The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, November 09, 2001, Page 9, Image 9
THE GAMECOCK ♦ Friday, November 9, 2001
. 9 ' GAME SCHEDULE
tth MEN’S SOCCER at UNC, 7p.m. Friday
ijlJJN IA(j 1 UO WOMEN’S CROSS COUNTRY NCAA Southeast
Regional, Greenville, 10 a.m. Saturday
Story ideas? Questions? Comments? FOOTBALL vs. Florida, 7:45 p.m. Saturday
Write us at gamecocksports@hotmail.com MEN’S SOCCER vs. Elon, 2 p.m. Sunday
VOLLEYBALL vs. Wake Forest, 3 p.m. Sunday
Phil Petty will start at QB when the Gamecocks take on Florida Saturday
night. The game could decide the SEC East champion, photo by aaron hark
»
USC-FLORIDA CLASH
COULD DECIDE SEC EAST
BY CHRIS FOY
THE GAMECOCK
There’s a saying in the
Southeastern Conference: In or
der to win the SEC, you must go
through Florida. This year will be
no different for South Carolina as
they look to overcome the No. 4
team in the nation in hopes of win
ning its first-ever division title. A
win, however, would still not be
enough. The Gators would have to
beat the Volunteers on Dec. 1 in
Gainesville, Fla., where Tennessee
has not won since 1971. But the
Gamecocks have greater con
cerns: They have not overcome
Florida since 1939. Last year,
Carolina went to Gainesville and
took a shocking 21-3 lead in the
first quarter at the Swamp. The
Gators responded in the second
quarter with an unprecedented 28
points to go on to win the game 41
21. This year finds both teams in
the same scenario, as they will
match up to determine the likely
winner of the East. But this year
the Gamecocks will be holding
home-field advantage.
USC offense vs.
Florida defense:
RUSHING: The Gamecocks will
be looking to once again highlight
their rushing attack. While no one
single running back has emerged
this season as the frontrunner, the
combined efforts of Derek Watson
and Andrew Pinnock has pro
duced 13 touchdowns and the
Gamecock rushing game has av
eraged 181 yards per game. The
Gator defense, however, is im
pressive against the run. Senior
Alex Brown has a team-high eight
sacks and has the ability to stuff
runners at the line of scrimmage.
Middle linebacker Andra Davis
has 68 solo tackles on the year to
assist Brown in creating the best
run defense in the SEC. But the
Gamecocks may be able to exploit
this, as they were able to put up
150 yards on the ground against a
Tennessee defense that at the time
led the conference.
ADVANTAGE: EVEN
PASSING: Phil Petty has had a
strong season, passing for 1,500
yards and 10 touchdowns. Most
surprisingly, however, is that the
senior from Boiling Springs has
only thrown three interceptions.
Backup Corey Jenkins has seen
action in eight of Carolina’s nine
games and is battle-tested. Petty
has spread the ball to many re
ceivers, including Brian Scott,
Ryan Brewer, Matthew Thomas
and Corey Alexander. Scott leads
the bunch with 574 receiving
yards and four touchdowns.
Florida’s secondary is the weaker
half of its conference-leading de
fense. While the Gators have made
seven interceptions this year, no
one player has taken charge in
their backfield. Still, the Gators
have only allowed two scores
through the air.
ADVANTAGE: USC
Florida offense vs.
USC defense
RUSHING: Junior running back
Earnest Graham has been
♦ FOOTBALL, SEE PAGE 10
Five ways
to mess up
the Gators
I rs i
CHRIS FOY
F0YB0Y03@H0TMAIL.C0M
How the Gamecocks
could beat Florida in
Saturday’s pivotal game.
With the Florida Gators com
ing to town tomorrow night to
take on the Gamecocks in front of
a nationally televised audience, I
thought it would be appropriate
to give all of you Carolina fans all
the ammunition you need to be
pumped for the game. And wear
ing black is just the beginning.
Here are five ways the fans can
mess with Florida’s mind.
4 CL.I__n___
*■ iivm wiwmiinwii wnaj
guys, this one’s easy. The kid’s
good, but he folds under pressure.
When Auburn stopped the Gator’s
rushing attack, Grossman had to
air it out and he did manage to
complete 29 of 42 passes. The only
problem was that four of them
were to Auburn players. He’s only
a Heisman contender when his
team plays powerhouses like
Vanderbilt. Now there are many
ways to shake him up. For
♦ FOY, SEE PAGE 10
Season winds down for men’s soccer
BY KYLE ALMOND
THE GAMECOCK
The No. 20 USC men’s soccer
team plays a pair of games this
weekend as the regular season
winds down, and it starts Friday
against a familiar foe.
The Gamecocks (10-3-2) will
travel to Chapel Hill, N.C., to take
k on the No. 7 North Carolina Tar
Heels.
The Tar Heels (14-3) beat the
Gamecocks 2-0 this past season at
the Graveyard, but the two teams
are deadlocked in the overall se
ries. Since 1982, each team has
won 10 meetings while tying one.
“It’s been a series where, every
year, both teams have been in the
national picture,” said USC head
coach Mark Berson. “There’s al
ways been a lot riding on this
game at the end of the year.”
This season, a seed in the NCAA
tournament could be at stake. In
the South Region, there’s been a
lot of parity between the top teams.
“It’s a big game for our team;
it’s a big game for them,” Berson
said of the UNC game. “Right now
in the South (Region), a lot of
teams have beaten each other.
Wake Forest beat North Carolina.
North Carolina beat Clemson. We
beat Wake Forest. Clemson beat
us. A lot of people are all tied up,
and we need to go up (to Chapel
Hill) and play well.”
The Tar Heels play in the ACC,
a conference that has given USC
trouble this season. Two of the
Gamecocks’ three losses have
come against ACC teams. In addi
tion to Clemson, Maryland also de
feated the Gamecocks.
“The conference put a huge em
phasis on soccer starting about 10
years ago,” Berson said of the
ACC. “They have great facilities
and really set the standard na
tionally as a conference for men’s
soccer. They’ve done a good job.”
North Carolina is traditionally
one of the ACC’s toughest men’s
soccer teams, and this season has
been no different. With talented
players like Marcus Storey, Noz
Yamauchi and Ryan Kneipper, the
Tar Heels have outscored oppo
nents 50-13 this season.
North Carolina also can give a
lot of credit for its success to a for
mer Gamecock.
David Testo, a two-year starter
with USC from 1999-2000, trans
ferred to North Carolina in the off
season and has had an outstand
ing year. He has started every
ganje but one and is the team’s
third-leading scorer behind Storey
and Kneipper. Testo has eight
goals and five assists on the year.
Just because Testo played for
USC doesn’t mean he’ll get prefer
ential treatment from the
Gamecocks.
“David Testo is a good player,
but when we line up for 90 min
utes, he’s just like any other play
er,” Berson said. “But before the
game and after the game, we’re go
ing to enjoy seeing him, and we
wish him the best.”
V
The Gamecocks will play their
final regular season home game
Sunday against Elon (8-9). The
game was rescheduled because of
the Sept. 11 tragedy. USC will honor
seniors Joey Worthen, Ryan
Stocking and Tony Vitagliano be
fore the game, which starts at 2 p.m.
After this weekend, the
Gamecocks will only have one more
regular season game remaining, at
Florida International on Nov. 17.
With a likely postseason berth,
Berson is trying to keep the team
fresh as a long season comes to a
close.
“Generally, we try to shorten
our practices but keep the inten
sity level up,” Berson said. “We
try to do a little different kind of
work. Right now, you’re just try
ing to keep in form.”
Friday’s game against the Tar
Heels is scheduled for a 7 p.m.
kickoff.
Comments on this story?E-mail
gamecocksportsCaihotmail.com.
Lady Gamecocks face
Wake Forest before
heading to tourney
No. 20 Carolina
to face Deacons
in season finale
BY CARLA WYNN
THE OAMECOCK
The No. 20 South Carolina vol
leyball team looks to end its reg
ular season play with a win
against Wake Forest at 3 p.m.
Sunday in the Volleyball
Competition Facility. The Lady
Gamecocks (17-4,10-4 SEC) will
then travel to Knoxville, Tenn.,
to prepare for the SEC tourna
ment scheduled to take place on
Nov. 15-17.
This matchup will be a non
conference meet between the
teams. It will be the second time
in 18 years that the two teams
have played each other. Carolina
defeated the Deacons in their
first-ever meeting in 1983. The
teams were originally scheduled
to play in Columbia on Sept. 14
15 at the Carolina Classic, but
the match was canceled because
of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
The Deacons increased their
winning streak to seven with a
win over Elon on Wednesday.
The win improved their record
to 18-8 overall and 10-5 in the
ACC. The Deacons were led by
sophomore Jessica Hauff, who
tied a season-high 16 kills and
posted five blocks (one solo), four
digs and two service aces for the
night.
Freshman Kim Stem also con
tributed with ten kills, five digs,
♦ VOLLEYBALL, SEE PAGE 10