The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, August 31, 2001, Page 9, Image 9
THE GAMECOCK ♦ Friday, August 31, 2UU1
9 GAME SCHEDULE
nAATrmnm tth VOLLEYBALL at Sun Devil Challenge Friday-Saturday
C, (JJN lAClT U O FOOTBALL vs. Boise State, 7 p.m. Saturday
CROSS COUNTRY Western Carolina Invitational
Story ideas? Questions? Comments? WOMEN’S SOCCER vs. Coll, of Charleston, 7 p.m. Saturday
Write us at gamecocksports@hotmail.com MEN’S SOCCER vs. Penn State, 2 p.m. Sunday
USC defense improves from last year
BY HAMPTON FULLER
THEGAMFXOGK
The Gamecocks are poised to
unveil their 2001 defense Saturday
night, when they will take on
Boise State’s offense in front of a
sellout crowd at Williams-Brice
Stadium. USC defensive coordi
nator Charlie Strong is excited
alxjut the season, but remains cau
tious.
“We can’t let anything slide,”
Strong said. “I think this is going
to end up being one of the tough
est situations as far as this season
just because you have a bunch of
seniors, and some of those guys
would tend not to work as hard.”
Head coach Lou Holtz says the
defense will play hard and play
well against a Boise State offense
that led the nation in scoring last
season, averaging nearly 45 points
per game.
Holtz has concerns about the
defensive line and their depth.
“Some of our younger players are
coming along, and we are more of
a complete team. I just worry
about being able to adjust, because
[BSU’s] football team knows how
to win.”
Redshirt freshmen Preston
Thome, Jonathan Alston and Ron
John-Finn will be called on to fill
in on the defensive line, should the
need arise.
Holtz said the seniors on both
sides of the ball have “practiced
long and hard and will make sure
that the younger players will step
up and do the same.”
“The secondary is playing to
gether as a team and is full of ex
perience and pride this year,” said
secondary coach John Gutekunst.
With cornerbacks Sheldon
Brown, Andre Goodman and
Kevin House all back from last
year’s squad, the secondary
should be able to make its oppo
nents take a second look at USC’s
defense. Brown, an All-American
candidate, is on the watch list for
the Jim Thorpe award, given each
year to the best defensive back in
college football by the Oklahoma
City-based Jim Thorpe
Association. Brown, a 2000 first
team American Football Coaches
Association All-American, was
also on the Sporting News All-SEC
first-team squad. He’s considered
one of the top comerbacks in the
SEC, with four interceptions last
season. Senior Antione Nesmith
and sophomore Deandre Eiland
will man the free safety positions
and will bring plenty of talent to
the secondary.
Linebacker Kalimba Edwards,
a consensus first-team AU-SEC se
lection last season, also earned
third team All-America status
from the Associated Press. He was
also named a preseason All
American by the Sporting News
and was a Butkis award winner
last year. Many experts believe fye
will be a first-round pick in the
NFL draft. Edwards also was a
preseason Playboy Magazine All
American and is on the watch list
for the Rotary Lombardi Award.
As for the Gamecock defense,
seniors Langston Moore and
John Stamper will be the bread
and butter of the line this sea
son.
“tfeel good on defense except
for the defensive line,” Holtz
said Sunday after practice. “We
play two defensive lines all the
time. We don’t keep guys in
there all the time on a 14-play
drive, so you’ve got to look at
the second team as starters.”
Holtz and Gutekunst both say
the key to having a successful
defense is communication
among the players and execut
ing big plays.
If the defense does these
things, then the Gamecocks
should have a lot of success on
the field this season.
KICKOFF 2001 - USC VS. BOISE STATE - 7 P.M. SATURDAY
* ,
Gamecocks to build
on Outback Bowl victory
Senior quarterback Phil Petty will be leading the Gamecock offense into battle
this Saturday against Boise State. Last year, Petty was honorable mention All
SEC. FILE PHOTO
i
USC offense vs. BSU
defense
The Broncos’ biggest question
mark entering the game is clear
ly the defense. BSU only returns
three starters from last year’s 10
2 Big West champions.
PASSING: Senior quarterback
Phil Petty will face a Bronco sec
ondary that returned only two
players. The Broncos’ defense
might be suspect this season, but
the defensive backs are strong
on that side of the ball, led by ju
nior back Quintin Mikell.
Mikell lead the Big West in
tackles last season with 118 and
earned co-defensive player of the
year honors.
Petty will have several new
targets to throw to this season,
with the additions of junior col
lege transfers Chavez Donnings
and Ricky Ricks, who look to add
more weapons to an experienced
receiving corps. Freshman
Matthew Thomas and redshirt
freshman Rod Wilson, who
moved over from quarterback,
look to add an extra spark. In ad
dition, seniors Brian Scott and
Carlos Spikes are the leading re
turning receivers irom last
year’s squad. Senior James
Adkisson looks to return to the
form he had at the beginning of
last season. Outback Bowl hero
Ryan Brewer, a junior, will
mainly play receiver but will
most likely see action at running
back as well.
Quarterback Corey Jenkins,
a junior college transfer out of
Columbia who everyone has
been waiting to see, will likely
be given ample opportunity to
showcase his abilities. There is
also a possibility of highly
praised redshirt freshman
Dondrial Pinkins seeing some
action.
Although the Broncos sec
ondary is their defensive strong
point, it still isn’t by any means
SEC-caliber. Petty should be able
to pick on the Broncos just
enough to set up the running
game.
ADVANTAGE: USC
RUSHING: This is USC’s main
offensive weapon, which should
do well against BSU’s weak run
defense. Junior Derek Watson
hopes to recover fully from his
hamstring injury to be able to
take advantage of this.
In addition to Watson, juniors
Andrew Pinnock and Brewer
bring the Gamecocks a three
headed monster. Highly touted
freshmen running backs Gonzie .
Gray (redshirt) and Thez
Robinson also bring extra speed.
This season, expect the
Gamecocks to run the I-forma
tion more often behind ah expe
rienced, deep offensive line.
The Broncos lack the depth
and experience to keep up with
the Gamecocks on the ground.
Holding USC to less than 150
yards would be an accomplish
ment.
ADVANTAGE: USC
USC defense vs. BSU
offense
While head coach Lou Holtz’s
anxiety about the offense might
be a bit exaggerated, his worries
aren’t unfounded. Last season,
the Broncos led the nation in
scoring with nearly 45 points per
game.
PASSING: The Broncos ac
complishments last season came
at the hands quarterback Bart
Hendricks, who led the nation in
passing efficiency. This year,
though, the Broncos’ season lies
in the hands of sophomore Ryan
Dinwiddie. In limited playing
time last year, Dinwiddie went
11-19 for 157 yards and two touch
downs.
BSU returns its top four re
ceivers. Dinwiddie’s main man
♦ BOISE, SEE PAGE 11
BY KENT BABB
THE GAMECOCK
Shelley Smith doesn’t seem to
mind the lofty expectations she
brought with her from Rhode
Island.
It took just seven minutes last
Sunday for Smith, USC’s new
women’s soccer head coach, to
guide the Gamecocks to some
thing it took three games to
achieve last season. A goal.
In defeating USC-Spartanburg
8-0 Sunday, ruining USCS’s hopes
of a win in its new stadium, USC
earned its first victory under
Smith.
And she hopes it will light an
inspirational fire for her players
before they begin the regular sea
son tomorrow at the College of
Charleston.
“I think [USCS] was a good test
for us before the regular season
starts,” said Smith.
“Our team worked hard and
was able to capitalize on mis
takes. This was a very good time
to get our team on the same page
and working on our system. We
had a lot of different players play
ingwell.”
USC’s home opener is 7 p.m.
Tuesday against Davidson.
After leading Rhode Island to
a 15-4-1 performance last year,
Smith was named the NSCAA
Northeast Region coach of the
year and New England Women’s
Soccer Intercollegiate Soccer
Association coach of the year.
The Gamecocks return just
three seniors from last year’s
squad, which finished 4-16-0 last
year.
But the returning class in
cludes each pf last year’s top five
scorers, sophomore Becca
Epstein, senior Morgan McIntyre,
senior Lydia Bienias, sophomore
Amy Caddies and junior Becky
Leeper.
Epstein scored three times in
Sunday’s match at Spartanburg.
Leeper put an accent on her off
season training during the sum
mer, playing with the PDA
Galaxy (N. J.) and helping them to
the U-23 Division national cham
pionship July 15.
“To be a part of this was very
exciting, and it was a great expe
rience,” said Leeper, a t\yo-year
starter on defense for USC. “It
was a different style of play, so I
had to adjust, but it was very help
ful playing with good players, and
I was able to work on being a bet
ter player.”
“I’m looking forward to being
back at South Carolina this fall...
to help rebuild our team and con
tribute to a better season.”
And if the Gamecocks’ batter
ing of USCS is any indication of
things to come USC might drop
the observer tag and pick up one
more suited.
Contenders.
BCS is
looking
to get it
right
CHRIS FOY
GAMECOCKSPORTS@HOTMAIL.COM
Finally, the officials of the
Bowl Championship Series got
softie sense. It took them three
years, but it looks like their math
‘ematical formulas to determine
the best teams in college football
could actually work now.
Last year, a mockery was made
of the national title. Fortunately,
Oklahoma beat Florida State; oth
erwise, the sports world would
have been hit with more contro
versy than the 2000 presidential
election.
under last year s BUS rank
ings, entering the bowl games,
Oklahoma was on top and Florida
State was in second place by a
fraction of a point. Miami was
third on the list, and Washington
was fourth.
Florida State, Miami and
Washington each had one loss on
their record. Miami lost to
Washington. Florida State lost to
Miami.
Also take note that the
Hurricanes downed Boston
College decisively while the
Seminoles didn’t have as impres
sive a performance against the
same team.
So how was it possible for
Florida State to beat Miami in the
rankings? Simple - under last
year’s scoring system, the larger
your margin of victory, the better
your score.
So after the Seminoles lost to
the Hurricanes, they proceeded to
slaughter every small team that
got in their path so they could still
have a chance to make the cham
pionship game.
necK, rapa rsowaen even
smacked around son Tommy
Bowden and Clemson just so FSU
would still be in the running for
second place in the BCS polls.
So although Miami had beaten
Florida State, the margin-of-vic
tory points gave the Seminoles an
edge in the final polls.
Hardly seems fair, but then
throw in a scenario where Miami
gets to the championship game.
Would that be fair to Washington?
Thankfully, the BCS officials
saw this problem and adjusted the
scoring so the margin of victory
doesn’t play such an important
part anymore.
In other words, when Florida
State plays Duke, Bobby Bowden
won’t be justified in giving the
Blue Devils an 81-3 pounding just
so those “dern computers” won’t
fail him.
But perhaps the nicest thing
about the BCS makeover is that it
will finally give fans a scoring sys
tem they can understand. What
has always been nice about the AP
♦ FOY, SEE PAGE 11