The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, September 17, 2001, Page 4, Image 4
4 GAME SCHEDULE
WOMEN'S SOCCER vs. Furman, 7 p.m. Monday
CONTACT US WOMEN’S CROSS COUNTRY Great American
Cross Country Festival, Rock Hill, 7 p.m. Friday
Story ideas? Questions? Comments? FOOTBALL at Mississippi St., 7:35 p.m. Thursday
Write us at gamecocksports@hotmail.com MEN’S SOCCER vs. Wake Forest, 2 p.m. Sunday
FIRST
ON FIELD
USC prepares to take on Mississippi State,
the first major collegiate football game
since Tuesday’s terrorist attacks
BY PRESTON BAINES
THE GAMECOCK
The No. 18-ranked South Carolina foot
ball team heads to Starkville, Miss., for
an important showdown with the No. 17
ranked Mississippi State Bulldogs.
The game also is important on a na
tional level. The nationally televised
game will be the first major college foot
ball game since the tragic events of this
past Tuesday.
MSU (1-0) has had a long layoff since
their last, game against archrival
Momnhic The lact
“This is a better Mississippi State team
than last year,” Holtz said. “They are very
athletic and have great comerbacks. They
can be intimidating when you look at
them on film. They will be playing at
home at night on national TV. They pre
sent a lot of problems for our team.”
Senior linebacker Kenny Harney, who
was scheduled to miss the Bowling Green
game last week, still has an injured an
kle, but it has improved and he should be
ready to play Thursday.
Senior quarterback Phil Petty strained
his elbow Saturday night throwing a pass
hut is OK and isn’t ex
time thS Bulldogs
played was Sept. 3,
when they overcame
a 10-0 third quarter
deficit to rout the
Tigers 30-10.
The Gamecocks’
23-19 victory over the
Bulldogs last year
was the most bitter
loss MSU suffered all
year, and revenge is
on the team’s mind.
In last season’s
“I will address the flying
issue with the team at
the appropriate time. I
don’t think you can live in
fear. I don’t spend a lot
of time worrying about
things I can’t control.”
LOU HOLTZ
USC HEAD FOOTBALL COACF
pected to miss any
time.
Offensive linemen
Cedric Williams
(Achilles’ tendon) and
Jeff Barnes (neck) were
both limited in practice
this weekend.
Many teams across
the nation are still
wary about flying to
games this week, but
Holtz plans to address
the situation.
game, USC (2-0) seemed to be down and
out, but quarterback Erik Kimrey came
off the bench to throw a fade to Jermale
Kelly to put the Gamecocks in front for
good.
The Bulldogs’ defense is supposed to
be better than last year’s squad, which
was one of the nation’s best against the
run.
USC head coach Lou Holtz thinks
MSU’s defense is better this season be
cause of its pass defense.
“I will address the flying issue with the
team at the appropriate time,” Holtz said.
“I don’t think you can live in fear. I don’t
spend a lot of time worrying about things
I can’t control. I worry a lot about things I
can control. Now, if something else hap
pens in the next few days related to the
events earlier this week, then football
pales in comparison to what is going on
in this country right now.”
The USC athletics department is still
working on a replacement for the
Bowling Green game. Originally, the
Gamecocks were looking at filling their
open date on Nov. 3, but the SEC is con
sidering moving the SEC championship
game back a week to accommodate con
ference games that were lost this past
weekend.
USC would prefer to play a division I-A
team, but the number of available teams
on Nov. 3 is limited.
At the moment, a strong possibility is
division I-AA Western Kentucky. No mat
ter the team, Holtz thinks they need to
play 11 games.
“We really need to have that 11th
game,” Holtz said. “There’s bowl ramifi
cations and financial repercussions, not
just for football, but for many of our other
sports who depend on football.”
Kick off against the Bulldogs is set for
7:35 Thursday night and can be seen on
ESPN.
Tailback Derek
Watson, above,
looks for an open
space at last year’s
game against
Mississippi State —
but Watson finished
the game with a
career-low -1 rushing
yards.
Mississippi State’s
Wayne Madkin, left,
will try to avenge
last year’s 23-19
Gamecock win over
the Bulldogs.
FILE PHOTOS/THE GAMECOCK
Keep your USC
Bowling Green
tickets. They will
be honored at the
make-up game,
which has not yet
been scheduled.
Nov. 3 and 24 are
the most likely
dates for the
rescheduled game,
which will
definitely NOT be
against Bowling
Green. Dec. 1 is
also a make-up
date possibility.
Want to participate
in The Gamecock
Sports challenge?
Each week, The Gamecock will
pick the winners of several
games around the country, and
we will have a slot for a selected
reader.
Give us your picks by e-mailing
gamecocksports@hotmail.com
or coming by the newsroom,
Russell House Room 333.
Be sure to include name, major,
year and a phone number or e
mail.
Note: Please send picks in by
Thursday at 3 p.m. to get credit
for the USC game.
This week’s games are:
NO. 18 SOUTH CAROLINA (2-0)
AT NO. 17 MISSISSIPPI ST. (1-0)
NO. 21 OHIO STATE (1-0)
AT NO. 14 UCLA (2-0)
ARKANSAS (1-1)
AT ALABAMA (1-1)
NO. 25 LOUISIVILLE (3-0)
AT ILLINOIS (2-0)
MICHIGAN STATE (1-0)
AT NO. 23 NOTRE DAME (0-1)
WISCONSIN (1-2)
AT PENN ST. (0-1)
VIRGINIA (1-0)
AT NO. 19 CLEMSON (2-0)
Send your picks in this week and
check The Gamecock on Friday
to see the picks of the staff, as
well as reader picks.
SPORTS BRIEFS
Women’s soccer
rescheduled
The women’s soccer match
with Furman, originally
scheduled for last Wednesday,
has been rescheduled for 7 p.m.
today at Eugene Stone Stadium.
USC (2-0-2) has started off in fine
fashion under new head coach
Shelley Smith after last year’s
season full of struggles.
Former USC
standout among
missing in World
Trade Center
A former Gamecock tennis
star who worked in 2 World
Trade Center is missing after
last Tuesday’s attacks.
Richard Lynch, a member of
the tennis team from 1989-93,
worked on the 84th floor and
has not yet been in contact with
anyone, including his wife,
Christina Macknell Lynch.
Lynch played mostly doubles
because of an abundance of
injuries during his time at USC
and occasionally hit with
retired tennis star John
McEnroe and his brother,
Patrick.
Lynch lives with his wife and
15-month old daughter, Olivia,
in Westchester, New York City.
The family calls Queens
home, and the Lynch and
Macknell extended families live
nearby.
Christina told The State that
she hasn’t given up hope on
finding her husband.
Basketball teams
release schedules
Both the USC men’s and
women’s basketball teams have
released their schedules for the
2001-02 season.
The men have stacked their
schedule with some very tough
games to go along with then
difficult conference schedule.
They open the season at the
Maui Invitational in Hawaii,
which includes traditional
powers UCLA, Kansas and
defending national champion
Duke.
The non-conference schedule
also includes home games
against Colorado State,
Georgetown, Providence and
the annual match-up against
Clemson.
The women will have a
difficult schedule leading up to
their conference battles. USC
will play at Durham in the Duke
Classic against Missouri and
then either Davidson College or
Duke. The non-conference
schedule also includes
Duquesne, Syracuse, Temple
and Clemson.
—PRESTON BAINES, THE (IAMECOCK
Associated
Press
Football Top
25
1. Miami
2. Florida
3. Oklahoma
4. Nebraska
5. Texas
6. Florida State
7. Oregon
8. Tennessee
9. Virginia Tech
10. Georgia Tech
11. Fresno State
12. Kansas State
13. Washington
14. UCLA
15. LSU
16. Northwestern
17. Mississippi State
18. SOUTH CAROLINA
19. Clemson
20. Michigan
21. Ohio State
22. Oregon State
23. Notre Dame
24. BYll
25. Louisville
ESPN/USA
Today
Coaches’ Top
25
1. Miami
2. Florida
3. Oklahoma
4. Nebraska
5. Florida State
6. Texas
7. Oregon
8. Tennessee
9. Virginia Tech
10. Kansas State
11. Georgia Tech
12. UCLA
13. Washington
14. LSU
15. Fresno State
16. Mississippi State
17. Michigan
18. Clemson
19. Northwestern
20. SOUTH CAROLINA
21. Ohio State
22. Oregon State
23. Notre Dame
24. Purdue
25. BYU
SEC Standings
All statistics are current as of Sept 17.
EASTERN DIVISION CONF. OVERALL
South Carolina1-0_ 2-0
Tennessee_ 1-0 2-0
Florida0-02-0
Kentucky_ 0-01-1
Georgia__0-11-1
Vanderbilt 0-1 0-2
WESTERN DIVISION CONF. OVERALL
Auburn1-0 _2-0
Alabama_1-0 1-1
Mississippi State_0-0_10
Louisiana State_ fr-0_2-0
Arkansas__ 0-1_1-1
Ole Miss ~~ 0-1 1-1
This Week’s SEC Schedule:
SOUTH CAROLINA (2-0) at Mississippi State (1-0)
Arkansas (1-1) at Alabama (1-1)
Auburn (2-0) at Syracuse (1-1)
Florida (2-0) at Kentucky (1-1)
Richmond (0-1) at Vanderbilt (0-2)
Tennessee, Mississippi, LSU and Georgia:
Open weekends
Jordan most likely
to announce via fax
BY JOSEPH WHITE
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON - Forget about a
big news conference announcing
Michael Jordan’s return. Word is
more likely to come via fax.
Jordan is now in no rush to an
nounce his decision on playing
again in the NBA, and plans for a
major media appearance have
been all but shelved in the after
math of Tuesday’s terrorist at
tacks.
It was expected that a news con
ference would be held Sept. 20, but
Jordan apparently felt such a spec
tacle would be inappropriate. A
source close to Jordan, speaking
on condition of anonymity, con
firmed a report ip Friday’s
Washington Post that Jordan’s an
nouncement will be more low-key.
Word probably will come via
fax, although the means and time
are still being determined, the
source said.
Jordan nas come uui ui retire
ment via fax before. In March 1995,
he announced his return to the
Chicago Bulls with a two-word
bulletin: "I’m back!”
Knowing that Jordan could call
at any time, the Washington
Wizards’ staff has been ready for
weeks to stage a news conference
at the MCI Center with just a few
hours’ notice.
The day before Tuesday’s at
tacks, Jordan’s comeback was the
sporting talk of the nation’s capi
tal. He strongly indicated Monday
in a discussion with three re
porters in Chicago that he would
return from his three-year retire
ment and play for the Wizards,
saying he was doing it “for the
love of the game.”
It remains all but certain that
he will make his intentions known
before Oct. 2, when the Wizards
are scheduled to begin training
camp in Wilmington, N.C.
Jordan’s late decision has led
to numerous uncertainties with
in the organization. Coach Doug
Collins doesn’t yet know whether
In the aftermath of Tuesday’s
attacks, Michael Jordan has
canceled his press
conference scheduled for
Sept. 20. PHOTO SPECIAL TO THE
GAMECOCK
one of the game’s greatest players
will be on his roster. The team’s
media guide is on hold as the pub
lic relations staff waits to hear
whether to include several pages
on Jordan among the biographies.
The Wizards have experienced
a surge in season ticket sales.
More than 12,000 have been sold,
yet there are about 8,000 more
available that could go in a hurry
if Jordan decides to suit up.
Jordan, the team’s president of
basketball operations, would also
need to sell his ownership stake in
the Wizards if he played. Much of
the paperwork has already been
done to make that process go swift
ly.
Jordan stayed in Chicago this
week, where he has been training
at a local gym for several months.
He was scheduled to attend a char
ity dinner ^nd golf tournament in
Minnesota this weekend, but that
event was canceled.