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Football team found a way to win at UGA KYLE ALMOND JBUZINI240HOTMAIL.COM If last season’s Outback Bowl victory didn’t convince you that the Gamecocks have finally come full circle, Saturday’s win over Georgia had to have changed all that. A fluke, a one-hit wonder, what ever you want to call it - this foot ball program proved to the nation that it is none of the above. USC impressed many in the 14 9 victory, but not because of how well we played. After all, if you paid close attention Saturday, you’d see that we were, for the most part, outplayed. No, this Carolina team turned heads and silenced the doubters by playing one of its worst overall games in recent memory - and still coming out with the victory. Our offense was shut down for almost the entire game, and the de fense allowed the most yards I’ve seen in a while, yet the team found a way to win. Things looked dim for USC Saturday when Georgia took a 9-7 lead with only three minutes re maining, especially considering that the offense hadn’t come close to scoring since its first drive. We’ve also seen too many times in past seasons in that kind of sit uation where the players get down on themselves, or get nervous. Normally, that reaction would translate into failure. But now, after winning eight games last season, the team has confidence. They react to adversi ty in a whole different way. Now the players not only think they can win, but they also think they’re supposed to win, and that’s made a huge difference! Phil Petty and company came onto the field facing a two-point deficit late in the game, but they were ready. With a positive mind set and a belief that the game was theirs to be won, Petty and the Gamecocks put together its best drive of the night, resulting in Brian Scott’s winning touchdown grab. Despite struggling most of the game, the offense never gave up and found a way to get the job done. other teams around the SEC were already concerned about Carolina before the Georgia game, but now they’ve got to be worried. USC proved Saturday that it is mentally prepared to take on any team in the nation, and also that it has acquired the ability all win ning football teams must have: the ability to win even when you play bad " Carolina might not have the best talent in the conference. But with the perseverance and in testinal fortitude its players showed Saturday, that won’t mat ter when the game is on the line. Petty for Heisman OK, that’s probably pushing It a little. But mark it down in per manent ink, Petty will be All-SEC this season. He might not put up gaudy numbers, but the senior quarter back from Boiling Springs is still one of the best signal-callers in the conference. He’s a proven leader, a gutsy competitor and he rarely makes a mistake to hurt his team. He’s come a long way since he first arrived in Columbia. On the winning drive in Athens, Petty did his best John Elway impression, getting the team down the field any way pos sible. He showed remarkable poise in the pocket, and when that col lapsed or his receivers were cov ered, he tucked the ball away and went for the first down marker himself. There was nothing the Bulldog defense could do. Petty was too determined, too hungry and too good to be stopped. I admit when I was just a dumb freshman, I never imagined Petty being our most valuable player. But he is. He holds this team to gether, and there’s no other quar terback in the SEC I would want to lead my team when the game is on the line. Petty is the man, and he’s going to be missed next sea son. Shoutouts Jared Lorenzen, thanks for playing ... Casey Clausen, meet Lito Sheppard... Brian Scott, nice grab. You too, Mathew Thomas... Georgia students: throwing beer at our band was pretty cool. Really, it was worth getting kicked out. Tools... Woody Widenhofer, I hear Wendy's is now hiring... To that guy from Central Michigan who blocked a record four punts in one game, please transfer over here... Congrats to Kansas State for playing a team tougher than Wofford out-of-conference ... Fresno State, repent ... Ryan Brewer, you’re still our hero. Women’s soccer anticipating a tough battle with Furman BY GREGORY WHITT THE GAMECOCK After remaining undefeated during its California road trip, the 2-0-2 Lady Gamecocks soccer team looks optimistically toward its match against in-state rival Furman, which has been post poned indefinitely. USC closed out a hard-fought San Diego State Classic tourna ment with a 1-1 tie against the University of Nevada-Las Vegas Runnin’ Rebels. The Furman match is the first of a scheduled three-match homestand that will test the team’s mettle. The 3-1 Paladins pose a formi dable challenge for the Lady Gamecocks and are coming off a win against Coastal Carolina. Furman, ranked eighth in the Southeast region by a Soccer Buzz Magazine poll, is led by last year’s freshman sensation Emily Turgeon, who led Division I in scoring last year. Containing her will be a top priority. Junior forward/defender Melissa Turner is also off to a great start, scoring all three goals in Furman’s win over the Chanticleers. But Furman will be without one of its promising freshmen, Kelly Shedd, who was lost for the season last week with a broken fibula. Furman’s only loss came at the hands of the Baylor Bears, who defeated them 4-0. To meet Furman’s challenge, USC must continue to rely on great midfield play from Becky Leeper and Erica Bowie. The Gamecocks must keep up their momentum and maintain control of the ball to come away with a victory against Furman’s ag gressive offense. USC defenders Melinda Carter, Kelty Hudson and Sarah Lentz must fend off Furman’s ag gressive snipers Turgeon and Turner. The Paladins have outshot their first four opponents 46-37. Their greatest shooting came against the Chants, when they tried to force through 23 shots. To defeat the Paladins, the Lady Gamecocks must make sure goal keeper Elise Matthews doesn’t get bombarded with shot at tempts. USC must be aggressive. They must equal or surpass Furman’s inevitable attack. Senior cocap tain Lydia Bienias leads the for wards’ charge on the Furman de fense, but USC sophomores Melissa Hutson and Becca Epstein have also shown promise. More than anything, the Lady Gamecocks must continue to bat tle as hard as they did during their undefeated stand in last week’s San Diego State Classic tournament. USC’s performance away from home has put it in po sition to have one of the best starts in school history. Maybe first-year coach Shelley Smith has given the Lady Gamecocks the confidence to keep going in close matches. The Paladins, however, pose the greatest threat yet for the team this season. Defeating them could help propel the Lady Gamecocks toward an NCAA tournament bid and Coach Smith toward a successful first season. The improvement over last year’s team is striking. Carolina's seven goals after four games provide a stark contrast to last season, when they took four games to score their first goal. A victory against Furman would win the Lady Gamecocks instant respect in the region and in the Southeastern Conference. Postponed Pro baseball, golf among sports to call offplay CONTINUED FROM PAGE 13 will make it our highest priori ty.” Baseball, with just 21/2 weeks remaining in its pennant races and teams fighting for playoff berths, was the most immediate ly affected of the major sports. Selig called off the baseball own ers’ quarterly meeting that was set to start Tuesday in Milwaukee but didn’t make any decision about Wednesday’s games. “I will continue to monitor the situation on a daily basis and make ongoing decisions accord ingly,” he said. “My deepest sym pathy and prayers go out to the families and victims of this hor rendous series of events.” It was only the third time the major leagues postponed an en tire day’s schedule, aside from la bor strife, according to Scot Mondore of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. The others were Aug. 2,1923, when President Warren G. Harding died; and June 6,1944, when Allied forces invaded France in World War II. Exhibition games were called off on April 14,1945, two days after the death of President Roosevelt. In 1945, the All-Star game was canceled because of wartime travel restrictions. The 1918 sea son ended a month early on Sept. 2 by order of the U.S. War Department. Teams were given the choice whether to play fol lowing the assassination of Martin Luther King in April 1968. "I was stunned by the JFK as sassination and it took me a long time to get over that. I didn’t think that was possible,” Selig said at a news conference. “The (San Francisco) earthquake in ‘89, the World Series, that was a tragedy. But this is incompre hensible. The greatest country in the history in the world being at tacked. So all of this doesn’t mean very much today.” Selig said he and his wife were in New York last week, and “we went to the World Trade Centers because I hadn’t been there in a while. Now to believe that they don’t exist anymore.” Yankee Stadium, perhaps the building that most symbolizes American sports, was evacuated within 90 minutes of the first at tack. Security was tightened out side the 78-year-old ballpark, lo cated in the South Bronx, more than 10 miles from the World Trade Center. “The ballpark is ringed with police,” Yankees spokesman Rick Cerrone said after leaving his of fice. The Chicago White Sox ar rived at their midtown Manhattan hotel early Tuesday for the start of their series against the Yankees. Bullpen coach Art Kusnyer, out for a morning stroll, looked down Fifth Avenue and stared at the cloud of smoke. “All of a sudden, the whole tower just collapsed,” he said. “All those poor people. It was hard to watch.” The NFL, which played just two days after Kennedy’s assas sination, was unsure of how it would react. "We’ll gather information and speak to several parties within the next 24 to 48 hours,” league spokesman Joe Browne said. The PGA Tour canceled Thursday’s starts of the World Golf Championship and two oth er tournaments. In St. Louis, only 46 of the 67 players had arrived for the World Golf Champioship, the others stranded across the country, a group that included PGA champion David Toms, Phil Mickelson and Davis Love III. Woods, who travels with a re tired FBI agent, looked down at his right arm after he finished his round. “Look at this, I’ve got goose bumps,” he said, rubbing his left hand over them. Commissioner Tim Finchem said the tournament will begin Friday with 36 holes. The Tampa Bay Classic will open with 18 holes each on Friday and Saturday and a 36 hole conclusion. The same sched ule has been applied to the Buy.com Tour event in Oregon. The Senior Tour will remain on schedule, with a 54-hole event that starts Friday in North Carolina. ©nee Upon a time... 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