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GAME SCHEDULE VOLLEYBALL vs.Florida, 7:30 p.m. Friday WOMEN’S SOCCER vs. Wofford, 2 p.m. Sunday MEN’S SOCCER vs. Wake Forest, 2 p.m. Sunday VOLLEYBALL vs. Georgia, 2 p.m. Sunday Pinnock, Jenkins lead USC rushing game to propel Gamecocks to 16-14 upset of No. 17 Mississippi State Mississippi State’s running game was thwarted by an adjusted Gamecock defense. PHOTO BY KRT CAMPUS. BY ADAM BEAM THE (iAMECOCK USC left guard Cedric Williams told The State on Thursday there was no doubt about it; the Gamecocks would run the ball. Rest easy, big man, your prediction came true. The Gamecocks rushed for a staggering 238 yards against a highly touted Mississippi State defense for a 16-14 victo ry during college football's re turn after last Tuesday's ter rorist attack. “That's something we've been working on all week,” USCs Andrew Pinnock told Mike Hold of the Gamecock ra dio network. “We knew that Mississippi State was tough against the run, but in order to win this game, we were go ing to have to take a little pres sure off of our quarterback and run the ball.” For the first 10 minutes of the game it looked as if the Bulldogs would run the field on USC, scoring on their first drive with a monster 13-play, 83 yard drive that resulted in a ' 2-yard Dontae Walker touch down run. The Gamecocks took over on their own 27, but lost three yards on a three-and-out dri ve that resulted in two penal ties for 15 yards. After Teylor Dear’s 44-yard punt, the Bulldogs started their drive on their own 31 yard line. Moving 17 yards in six plays, the Bulldogs were threatening to move into USC territory when defensive end John Stamper recovered a Walker fumble. The USC of fense went to work, scoring on three plays and culminat ing with a 35-yard TD run up the middle by Pinnock. It was the longest carry of his ca reer. Pinnock didn’t stop there, leading the Gamecocks with 12 carries for 97 yards, con verting several key third down situations. After USC Defensive Coordinator Charlie Strong's defense held the Bulldogs to six plays on their next drive, the Gamecocks again used the run well, going 61 yards on 12 plays that resulted in a 35 yard field goal by Daniel Weaver with 14:27 left to play in the half. From there, the USC de fense went to work, holding the Bulldog offense to just 41 yards in the first half, includ ing back-to-back sacks on Mississippi State quarterback Wayne Madkin early in the second quarter. MSU did threaten late in the second quarter, driving 59 yards on seven plays, with 3:36 left in the first half. After two incomplete passes, the Bull-dogs’ J. Michael Marlin missed a 38-yard/ield goal that would've tied the game at 10. Taking a 10-7 lead into the half, the Gamecocks came out in the third quarter and struck quickly with a 25-yard field goal by Weaver to put USC up by six. After forcing MSU to punt, the Gamecocks then pulled an unexpected move and took out starting quarterback Phil Petty, opting for the high ranked transfer Corey Jenkins. Jenkins then led the Gamecocks on an incredible 93 yard, 17-play drive that vir tually ate up the entire third quarter. Jenkins threw the Bulldog defense for a loop, bringing a new running threat to an offense that had depend ed more on passing. Jenkins ran the ball 11 times during the drive for 75 yards, setting up another field goal for Weaver, bringing him to 3-3 for the night. That made the score 16-7, si lencing the crowd at Davis Wade Stadium, but the Bulldogs came alive again dur ing the waning moments of the game. They went 88 yards on 13 plays, with Madkin find ing Harold Lindsey in the end zone, bringing the Bulldogs within two, with 36 seconds left in the game. The Gamecocks sealed the game after they recovered an ♦ FOOTBALL, SEE PAGE 9 ■ Women’s soccer makes point with win USC remains undefeated with 12-0 blowout of Bulldogs BY BONNIE BERKES THE GAMECOCK The South Carolina women's soccer team beat South Carolina State Wednesday night at the Graveyard by a decisive 12-0 score. The Gamecocks (4-0-2) broke their record for the most goals scored in a game. The previous record of eight was set in 1999 against LSU. The Lady Gamecocks' defense has been an integral part of their success this season, and its dom inance continued against the Bulldogs. The combined effort of goalkeepers Elise Matthews and Carolyn Ortega led to Carolina's fourth shutout in six games. The Bulldogs weren't able to get a clean shot at the goal the entire game. Leading the USC backfield was center fullback Lydia Bienias, along with Becky Leeper, Jessica Uecker and Sarah Lentz. “[The four of them] have all done a good job of keeping every thing organized and well-com municated,” USC coach Shelley Smith said. “There is a lot of pres sure playing as a defender, and each has been able to do a good job. The defense has definitely met my expectations.” The Bulldogs' (0-4-0) weak play gave every USC player an opportunity to take the field. S.C. State has struggled the past few seasons, losing its last 26 games. Freshman Ashley Gosnell along with sophomore Amy Caddies both scored two goals for USC. Becca Epstein had two as sists, with nine other Gamecocks also scoring. Gosnell struck quickly, scor ing a goal at the 4:47 mark. She added another score in the sec ond half. “We came in and passed the ball well and played as a team,” Gosnell said. “We wanted to play this game the same way we would against a higher-caliber team.” Allison Jarrow, Jordan Meyer, Kelty Hudson and co-cap tain Melinda Carter also scored goals for the Gamecocks. Smith was confident that her players would have a good show ing because of their desire to ♦ SOCCER, SEE PAGE 9 Lady Gamecock Ashley Gosnell battles for the ball with an SC State defender, photo by TRAVIS LYNN Gamecock win over Miss. State makes big statement forfuture PRESTON BAINES PBAINES@GAMECOCKS.COM Of all the victories, of all the SEC games, this was the biggest of them all. The Georgia game was big, but this game was bigger. This game was at a SEC powerhouse with the entire nation watching. USC faced a Mississippi State defense that was much better than the Georgia defense and manhandled it at the line of scrimmage in the second half. The Gamecocks won a road game when they were the under dogs. And for the second straight year, the Gamecocks got through the first third of the season unde feated. Only this year, it was different. USC won games at Athens and in Starksville in the same season, something they had never done before since joining the confer ence. Not to mention beating UGA and MSU for two straight years. That's good no matter what team you are. Now, for the next four games, USC plays teams that aren't as good as MSU or UGA. Three of those are home games against Alabama and perennial cellar dwellers Kentucky and Vanderbilt. The other game is against Arkansas in Little Rock. USC will be the favorite in each game, another event which hasn't happened very often in the history of Gamecock football. After that stretch, USC takes on the “Orange Crush”: a trip to Tennessee, then games at home against Florida and Clemson. In past years, the Gamecocks have struggled with these teams, but then again they haven't been undefeated going into the Tennessee game — which is a dis tinct possibility this time. What all this really means is that USC has a great chance of playing for the conference championship for the second straight season. Even when the team does go against the Vols and Gators, you can actually see the Gamecocks having a chance to win this year. Any time you can shut down both Bulldogs (UGA and MSU) in the fashion the Gamecocks have, you have a chance to win any game. In addition, whenever a team gets victories like ; these Gamecocks have, the confidence builds and they believe they can beat anybody. I thought to myself after the first drive, when the Bulldogs drove it down the field for a score with ease, “Great, we are going to get taken to the wood shed by these guys.” This brings us to another rea son this team has a chance to do special things. The coaching staff made adjustments defensively, just like in the UGA game, and shut down the Bulldogs. MSU only managed 119 yards rushing. Dicenzo Miller and Dontae Walker were supposedly one of the best running back tandems in the nation. In the sec ond half, the USC offensive line decided to take over the line of scrimmage and decided that they weren't going to let MSU in the backfield any more. But because the Gamecocks were able to run effectively in the first half, USC obviously made big adjustments from the UGA game. My fellow Gamecocks, get ready, USC is going to make an other trip to Florida this year on New Years Day at the least and will be challenging for the confer ence championship for years to ♦ VICTORY, SEE PAGE 9