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TOie (gamecock T'1 oil Quarterback Phil Petty is poised to take 1 UULUCtll the Gamecocks to the top by David Cloninger The Gamecock 1 Petty has had to deal with a variety of setbacks jring his five years on the USC football team, he coach that recruited Petty, Brad Scott, left USC after Petty’s sophomore year. Pressed into service as a starter during his junior year, the Gamecocks went 0-11. During his junior campaign, Petty injured his knee and was forced to miss the majority of the second half of the season. Without a seasoned veteran at quarter back, the Gamecocks turned to a myriad of backups, none of whom could provide the winning touch. Then came 2000. Petty, grouped with a solid offensive line, an ex plosive running attack and a fleet of dependable wide receivers, suddenly found himself with all the tools nec essary for a rise into the national spotlight. He didn’t disappoint, starting 11 of USC’s 12 games and passing for over 2,000 yards. With an Outback Bowl championship behind him and firmly entrenched as the Gamecocks’ starter, Pet ty is now ready to lead USC to even loftier goals. “I think we’ll put more pressure on ourselves this year," Petty said. “We know what we can do and now we have the chance to really make something of this season.” Head coach Lou Holtz is behind Petty as the team’s leader on the field. / Phil Petty is our No. 1 quaijerback,” Holtz said. “Either he would have to lose the position jH or someone else fl would have to Bn win it, but right fl now, he’s the best fl man for the job.” «B With such a ^ glowing endors- v ment, some might * think Petty would have even more pres sure to perform well. However, raty is confident in ms anilities. “1 feel good,” Petty said. “I’m in better shape than I’ve ever been and it’s going to be a huge year for us to show what we can do.” Petty only missed a half of one game in 2000, when a slight injury kept him from starting against Alabama. Although hurt. Petty took his place in the huddle dur ing the second half and led the Gamecocks within three points of the lead. However, the effort wasn’t quite enough to win the game as USC lost 27-17 after a late Crimson Tide touchdown. With several other quarterbacks on the roster, Holtz has said he is going to “experiment” with the offense this year and try to open it a little. This means Petty will have to be mor e mobile than in the past, which Petty says is “no problem.” “This is the first year we’ve had basically the same system as last year,” Petty said. “It does make a lot of sense to run more, and I’m a lot faster than people think. We’ll start running depending on how the team is playing.” 'M Holtz has also said although Petty is his A starting quarterback, the Gamecocks will move to a more split-time arrangement this rj year. Petty and the backup who proves most ' reliable will alternate during games to give the offense its maximum power. j Choices for the backup role are varied, but include Erik Kimrey, who passed for the winning score against Mississippi State in 2000 and started against Alabama; Dondrial Pinkins, who started during the spring game and looked steady; or jun ior-college transfer Corey Jenkins. “Right now, Jenkins is at i quarterback,” Holtz said. “We’ll leave him there until j such m time he couldn’t make a contri- Ua bution at that po sition. He reminds me a lot of [former Notre Dame quarterback] "i Tony Rice.” Despite the change in offense, Petty is still ready to make his contribution to the team. “It’s [Holtz’s] decision to rearrange the offense, and I’m happy with it,” Petty said. “I’m very com fortable with the running system and 1 know we can make it work. “We’ve got some big games this ^ season, and some of them are big ger than others. But, right now, / we’re just looking to Boise State. That’s the first one we \ play and that’s the most im portant right now. We can’t overlook any of the others, or we won’t be doing our jobs.” SEC offers stiff competition in 2001 o Rick Johnston v The Rick Says It’s time for kickoff, and that means Williams-Brice Stadium will once again play host to some of the finest programs in America. But, just how good is the SEC looking this year? Starting with the West, LSU’s my pick to win the division. Re member the name Rohan Davey. With quarterback Josh Booty out of the picture, Davey is poised to take the reign. Last season, Davey’s late-game heroics gave the Tigers an overtime win over Tennessee in Death Valley. Davey also brought LSU back from the dead in the Peach Bowl, gamering the offensive MVP award. LSU also boasts a defense re turning 10 of its 11 starters. As long as the Tigers don’t have an early sea son slip-up, such as last year’s loss to UAB, coach Nick Saban is on a steady course to bring national re spect back to the Bayou. Mississippi State boasts quar terbacks Wayne Madkin and tail back Dicenzo Miller, or arguably the most balanced attack in the SEC. However, defense will be the stronghold for the Bulldogs. Under the tutelage of Joe Lee Dunn, the Bulldogs have become one of the top defenses in America. Despite the loss of Fred Smoot, the defensive backfield will be strong again, led by All-American candi date Pig Prather. A solid third-place finish looks like the fate for Alabama. Fol lowing a 3-8 season that saw the end of the Mike DuBose era, Crimson Tide fans look to new coach Den nis Franchione to lead the Tide back to glory. The first order of business will be to decide on a quarterback. Both Andrew Zow and Tyler Watts have strong cases to start. Throw highly-regarded freshman Brodie Croyle in, and the Tide has a diffi cult decision to make. Ole Miss could be a sleeper in the West. Led by Eli Manning, Pey ton’s brother and Archie’s son, the offense should be one of the more exciting to watch in the conference. A lot of pressure could be tak en off Manning if senior Joe Gunn hits the holes well in the fall. For the last two seasons, he was back ing up Deuce McAllister, but still gained 951 yards as a sophomore when McAllister was injured. Ole Miss could shake up the Western division race with an upset against either LSU or Mississippi State. Neither game will be easy, however, as both are late in the sea son and on the roads. Arkansas should be fairly solid this season, behind the steady run ning of Cedric Cobbs. Junior Fred Talley and sophomore Brandon Holmes will challenge Cobbs for playing time. A veteran offensive line should do a good job opening up the holes, but a question mark looms at quarterback with a battle between Robby Hampton, last sea son’s starter, and Zak Clark. A plus for Arkansas comes in the form of newly expanded Ra zorback Stadium, now capable of holding over 70,000 fans. The Hogs will play there four times this year, compared to only twice at its neu tral site in Little Rock. Auburn comes in at the bot tom of the West. After last season’s 9-4 record and Citrus Bowl bid, this prediction seems a bit odd. How ever, when one considers that Auburn lost tailback Rudi Johnson, wide re ceiver Rodney Daniels and fullback Heath Evans (all underclassmen) to the NFL draft and saw quarterback Ben Leard, wide receiver Reggie Wor thy and tackle Colin Sears graduate, the Tigers’ offense is in deep trouble. The main concerns will be at quarterback and tailback. The of fensive line, however, is a veteran one, anchored by pre-season All American tackle Kendall Simmoas. Auburn’s defense should allow them to hang around in most games. Veteran linemen DeMarco McNeil and Javor Mills will lead the defense. Coming to the East, the kings will be the Florida Gators. Steve Spurrier is poised to not only make a run for the SEC crown, but for the national championship as well. The strong point for the Gators will be their offense, although once again, Spurrier has a quarterback controversy. Rex Grossman did well in several games last season, but nip ping at his heels is the highly-tout ed Brock Berlin. Whichever QB makes it into the game, there’s no doubt who his favorite target will be - All-American Jabar Gaffney. A simplified defensive scheme under coach Jon Hoke may be the key to the Gators reaching the Rose Bowl. Defensive end Alex Brown and comerback Lito Sheppard will be the defensive sparkplugs for the Gators. Right behind the Gators are go ing to be several teams, making for an interesting title race. But, South Carolina will be in second place. The Gamecocks finally have all the tools necessary to make a solid run for the division crown. On of fense, Phil Petty will lead the Game cocks. While the senior has the tools necessary to run the spread offense, he will most likely feel the heat from redshirt freshman Dondrial Pinkins and junior college transfer Corey Jenkins, who both bring an extra bit of mobility to the table. The defense for the Gamecocks will be strong once again, led by All Americans Sheldon Brown and Kalimba Edwards. The line will be a bit of a question mark depth wise given that there is not much experience behind the starters of Dennis Quinn, Langston Moore and John Stamper. Right behind South Carolina is Tennessee. The Volunteers may be the most overrated team in the con ference. The Big Orange has a lot of talent, but not the talent necessary to topple the likes of the Florida. Offense may be a weak point for the Vols. Although Casey Claussen is a good quarterback, his short comings may be brought to the front if the running game does not come together, which is a possibility giv en that Iennessee does not have Travis Henry, the school’s all-time leading rusher, to lean on anymore. Defensively, Tennessee is strong as ever, led by last year’s (Jutland Trophy winner John Henderson. Finishing next are the Georgia Bulldogs. All the fans in Athens are high on new head coach Mark Richt, former offensive coordinator at Flori da State. However, the fact that Richt brings a new, more powerful offense to the table to be led by either for mer walk-on Cory Phillips or red shirt freshman David Greene leaves a lot to be desired. Defensively, the ‘Dogs were hurt on the line by the graduation of Richard Seymour and Marcus Stroud. They return a solid line backing corps, led by Boss Bailey and Will Witherspoon. Vanderbilt will once again fin ish in the cellar, but not as low as usual. The Commodores boast one of the most underrated players in the league in quarterback Greg Zol man. Last season, Zolman completed 53 percent of his passes, throwing for over 2,000 yards. Zolman’s fa vorite target will be wide-out Dan Strieker, who fell just shy of the 1,000-yard mark last season. However, Vandy will have to improve its running game, which ranked last in the SEC last season, if they want to make some noise. Bringing up the rear in the East will be Kentucky. The Wildcats and new head coach Guy Morriss are still trying to clean up the mess left with the downfall of Hal Mumme. Morriss has installed a revolu tionary new wrinkle to help the UK offeasive line: the. three-point stance. Mumme’s offense was so pass oriented that the returning linemen have to re-leam a lot of basic run blocking techniques. However, the centerpiece of the offense will be Jared Lorenzen. The 6’ 4”, 275-pound quarterback gener ated 3,687 yards passing last year, but threw two more interceptions (21) than touchdowns (19). However, Mor riss says that if Lorenzen does not get serious about losing his weight, which was reportedly a lot more than the listed 275, he will put in redshirt fresh man Shane Boyd, a former draft pick of the Minnesota Twins. Defensively, the ‘Cats will ben efit from a new 4-2 defensive scheme installed by defensive coordinator John Goodner. The key may be in linebackers Ryan Murphy and Ja mal White, who may be the best de fensive players on the team, but still need to develop into “playmakers.” It should be a really fun year to watch the SEC. Keep track as the weeks go by; you don’t want to miss out on any of this stuff. HEAD COACH LOU HOLTZ 2001 SCHEDULE Date Opponent Time Sept. 1 BOISE STATE 7 p.m. Sept. 8 it Geotgia* 7:45 p.m. Sept 15 BOWLING GREEN 7 p.m Sept. 20 at Min. State* 7:30 p.m Sept 29 ALABAMA* 7 p.m Oct. 6 KENTUCKY* 1 p.m Oct 13 at Arkansas* 7 p.m Oct 20 VANDERBILT* 7 p.m Oct 27 at Tennessee* 1:30 p.m Nov. 3 Open Date Nov. 10 FLORIDA* 1 p.m Nov. 17 CLEMSON 1 p.m. All times Eastern and subject to change Home games in CAPS •denotes SEC game 2001 ROSTER No. Name.Position 88 James Adkisson.WR 7 Michael Ages .WR 3 Corey Alexander.RB/WR 86 Jonathan Alston .DL 3 Bryan Arnold.DB 32 Jeff Barnes.OL 7 Tony Bixler .QB 61 Jon Boilard.OL 90 Joey Bowers.PK 21 Ryan Brewer.WR/RB 87 Josh Brown...K 24 Sheldon Brown .DB 85 Brian Brownlee .LB 30 William Bryan.WR 17 Travis Cain.QB 90 Jason Capers. .DE 62 Eric Cash .DS 80 Ted Crawford .WR 19 Matt Crockett.DB 94 Joe Davis .PK 31 Terrell Davis .DB 47 Tyeler Dean.P Marvin Deas.DB 83 Chavez Donnings .WR 11 Robert Echols.TB 35 Kalimba Edwards.LB 28 Deandre Eiland .DB 25 Brian Elam.DB 11 RashadFaison .*.. .DB 43 Gavin Ford .FB 58 CJ.Frye.OL 33 Jeremiah Garrison .LB 27 Nate Gary.DB iy /vnurea uausc.mis 48 George Gause.LB 23 Marcal Gibbs.WR 99 Na'Shon Goddard .DL 35 Andre Goodman.DB 17 Mikal Goodman.QB 63 Shaun Graham .LB 26 GonzieGray.RB 71 Shane Hall . OL 89 Willis Ham .WR 99 Jason Hamilton.PK 44 Kenny Harney . .LB 48 Travis Hemphill.DB 15 Felepe Holiday ..SB 54 Adam Holmes.DS 29 Kevin House .DB 59 Josh Irby.DS 16 Jamacia Jackson.DB 87 Brandon Jeffcoat.TE 8 Corey Jenkins.QB 95 Ron John-Finn.DL 31 Jack Johnson.LB 73 Larrell Johnson '. OL 60 Nick Johnson.OL 66 Phillip Jones.DE 50 Stephen Kennedy.LB 13 Erik Kimrey.QB 51 Orus Lambert.LB 6 Kenneth Layel.DB 36 Jermaine Lemon.DB 79 Josh Malloy.00 8 Jake Mangerson.QB 39 Jonathan Martin.DB 45 Franky McCullum .TE 64 Justin McGuire . OG 52 Calvin McMillian.DE 80 Neal Miller .WR 15 Rachiem Monroe.DB 57 Langston Moore.DL 53 JeffMullis ....LB 1 Antione Nesmith .DB 20 Willie Offotd .DB 72 Melvin Paige .OL 54 Joseph Palmer ..LB 85 Fran Person.TE 14 Phil Petty .QB 3 uondnai Pmkjns .QB 4 Andrew Pinnock.RB 93 Dennis Quinn.DE 53 Jonathan Ragans.OL 58 Matthew Raven .LB 40 Matthew Richard.DB 84 Ricky Ricks.WR 67 Ryan Riggin .DE 78 Kevin Rivers .OL 32 Dunta Robinson.DB 36 Thez Robinson.TB 98 Willie Sams .DL 77 Watts Sanderson.OL 67 Kevin Saylor.DS 82 Brian Scott .WR 59 James Scott.DE 23 Jamie Scott.DB 66 Natrone Scott.DT 96 Shaun Smith.DT 6 Kevin Smith .DB 10 Carlos Spikes .WR 39 Isaac Stackhouse .DB 91 John Stamper.DL 84 Philip Stephens.WR 74 John Strickland.OL 92 Eric Stroman .DE 86 Charlie Stroud.SB 15 Matthew Thomas .WR 42 Rod Thomas.LB 94 Preston Thome.DL 81 RodTrafford.TE 98 Chet Tucker .PK 97 Chris Tucker.DT 49 Hart Turner.TE 75 Chad Walker.OL 22 Derek Watson.RB 97 Dan Weaver .PK 40 Kavis Weston.LB 68 Travelle Wharton.OL 79 Aaron Whitecotton .OG 12 Andre Wigfall .DB 76 Cedric Williams.OL 46 Lenny Williams .LB 12 Rodriques Wilson.QB 9 Km Yam . DB Subject to change ti