Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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, viymi nm r| I B J CROSS COUNTRY at SEC Chamionships, at IjUJN 1 AL< 1 Uu B Auburn. Monday F B B ■ l VOLLEYBALL at Georgia, 7 p.m. Friday Story ideas? Questions? Comments? B B ■ k 1 WOMEN’S SOCCER vs. UNC-G, 7 p.m.Friday Writeusatgamecocksports@hotmail.com M B^ B fy y FOOTBALL vs. Wofford, l p.m. Saturday MEN’S SOCCER vs. Drury, 2 p.m. Sunday ROCKY TOPPED John Stamper tackles Rashad Baker during the third quarter of the Gamecocks' loss on Saturday night in Knoxville, photo by candi hauglum Road to crown becomes murky BY BRANDON LARRABEE THE GAMECOCK For Lou Holtz, a man famous for talking down his football team’s chances, it was a disap pointment when USC lost to a team that had been favored to beat the Gamecocks by 7.5 points. “I expected to win,” Holtz said after the Gamecocks lost a tight game against Tennessee, 17-10. “In all honesty, I thought it would be a hard game, mo mentum switching back and forth, but I thought we would win.” His team was also disap pointed. Players walked out of the locker room quietly, heads slightly hung. When asked whether the loss was the most disappointing of his career, Ryan Brewer said: “It probably is, We had such high hopes. It’s real disap pointing.” What might be more sur prising than the outcome was how the game unfolded offen sively. Both teams’ offensive strengths were matched by their opponents’ defensive abil ities in the same areas, but nei ther team seemed to adjust. Before the game, Tennessee had the seventh-best rushing defense in the NCAA, having held opponents to an average of just under 71 yards a game. But the Gamecocks picked up more than 150 yards on the ground, short of the team’s average of 175 yards per game. Derek Watson led the way with 86 ♦ SEC, SEE PAGE 9 use FALLS TO NO. 17 AFTER LOSS; VOLS NOW TIED FOR FIRST IN SEC BY CHRIS FOY THE HAMECOCK It wasn’t supposed to happei this way. Going into Saturday’: matchup, Tennessee had the bes rush defense in the conference while South Carolina’s ability t< stop the run was still suspect. Ye the Gamecocks netted an un precedented 157 yards, compare! with UT’s 87. USC, however wasn’t able to contain UT stai Travis Stephens, who ran in twe touchdowns, as the Volunteer; upended the Gamecocks 17-10. South Carolina (6-2, 5-2 dropped to No. 17 in th< Associated Press poll, whil< Tennessee (6-1,5-1) took over th< No. 7 spot and is now tied for firs in the SEC. Alter me game, use neae coach Lou Holtz was frustratec with the outcome but pleasec with his team’s performance against top-ranked Tennessee. “I’m very proud of our footbal team,” Holtz said. “I though oui team came out here and wasn’i intimidated and played out hearts out.” Both defenses prevailed ear ly, as Carolina held the potern Volunteer offense to three three and-outs during the first quarter The UT defense came out strong as well; South Carolina wasn’1 able to net positive passing yards or to get close to scoring distance in the first quarter. The Volunteers began to make things happen in the seconci quarter. Tennessee quarterback Casey Clausen hit Kell} Washington with a 40-yard pass to put the Vols 25 yards from the end zone. Four plays later, i Stephens rushed in from eight ; yards out to give Tennessee the t 7-0 lead. , With less than five minutes re i maining in the half, USC re sponded with a scoring drive of its own. Matthew Thomas had a I reverse that he ran up the field 18 yards. Derek Watson also had a 29-yard run during the drive. Phil Petty then completed a pass ; to the tailback from seven yards out, and Watson ran in for the i score. The touchdown was Watson’s second receiving touch down of the year and his career. The Vols tried to reclaim the lead before the end of the half, but were unable to get within field-goal range. * Tennessee came into the sec ond half determined to make something happen. After receiv ing the ball first, the UT offense produced a drive that took more than seven minutes off the clock. It finished with an Alex Walls field goal to give the Volunteers the lead again, 10-7. On UT’s next possession, it failed to gain significant yardage. The punter fumbled the snap and kicked the ball only 24 yards. USC took control and started the drive with a 10-yard rush by Corey Alexander. On the next third down, Petty tried a pass to Brian Scott, who was pushed down from behind by a Tennessee defender. The pass in terference call moved the Gamecocks 15 yards up the field. After Petty completed a pass to Thomas for 14 yards, USC found itself in a first-and-goal situation on the 6-yard line. But Tennessee proved it has one of the best defenses in the conference, holding the Gamecocks on the next three plays. Two yards out on second down, Petty handed the ball to Andrew Pinnock, who made it to the 1-yard line. On third-and goal, Pinnock again received the handoff and was stopped by South Carolina native Albert Haynesworth for no gain. USC opted to try the field goal rather than go for the touchdown, and Daniel Weaver put the ball be tween the posts to tie the game at 10. The Volunteers didn’t let the game stay tied for long. Last year against Carolina, Clausen or chestrated a six-minute touch down drive at the end of the game to win the game for UT. This year, he did the same. On their first possession of the fourth quarter, the Volunteers went down the field 70 yards in 12 plays to pick up the touch down and take the lead. When the Vols were 25 yards away from the end zone in a first-and ten situation, the Gamecocks blitzed the next two plays, each time sacking Clausen. On third and-21, Clausen dropped back to find no pass rush as he threw a 32-yard strike to Bobby Graham to put UT only four yards out. Stephens rushed three times be ♦ TENNESSEE, SEE PAGE 9 Derek Watson takes the ball deep In Gamecock territory on Saturday night, as Phil Petty looks on in the background, photo by candi hauglum