by Kyle Almond
The Gamecock
■ Kicking game still a concern —
The much-maligned Gamecock kicking
game still has a lot of work to do.
USC’s Joey Bowers missed an extra
point and had another blocked. Head
coach Lou Holtz also expressed concern
about the team’s kickoffs.
But Holtz did have positive
things to say about place-kicker Dan
Weaver, who was one-for-one on
Saturday with a 21-yard field goal.
“I thought Dan Waver place-kicked
very well all spring as far as field goals,
et cetera,” Holtz said. “I thought he
kicked the ball very well.”
The Gamecocks will welcome
Holtz’s first-ever scholarship kicker,
Josh Brown, in the fall.
■ Holtz gets the final say — The
referees didn’t have all the say on the
field Saturday.
When the Garnet team’s first onside
kick was questionable, Holtz called it
a fair play from the press box where he
spent the entire game.
“Charlie (Strong, coach of the
White team) was all upset and said the
other side cheated, but once Charlie
understood I called it, the conversation
got very amiable,” Holtz joked.
■ KimreyisNo.2—After throwing
two touchdowns and leading three
scoring drives for the victorious White
team, Erik Kimrey has assumed the
back up quarterback role for the
moment.
“If we played tomorrow, No. 2
would be Erik Kimrey based on the fact
that he’s protecting the ball,” Holtz
said.
Kimrey, who is best known for his
fourth-quarter heroics against Mississippi
State last season, says he just wants
what’s best for the team, and if that
means Dondrial Pinkins or Rod Wilson,
so be it. He is there to help.
“It’s my job as an older player to
bring them along mentally, and that’s
what I want to do,” the walk-on senior
said.
Garnet Team
Pinkins
struggles,
but shows
off talent
by Michael Haney
The Gamecock
Though most of its spring game
was a struggle, the Garnet squad showed
its true fighting Gamecock spirit in a
rousing 17-point rally late in the fourth
quarter. The team was down 27-3 in the
fourth quarter and had the ball with a
chance to tie late in the game.
But the chips didn’t fall, and the
White squad tacked on another
touchdown to hold on to the victory.
Most of the Garnet team’s struggles
came from redshirt freshman quarterback
Dondrial Pinkins. In what he called the
worst game he played in his entire life,
Pinkins threw five interceptions, including
his very first pass from scrimmage.
“I got off to a bad start and came
through at the end a little bit, then
went back downhill,” Pinkins said. “I’m
going to come here in the morning and
me and coach are going to go over all the
mistakes and try to get everything under
control.
Despite the five picks, Pinkins showed
glimpses of what Gamecock fans can
expect to see in the next few years at the
quarterback position. He rushed nine
times for 39 yards and a touchdown
and also completed 13-of-32 passes for
152 yards and a touchdown.
Head coach Lou Holtz expressed
disappointment in Pinkins’ performance,
but knows that the young freshman has
a ways to go.
“You can’t throw away everything
that happened this spring, because he
threw one interception this entire spring,”
Holtz said. “He is going to have to protect
the ball, but he is a freshman. I think he’ll
learn great from this.
“I know it’s disappointing in some
respects to Dondrial, but his strong arm
Garnet seepages
Carolina baseball swept by Crimson Tide
by Jason Malick
The Gamecock
The No. 5 USC baseball team (24-7,
7-5 SEC) was swept by Alabama this
weekend in Tuscaloosa, Ala., marking the
first time the Gamecocks were swept in
a series nearly two years.
The last sweep that Carolina was a
victim of took place in May 1999, when
die Kentucky Wildcats won three straight
games at Satge Frye Field in Columbia.
The last two games of that series were
seven-inning games because of a
doubleheader.
The last time USC lost a series in
which all three games were regulation
length was back in April 1997, when
Florida swept the Gamecocks.
For Alabama (20-11, 7-5), this
weekend's series not only marked its first
sweep of the Gamecocks in school history,
but also its first sweep of a team ranked
in the top five in the nation.
The Crimson Tide blew out the
Gamecocks 12-1 Friday and 13-2 Saturday,
and then held off USC 7-5 Sunday to
complete the sweep.
In a late attempt to salvage a win at
Sewell-Thomas Stadium Sunday, the
Gamecocks took their first lead against
the Crimson Tide when two runs were
tallied in the top of the second. Trey Dyson
hit a pop fly deep into right field which
was dropped by the Tide outfielder,
allowing Tripp Kelly and Yaron Peters to
cross the plate and give USC an early 2
0 lead.
The Gamecocks were able to restrain
Alabama for a while by letting only one
run come across the plate in the bottom
of the second. But the prospects of
winning slowly diminished an inning later
when the Tide captured a 3-2 lead after
a two-run home run by Beau Hearod.
Things looked even worse in the fifth
inning when Alabama secured a 5-2 lead
after Aaron Clark hit an RBI triple into
the right center field gap.
Alabama’s lead was shortened in the
sixth when the Gamecocks scored their
third unearned run of the game when
Chris Plummer drove in Peters, but the
Crimson Tide reacted by driving in two
additional runs in the seventh, making it
a 7-3 game.
Tim Whittaker’s two-run home run
cut the Alabama lead to two, but
unfortunately for USC, the Crimson Tide
was able hold on to its lead and its historic
sweep.
“We needed to win a close game like
this one,” Alabama head coach Jim
Wells said Sunday. “We were able to take
the lead and hold on to it. This was a great
win for us against a very good South
Carolina team.”
Carolina pitcher Chris Spigner (5-1)
took the loss Sunday. Spigner, who
managed to hold on for four innings,
allowed six runs on four hits, threw two
strikeouts and hit one batter.
On the other end, Alabama’s Kavonski
Chatman (1-0) recorded his first career
win and pitched for 6 2/3 innings. Chatman
struck out three Gamecocks, and none
of the runs scored gainst him was earned.
“I was happy to see Chatman bounce
back and pitch the way he did today.”
Wells said. “I was glad to see him go as
long as he did. He is getting better and
becoming a very good competitor.”
Swept see page 9
Aaron Hark/The Gamecock
Tommy MacLane and the Gamecocks were swept in a three-game
series this weekend for the -first time since 1969.