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L0 GAME SCHEDULE 'lAMrmnm tto FOOTBALL at Georgia, 7:45 p.m. Saturday ^UJN 1AL< 1 Uk5 VOLLEYBALL at Miami (OH) Classic, 5:30 p.m.Friday 1 | MEN’S SOCCER at Charleston Classic, 5 p.m. Friday >tory ideas? Questions? Comments? WOMEN'S SOCCER at San Diego Classic, l p.m. Friday Vrite us at gamecocksports@hotmail.com CROSS COUNTRY at Gamecock Classic, 9 a.m. Saturday .. ' - - - - - ---- - --- - - ' ' ' ' ” ' 1 .. 1 " | 1 |"k) USC 32, BOISE STATE 13 W^'v ' Gamecocks stampede Broncos BY CHRIS FOY THE GAMECOCK In front of an record opening day crowd of 83,109 people, the Gamecocks opened their 2001 sea son with a decisive 32-13 win over the Boise State Broncos. Star tail back Derek Watson returned to the field for the first time since last year's game against Clemson. Watson, who was bothered by a hamstring earlier in the week, led USC’s offensive attack by rushing for 71 yards, receiving for 40 yards and bringing in a pair of touch downs. After the game, Watson ex pressed relief to be playing with USC again. " “It was a long offseason," Watson said. “I wanted to come back and prove a point to the team that I’m behind them 100 percent, and they wanted to prove to me they were behind me 100 percent.” USC head coach Lou Holtz was happy with the win, but expressed concern about his team’s depth. “Our team beat a very good football team,” Holtz said. “I thought our first team played re ally well. I was very disappointed in the way our second team played.” BSU won the toss and elected to receive the ball on the opening kickoff. After going three and out on their first series, Bronco punter Keith Schuttler kicked the ball away to USC’s Ryan Brewer, who gained 10 yards on the return. The Gamecocks took the field for a 10-play, 61-yard drive that was capped off by senior quarterback Phil Petty tossing Watson a 16 yard pass for a touchdown. It was Watson’s first career receiving touchdown. ’ The Broncos responded by moving dQwn the field 32 yards on their next drive. On a fourth-and three on South Carolina’s 31-yard line, a bad snap on an attempted field goal led to a four-yard loss and a turnover for BSU. After taking over on downs, it took USC only six plays to reach the endzone. With 2:55 to go in the first quarter, Petty handed the ball to junior fullback Andrew Pinnock, who rushed 5 yards .Tl—IHO Wide reclever Ryan Brewer (#21) runs around the Boise State defense, photo by aaron hark across the line to pick up the score. Kicker Daniel Weaver missed the point-after attempt. On South Carolina’s next dri ve, Holtz sent in junior college transfer Corey Jenkins to take a shot at quarterback. The Columbia native’s first play as a Gamecock was a rush that result ed in a 1-yard loss. On his next play, Jenkins ran 2 yards before Quintin Mikell forced a fumble, and BSU gained possession at USC’s 19. The Broncos inched up the foot ball field and put themselves in a first-and-goal situation. After the Gamecock defense held BSU for three plays, the Broncos decided to go for it on fourth down after an offsides penalty against USC. Boise State quarterback Ryan Dinwiddie handed off to tailback Brock Forsey, who rushed for 1 yard and the score. The PAT was good, and the Broncos tightened the margin to 13-7. On USC’s next drive, they found themselves in a fourth-and four situation on the Broncos’ 27. The Gamecocks chose to go for it, but Petty threw an incomplete pass to Brian Scott. As the half wound down, the Broncos moved the ball 53 yards in hopes of scoring before half time. With 2 seconds remaining in the half, BSU set up for star kicker Nick Calaycay to attempt a field goal. As the ball left Calaycay’s foot, it found the hand of defensive tackle Langston Moore, who blocked the kick. Rashad Faison picked up the ball and ran 82 yards for the touch down. Calaycay tried to run down Faison but was unable to stop him. "I was in the right place at the right time,” Faison said. “Langston did a good job blocking it, and I went with it. I knew I couldn’t let the kicker catch me and tackle me. If he did, I would (ABOVE) Wide reciever Carlos Spikes (#10) celebrates a Gamecock touchdown. (BELOW) Phil Petty looks downfield for an open reciever photos by aaron hark have heard it from some team mates.” The touchdown was the longest run for a score after blocking a kick in Gamecock history. Instead of going for the PAT, the Gamecocks went for two, with Petty trying to run it in. He didn’t make it, which left the score at 19 7 at the end of the half. USC’s defense dominated the second half, with the Broncos able to make only three offensive plays in the third quarter. The Gamecocks received the kickoff and drove down the field for an other score. Derek Watson topped off the 79-yard drive with a 6-yard touchdown run at the 8:08 mark to give USC a 26-7 lead. In the fourth quarter, Weaver added in a pair of short field goals ♦ FOOTBALL, SEE PAGE 12 Men’s soccer downs powerful Penn State at The Graveyard BY KYLE ALMOND THE GAMECOCK The USC men’s soccer team showed this past weekend that it has the fighting qualities of a true gamecock. Carolina overcame a two-goal halftime deficit Sunday afternoon to beat Penn State 3-2 in its regu lar season opener. Ryan Barber’s goal in the 84th minute was the game-winner, finishing off a dra matic comeback in front of 3,028 fans at the Graveyard. "The reason that soccer is so popular worldwide is because it has the kind of drama you saw to day,” USC head coach Mark Berson said. “It’s not often that you come back two goals down against a team like Penn State and win.” Barber, who came into the game as a first-half substitute, re ceived a pass from teammate Ryan Daley in a crowded Penn State box with the score knotted at two. Despite the heavy traffic in front of goal, the sophomore de fender found an opening and shot the ball past goalkeeper Ryan Sickman for a memorable first ca reer goal. Penn State (1-1) threatened to tie the game numerous times in the waning minutes of play, but couldn’t get the ball past USC keeper Michael Bachmeyer, who finished with 10 saves. “It’s a great feeling,” USC for ward Jordan Quinn said of the comeback win. “I’m so proud of the guys. It was a great effort. ” . Barber’s goal came almost 10 minutes after freshman Anthony Stovall struck the equalizer, which sent the Gamecock faithful into a frenzy. Quinn got his head on a long clearance by Bachmeyer and nod ded it downfield into open space. Stovall beat Sickman and a Penn State defender to the ball and headed it off the bounce for USC’s second goal. For Stovall, a Columbia native playing in his first home game, the goal was a dream come true. “1 was psyched,” Stovall said. “I was just so pumped. I knew my chance was coming. I just had to be patient and do what I usually do — work hard. “But credit to my teammates; they were awesome. They did everything we needed to do to get back in this game. Without them, there would be no goal.” The first half was one USC (1 0) would like to forget. The Nittany Lions scored at the 20:03 mark and followed it up less than a minute later with another goal to take a commanding 2-0 lead. Seniors Derek Potteiger and Ricardo Villar scored one goal each and assisted on the others. The Gamecocks registered only two shots in the first 45 min utes, but Berson said he was pleased with his team’s effort. “I thought actually in the first half, we played great,” Berson said. “We played some of our best attacking soccer of the year. “At halftime, we really didn’t change anything. We just said, ‘Look, we made two mistakes, we’ve got to clean that up.... Stick to what you’re doing and go out after them.’ And in the second half, they did that.” Daley pulled USC within one early in the second half, starting the Gamecock rally. He took a pass from Quinn and calmly beat Sickman one-on-one. The goal gave USC new life, and the Gamecocks followed with several quality scoring chances. Stovall finally capitalized at the 74:44 mark. “He’s a surprise to everyone in Columbia, but he’s not a sur prise to his teammates,” Berson said of Stovall. The Gamecocks don’t get a break in their next game. They travel to Charleston on Friday to take on No. 1-ranked SMU. But Sunday’s big win should give them plenty of confidence for the remainder of the season. “They believed in them selves,” Berson said of his team, ranked No. 19 in the latest NSCAA/adidas poll. “To go ahead and win today was really a credit to the heart and the determination and the fighting power of this group of guys.” Offense shines against Bronco defensive unit BY PRESTON BAINES THE GAMECOCK If the opening game against the Broncos is any indication of things to come, USC could be in great shape this season. From their opening posses sion until their final one, the Gamecocks used their big, deep offensive line and tandem of run ning backs and scat backs to con trol the ball and wear down Boise State. Nine different USC players combined for 172 yards on 41 car ries. Junior Derek Watson ran the ball effectively, but USC also got something it didn’t get from him much last season — receptions. Watson pulled in four catches for 40 yards Saturday. Last season, Watson averaged under a catch per game and un til Saturday’s game hadn’t re ceived a touchdown in his career. Something else that might have seemed an odd contrast from other years is the perfor mance of senior quarterback Phil Petty — he wasn’t only throwing the ball, but running it, too. Head coach Lou Holtz talked in the offseason about how he wanted to use Petty as a runner more often, and his plan was in full force. Petty rushed the ball eight times for 34 yards, a 4.2-yard av erage per carry. If Petty does this every game, USC’s offense could be a force to be reckoned with in games to come. Besides the usualj cast of char acters, Watson and junior Andrew Pinnock, others got into the mix as well. Senior Corey Alexander and ju nior Ryan Brewer each took two in side handoffs while in the receiver slot. When junior quarterback Corey Jenkins made ap pearances in the game, he pre dictably ran the ball, which does provide an extra threat. And in red shirt freshman quarterback Dondrial Pinkins’ lone appearance, he ran the ball, too. The Gamecocks’ offensive attack was most punishing in the third quarter, ..I....— Quarterback Phil Petty throws a pass in USC’s win over Boise State . PHOTO BY AARON HARK when U6C ran 25 plays compared to BSU’s three. USC balanced for 71 yards rushing and 61 yards passing in the quarter, scoring in their first possession and finishing the sec ond drive with a 28-yard field goal by sophomore Dan Weaver in the fourth quarter. Although the performance came against an undermanned Bronco defense, Gamecock fans got a taste of things to come this season. USC will take advantage of their newly found depth in the of fensive backfield by running with lots of different bodies. It wasn’t only Watson who led the short passing game — the whole receiving corps did as well. Petty picked apart the Broncos’ secondary, going 18-25 for 220 yards. Most of the com pletions were either screen pass es in the flat or dump passes a few yards downfield, letting the receivers run for the extra yardage. Not only did the game plan pile up the yards, it also set up the big plays. In the fourth quar ter, Petty threw over the Broncos’ heads to find a wide open Alexander, who had no one within 10 yards of him. Alexander then rambled down the field for 40 more yards, com pleting a 66-yard play. This play was set up by the of* ♦ OFFENSE, SEE PAGE 13