The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, November 12, 2001, Page 8, Image 8
Florida
Gators beat up
team and players
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 7
game at 10-10.
After another USC punt, the
Gator offense came back out and
used a balanced charge, once
again led by quarterback Rex
Grossman. Two plays after a fif
teen-yard completion to Reche
Caldwell, Grossman scrambled
under pressure and came out with
a 13-yard gain for another first
down. After another Graham
rush, Grossman put the ball in the
air, this time to Robert Gillespie,
who took it 36 yards before being
pushed out of bounds at the
Gamecock 1-yard line. Grossman
punched it in to give Florida the
lead.
The Gamecocks tried to recover
on their next drive. Petty and
backup Corey Jenkins alternated
snaps and led Carolina into
Florida territory. Watson began
with a 6-yard rush, and Jenkins
followed with rushes of six and
three yards. Petty returned and
threw to receiver Matthew
Thomas for a 26-yard pickup. After
a Florida penalty, Jenkins gained
seven yards on the ground for a
first down on the Florida 21-yard
line. However, Petty couldn’t keep
the drive going, which led to a 39
yard field goal attempt by Weaver
that sailed wide. According to
Holtz, after that miss, “It all fell
apart.”
From that point forward,
Florida had all the answers and
put up the points on the score
board. After the missed field goal.
Grossman completed six passes to
five different receivers for 59
yards. Graham added five yards
off three runs to put Florida inside
the red zone. When Grossman
couldn’t convert on third down,
Spurrier called upon Chandler
again, and he responded with a 36
yard field goal.
Gamecock fans received a scare
when senior linebacker Kalimba
Edwards went down with a knee
injury. It was later determined to
be a sprain, and Holtz was told
that, while it would not require
surgery, an MRI would be per
formed. Edwards did not return to
the game and will likely miss the
Clemson game.
The Gamecocks tried to move
the ball again with just more than
a minute remaining in the half,
but a Petty pass was tipped by
Florida’s Alex Brown and inter
cepted by Marquand Manuel.
Seconds later, with the ball at the
USC 11-yard line, Grossman threw
a quick strike to Caldwell for a
touchdown, giving Florida a 27-10
lead going into halftime. Holtz lat
er acknowledged that he should
have burned the clock since
Florida was going to receive pos
session again to start the second
half.
The Florida offensive attack
continued with the start of the
third quarter. Beginning at their
own 20, the Gators did not let up
at all, as Grossman threw a 37
yard bomb to Taylor Jacobs. The
drive ended with another field
goal from Chandler, who booted it
in from 46 yards out.
This Florida drive claimed an
other victim in Jeremiah
Garrison, who had a pulled ham
string and did not return.
The Gamecocks stalled again,
and the Gator offense returned to
the field. Spurrier used his offense
to inflict more damage to the al
ready hurting Gamecock defense.
Grossman followed a short gain
by Graham, who finished with 91
yards rushing on 19 carries, with a
pass to Gaffney for the first down.
Graham broke for a 10-yard carry,
then went ahead for five yards be
fore losing the ball. He recovered,
and the drive ended when
Chandler nailed a 44-yard field
goal. The field goal was the 60th of
his career.
After recovering the kickoff
deep in their territory, the
Gamecocks found themselves at
their own 12 after Petty was
sacked by Tron LaFavor. On the
next play, Petty threw the ball in
good coverage, only to have it in
tercepted and returned for a
touchdown by Florida’s Travis
Carroll.
Petty and Watson were then
added to the injury list. At the end
of the play, Watson fell hard on his
right side along the sidelines. He
was diagnosed with a hip pointer
and did not return, but he should
be able to play against Clemson.
Petty’s throwing shoulder was
hurt on the play, and he’s doubt
ful for next week.
Jenkins came in on the next
Carolina offensive series.
Matthew Thomas began the drive
with a six-yard run, and Jenkins
continued it with a six-yard pass
to Pinnock. Jenkins rushed twice
for 14 yards but was stymied on a
sack by Manuel. Florida took over
early in the fourth quarter inside
the 20 after a punt. Grossman pro
vided the big play in the drive, hit
ting Gaffney on a 59-yard scoring
pass.
The Florida passing game
torched the Gamecock secondary.
Grossman went 21 for 33 with 302
yards and three touchdowns.
“They executed well,” USC cor
nerback Sheldon Brown said.
“The ball is in the air three to four
seconds before they make their
cuts.”
“It’s always disappointing to
have a loss; it’s more disappoint
ing when the other team puts up
more on the scoreboard,” said
Watson, who was limited to 26
yards on six carries before the in
jury.
Carolina was effective on its
next possession through the com
bined efforts of Jenkins and re
serve quarterback Dondria:
Pinkins. Deep in Gator territory, £
series of short gains brought then
to the Florida 3. After a timeout
Pinkins darted a pass to Brewei
in the end zone for a late touch
down, bringing the score to 47-17.
UF backup quarterback BrocI
Berlin finished the Gator’s scor
ing frenzy with a TD pass to Kiri
Wells at the end of the game.
The 54-17 defeat removed Soutl
Carolina’s chances of getting into
the SEC Championship game. Thf
Gamecocks (7-3,5-3) can finish nc
better than third in the Eastern di
vision. On the other hand, thf
Gartors (8-1, 6-1) will plaj
Tennessee in the Swamp on Dec
1, with the winner going tc
Atlanta.
Florida remains at No. 3 in thf
coaches’ poll and No. 4 in thf
Associated Press poll. Thf
Gamecocks fell to 22nd in both
polls.
A noticeably down Lou Holt;
summed it up, saying, “I’ve nevei
been through anything like that
We’re humiliated. I’m disappoint
ed for our fans, but life moves on.’
Comments on this story ? E-mail
gamecocksports@hotmail.com.
Injured in Saturday’s game
A list of the players hurt in the Florida game and their status for the
Clemson game
Kalimba
j Edwards
OUT
Phil Petty
DOUBTFUL
Jeremiah
Garrison
DOUBTFUL
Derek Watson
QUESTIONABLE
NOT PICTURED: Rod Thomas QUESTIONABLE
Clemson
Gamecocks look for
way to bounce back
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 7
week,” Holtz said. “This one was
big, but the one next week’s more
important. We’re so beat up and
disorganized right now. You
know, this was devastating: phys
ically, mentally, every which way.
I’m still in a state of shock, and the
players are too, I’m sure.”
More than anything, the
Gamecocks seemed stunned at
how badly Florida demolished
them, shocked by the explosive of
fensive performance that was im
pressive even when considering
USC’s underdog status.
With the exception of a fumble
on their First punt reception, the
Gators put the hall in the end zone
or between the uprights on every
possession except their last, which
was cut short by the clock. After
scoring 10 points in the first quar
ter, USC went through two
shutout sets before finally coming
up with something in the last half
of the fourth.
USC’s normally powerful rush
ing game was almost completely
shut down. No Gamecock player
managed more than 70 yards; the
biggest performance was from
backup quarterback Corey
Jenkins, who managed to run for
66 yards.
The passing game was dismal.
The Gamecocks gained just 57
yards in the air, and Petty threw
two interceptions.
Now, USC must try to regroup—
without two of its marquee players
— for what is unquestionably the
most important game of the year.
“And I think at this point, as I
told the football players, I’m not
embarrassed, because 1 thought
they tried. But we’re humiliated,
and there’s a difference,” Holtz
said. “But you have two options:
You either give up, of you move on.
And we’re down as for as you can
get. Not only were we down, we
were stomped on and piled on, and
we’ve got to pick ourselves up.”
But Holtz himself seemed un
sure of how to revive the playters
in time for the showdown with the
Tigers.
“Ltell you what, we’re so low
now; I’ve never seen a football
team as low as that, andT’ve prob
ably never been so low,” Holtz
said, then offered members ofthe
media a chance to help.
“But we will be happy to put a
suggestion box at the entranceway
when you leave, if you want to
give me any suggestions on how
to bring them back, because we’re
down as I’ve ever seen a football
team... I maybe have never been
as down as I am now.
“But you have a faith in God,
you move on, you press on,” Holtz
continued. “There’s a reason for
everything that happens. You
can’t always understand it. But
' you accept it. And we’ll find the
reasons for this.”
To Kenny Harney, “how” is an
irrelevant question.
“You have to regroup. It’s not
‘How do you regroup?’ You just got
to regroup,” he said. “This is talk
ing about Clemson-South
Carolina. The last two games have
been decided on the last play of the
game. We’re going to have to be
upbeat for this game.... And we’ve
got to go out this week and prepare
harder and harder, just like we do
every week, but I’m thinking this
week, I think will prepare a little
extra hard for this game.”
Jenkins will likely start this
week’s game if Petty can’t.
Jenkins said the probability that
he will start would not affect his
practice routine.
“I’m not gonna change my
mind frame or thinking.... In foot
ball, you never know. I mean, just
like tonight, he went down, I had
to be ready. So I got to prepare my
self to go out and play like I do
every week.”
Jenkins was also focused on
next week’s opponent.
“We’ve just got to bounce back.
You know, that’s Florida, this
game is over with and next week
to us, is still as big.... We’re 7-3.
That’s nothing to hang your heads
about. We’ve come a long way.”
Comments on this story?E-mail
gamecocksports@hotmail.com.
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
gjmecocksports@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.
This week’s games:
♦ CLEMSON AT NO. 22 USC
♦ NO. 14 SYRACUSE AT NO. 1
MIAMI
♦ NO. 21 FLORIDA ST. AT NO. 4
FLORIDA
♦ NO. 20 UCLA AT SOUTHERN
CALIFORNIA
♦ NO. 9 WASHINGTON ST. AT NO.
16 WASHINGTON
♦ GEORGIA AT OLE MISS
♦ NO. 18 VIRGINIA TECH AT
VIRGINIA
Send your picks in this week and
check The Gamecock on Friday to see
the picks of the staff, as well as reader
picks.
LAST WEEK’S WINNER:
Senior writer Rick Johnston went 6-1.
Soccer
USC gets one more
chance to impress
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 7
Vitagliano contributed a lot to
this program throughout their ca
reers, and it was important to will
this game for our season and for
them. You want them to remem
ber walking off this field on this
beautiful afternoon with their last
regular-season game (at home) be
ing a win.”
Worthen said he wasn’t sad af
ter playing possibly his last home
game.
“I don’t think it’s really hit me
yet,” he said. “I think once the
season is over, then it’s going to
hit me. But it’s been a good time.
I’ve enjoyed it.”
Vitagliano shares the same
sentiment.
“I’m disappointed it has to end,
but it’s been fun and there’s a lot
of good memories,” he said. “It’s
not really a sad moment. It’s mov
ing on.
“Hopefully, we’ll get a tourna
ment game here.”
The Gamecocks will get a
chance Saturday to make one last
impression on the NCAA
Selection Committee. USC and
Florida International will square
off in Miami at 7 p.m.
RANKINGS
Associated
Press Top 25
1. Miami
2. Nebraska
3. Oklahoma
4. Florida
5. Texas
6. Tennessee
7. Oregon
8. Brigham Young
9. Washington State
10. Maryland
11. Michigan
12. Illinois
13. Stanford
14. Syracuse
15. Colorado
16. Washington
17. Auburn
18. Virginia Tech
19. Louisville
20. UCLA
21. Florida State
22. SOUTH CAROLINA
23. Georgia
24. Marshall
25. Ohio State
THE
GAMECOCK.
NOBODY
COVERS USC
BETTER
McGwire
retires
via fax
to ESPN
BRISTOL, CONN. (AP) - Mark
McGwire, the former single-sea
son home run king, told ESPN that
he is “worn out” and will retire
from baseball.
McGwire strongly hinted of re
tiring several times this year,
when he batted just .187 with 29
home runs as he was slowed by a
bum right knee.
He told ESPN anchor Rich
Eisen on Sunday night that he was
“extremely happy with the deci
sion.”
McGwire had agreed to a $30
million, two-year contract exten
sion in spring training but never
signed the deal.
“After a considerable discus
sion with those close to me, I have
decided not to sign the extension,
as I am unable to perform at a lev
el equal to the salary the organi
zation would be paying me,”
McGwire said in a statement to
ESPN. “I believe I owe it to the
Cardinals and the fans of St. Louis
to step aside, so a talented free
agent can be brought in as the fi
nal piece of what I expect can be a
World Championship-caliber
team.”
McGwire captured the nation’s
imagination in 1998 while hitting
70 homers to break Roger Maris’
37-year-old record. It was a short
lived mark as Barry Bonds hit 73
homers this season.
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