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8 CONTACT US Story ideas? Questions? Comments? Write us at gamecocksports@hotmail.com GAME SCHEDULE VOLLEYBALL vs. Tennessee, 7 p.m. Friday WOMEN’S SOCCER at Georgia, 7 p.m. Friday MEN’S SOCCER vs. Maryland, 7 p.m. Friday MEN’S SOCCER vs. Rutgers, 1:30 p.m. Sunday VOLLEYBALL vs. Kentucky, 2 p.m. Sunday Wake-up call received Vanderbilt at USC 7 p.m. Saturday at Wiliams - Brice Stadium Radio: 560-AM BY BEN BRYAN THE GAMECOCK Gamecock fans have grown ac customed to hearing Lou Holtz talk anxiously about each up coming game as if it would the most difficult challenge his play ers have ever faced. Despite play ing down the Gamecocks’ abili ty, Holtz does praise their efforts in practice and consistently com eludes his Thursday press con ference by saying, in so many words, that he does believe the team will play well. Holtz has echoed this sentiment every week for the last 17 games. Until last Thursday. His out look was distinctly more appre hensive than usual, even for Lou Holtz. He could see the loss to A vbAnonn wi i rr 1 U happened. Holtz stated openly that he didn’t believe USC was as strong as their No. 9 ranking sug gested, and—for now, at least — most fans have to agree he was right. Whether USC belongs among the nation’s elite remains to be seen. The Gamecocks are still very much in the hunt for the SEC title and, potentially, a BCS berth. This season could still be the best in school history, but only if the lapse of focus wit nessed in Little Rock doesn’t hap pen again. The loss, while disap pointing, could be a needed wake up call that shows there is more work to be done before USC is ready for Tennessee and Florida. But one can’t afford to look any further ahead than this week — even if the opponent is Vanderbilt. USC offense vs. Vanderbilt defense Rushing: Vanderbilt’s defense has come a long way since giving up more than 600 yards of total offense to Middle Tennessee State in its opening g^me, but the Commodores still surrender close to 200 yards on the ground Fans hope Derek Watson will finally break loose for the long run against Vanderbilt on Saturday night, file photo per contest. USC’s strong run ning game should be back on track this week. Holtz has hinted that quarterback Corey Jenkins will be seeing more playing time this Saturday. Jenkins’ running ability combined with the triple threat of Watson, Pinnock, and Brewer should overwhelm Vanderbilt’s inconsistent rush ing defense. ADVANTAGE: CAROLINA Passing: Phil Petty threw a pair of interceptions against Arkansas, his first two of the sea son. Petty didn’t respond well to Arkansas’ pass rush, though he did make several clutch throws, including a 38-yard pass to Brian Scott on third-and-long from USC’s 1-yard line. Vanderbilt’s secondary is softer, and the Commodores are the only team in the SEC that hasn’t grabbed a single interception all season. Petty should have an easier time this week, though the passing at tack could take a backseat to the ground game. USC should still be able to surprise the ‘Dores with a few big plays. ADVANTAGE: CAROLINA Vanderbilt offense vs. USC defense Passing: Vanderbilt quarter back Greg Zolman is one of the more prolific passers in the SEC. The fifth-year senior is on the threshold of breaking numerous school records and passed for 316 yards against Georgia. USC’s de fense, though, has been fairly strong against the pass, record ing seven picks on the year. This matchup will probably be where the game is decided. The Gamecocks have the best turnover margin in the SEC at +6. They must find a way to dis rupt Zolman’s rhythm, cover leading receiver Dan Strieker and force a few turnovers. This won’t be easy, since Zolman has only thrown one interception so far this year, and sacks have been surprisingly hard to come by for the Gamecocks. USC will have to be more alert than last week, as Vanderbilt’s offense is much stronger than Arkansas’. The ad vantage depends on whether the USC secondary plays to their full potential. ADVANTAGE: EVEN Rushing: Vanderbilt running back Lew Thomas is the second leading rusher in the SEC. He av erages more than 100 yards per game and is on pace for a 1000 yard season. Rodney Williams also poses a considerable threat. USC’s pass-oriented defense has ♦ FOOTBALL, SEE PAGE 9 USC set to reclaim title 2) are determined to re-establish themselves as the best team in their own tournament. “This is a major focus for us this year,” Berson said. “We picked two pretty tough teams to play, but I think we’re ready to go.” The Gamecocks will face Maryland on Friday night and Rutgers on Sunday. Each team in the tournament will play two games, and the team with the best record will be named cham pion. In the event of a tie, head to-head results will determine the winner, followed by goal dif ferential. Berson thinks this year’s op ponents are two of the best USC has faced in the tournament’s history and expects this weekend to be very competitive. Maryland (5-5-1) comes into the tournament with an unim pressive record, but Berson said that doesn’t tell the whole story. “They’ve been in eight one Jordan Quinn is ready to face Terps. photo from media guide After falling last year, men ready to retake control of tournament BY KYLE ALMOND THE GAMECOCK The USC men’s soccer team gets back in action this weekend when it hosts its annual Gamecock Soccer Classic. The No. 18 Gamecocks wel come No. 8 Rutgers, Maryland and the College of Charleston to the Graveyard, looking to regain some pride after losing the same tournament a year ago. USC had won seven straight Classics going into last season, but was upset 3-2 by Bucknell. Charleston later was named tour nament champion. According to USC head coach Mark Berson, the Gamecocks (8 goal games, and they’ve won five of them,” he said. “They are a very talented team and very ca pable.” Rutgers (8-2-2) is coming off a loss Wednesday to Syracuse but still remains one of the nation’s top teams. “They’re just tearing it up,” Berson said of the Scarlet Knights. “They just lost, so they’ll be looking to get back in the swing of things.” After a tough loss to Clemson, the Gamecocks rebounded Monday with a 5-0 blanking of Gardner-Webb. As USC enters ♦ TOURNAMENT, SEE PAGE 9 Women’s soccer begins SEC trip Team wants to keep momentum going on road BY CHRIS FOY THE GAMECOCK The University of South Carolina women’s soccer team (6-4-3,1-3-1) is looking to contin ue its recent SEC success this weekend as they travel to Georgia and Tennessee for a pair of conference matches. This past weekend, the Lady Gamecocks beat their first SEC opponent of the year when they downed Arkansas 2-0 and then tied LSU1-1 last Sunday. USC’s first stop will be tonight in Athpn<5 Thp No. 25 Lady Bulldogs (8-3-1, 3-1) han dled the Gamecocks with little trouble last season, winning 3 0. However, in 1999, when USC last visited Athens, the Lady Gamecocks walked away with a 1-0 victory. Georgia is also the last ranked team a USC squad has beaten. In 1998, Carolina topped the No. 17 Bulldogs 2-0 in Columbia. The Lady Bulldogs offense has proven to be effective this year as they are averaging 1.8 goals per game and have put 22 between the pipes. Amy Berbary has a team-leading 13 points off six goals and one as sist. Defensively, Georgia goal keeper Ashley Lindley is giving up an average of 1.11 goals per game, and the team has allowed only 19 goals this season. On Sunday, the Lady Gamecocks will travel to Knoxville to take on the Lady Volunteers. Junior forward Kim Patrick leads Tennessee’s offense and has scored in six straight matches, tying a school record. Midfielder Keeley Dowling has a team-leading 17 points off seven goals and four assists, while freshman Sue Flamini has been making her mark with five assists and four goals. On defense, junior goalkeep er Cori Stevens recently posted her third shutout of the year, making a career high 12 saves against Kentucky. Carolina has unveiled a more potent offense than has been seen in recent years. The team is averaging l-o guais yei game while only giving up an average of 0.9. The team has also posted a strong .139 shooting percent. The Lady Gamecocks are led by sophomore forward Becca Epstein. Epstein leads the team with 12 points off four goals and four assists. Freshman forward Ashley Gosnell has also proven to be effective, leading the squad in goals scored with five. Junior co-captain Melinda Carter has three goals and three assists. Junior forward Kristen Schreiber had a strong perfor mance last Friday as she notched in both of the Lady Gamecocks’ goals in their vic tory over the Lady Backs. ♦ SOCCER, SEE PAGE 9 Sports towns that suck rnriOTUJN MiWES P BAl N ES@Q4M ECOCKS.COM It’s October again, and noth ing has changed. By this, I’m talking baseball. Yes, October is the favorite month of all baseball fans - un less you’re a Cubs fan like myself. But for Atlanta Braves fans, it doesn’t take much to pick up in terest in baseball. The Braves went through yet another regular season of sub-par crowds. Many people claim then fans are just spoiled from all of the winning over the past ten years, but that’s not the problem. The problem is that the Braves play in the worst sports town in the country. The problem is the location. The Braves more or less coast ed through the season, eventual ly winning the division over the inexperienced Phillies. The Braves continued to get crowds of less than 30,000 every night, unless the Yankees or Cubs were in town - they have more fans in each city, including Atlanta, than any other team. Other games were listed as having large crowds only be cause the Braves ticket office uses the Clemson method of tick et counting: invisible people in the stands. This year will be the same until they (possibly) make the World Series. Don’t expect to morrow’s National League Division Series championship game against the Arizona Diamondbacks to draw a sellout as it would in any other stadium (except lowly Montreal). But the problem isn’t just a Braves thing in Atlanta. The two other major teams in the city have the same problem as well. The NFL’s Falcons made a trade with the San Diego Chargers days before the draft for not only one of the country’s most electrifying quarterbacks, but players in recent history: Michael Vick. One of the main reasons for why the Falcons made the trade was to boost at tendance, to get back to the at tendance when Neon Deion Sanders was roaming the Falcon secondary. But even the excite ment Virk hrina*; nan’t hnnct tho attendance. Last week, when the Falcons were playing the 49ers, one of the most popular, exciting teams in the NFL, they could only draw 46,000 in the 70,000+ in the Georgia Dome. Even when the Falcons made the Super Bowl in 1998, they didn’t sell out any regular season games. A sellout didn’t come un til the second round of the play offs, their final home game. The final example is the Atlanta Hawks. A beautiful new arena, and still no fans. Rarely in the history of the Hawks’ fran chise have they sold out games. Those rare exceptions were the times Michael Jordan visit ed. At least we know some people are glad MJ is making his third comeback. One of the great spec tacles in sports was MJ’s final game in Atlanta, when there was an amazing crowd of more than 46,000 packed in the Georgia Dome. Of course, at that time, the Dome could only noid about 33,000 for basketball games. Therefore, about 15,000 were left without a chance to actually see ♦ BAINES, SEE PAGE 9 ■