The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, August 30, 2002, Page 8, Image 8
V
8 the GAMECOCK ♦ Friday, August 30, 2002
GAMECOCK DEBUTS
nA,Tm . TTOI CROSS COUNTRY at Charleston Southern, 9 a.m. Friday
l, (JIN 1A(j 1 L O WOMEN’S SOCCER vs. Birmingham Southern, 4:30 p.m. Friday
MEN’S SOCCER vs. Charleston Southern, 7 p.m. Friday
Story ideas? Questions? Comments? VOLLEYBALL at Michigan State Classic, Friday-Saturday
E-mail us at gamecocksports@hotmail.com FOOTBALL vs. New Mexico State, 7 p.m. Saturday
GAME
TIME
FOOTBALL SEASON BEGINS
WITH SATURDAY SHOWDOWN
AGAINST NEW MEXICO STATE
New Mexico State
at No. 22 USC
7 p.m. Saturday
Williams-Brice Stadium
Radio: WTCB 106.7 FM
BY MATT ROTHENBERG
THE GAMECOCK
Playing New Mexico State to
morrow night will surely bring
back some pleasant memories
among Gamecock players, coaches
and fans. After all, it’s been nearly
two years to the night that the
goalposts came down in Columbia.
That night, USC shut out the
Aggies 31-0 to break its dreaded
streak of 21 straight losses.
This year, though, the visitors
know what to expect when they
enter Williams-Brice Stadium, and
they relish the thought of beating
a program that has climbed from
the depths of obscurity to become
one of the nation’s best.
New Mexico State’s players also
realize they’re not in Las Cruces
anymore.
“If you can go in there and up
set a crowd of 80,000 people,
that’s a great feeling,” Aggies re
ceiver P.J. Winston said. “As a
college football player, you
dream of playing in an environ
ment like South Carolina. Their
fa$s don’t sit down. Two years
ago when we went down there, it
was rowdy.”
NMSU’s coaching staff broke
down plenty of game film in the
past year to size up this Gamecock
squad. They hope to avoid a pre
dominantly one-sided affair this
time around with the lessons
learned from their studies.
“They are a little bit different
than most people we play,” said
Barney Cotton, the Aggies’ offen
sive coordinator. “They play with
three defensive lineman, three
linebackers, three safeties and
two corners. Their defense is de
signed to run around and make
plays. They are great tacklers.
They are the best tackling team
I’ve seen on tape the last couple of
years.”
NMSU head coach Tony
Samuel echoed Cotton’s comments
about Carolina, which is ranked
No. 22 in both preseason polls.
“They have real good talent on
both sides of the ball,” Samuel
said. “(Corey) Jenkins played
quite a bit last year, so the quar
terback is a new guy, but it’s not
a guy that hasn’t had experience.
“In a perfect world, you’d like
to have a tune-up game before you
face a team like South Carolina,
but that’s the hand we’ve been
dealt.”
As for the Gamecocks, head
coach Lou Holtz gave credit to the
opposition while stressing the
importance of the mission at
hand.
“They were only a couple of
minutes from an undefeated sea
son in their conference,” Holtz
said of the Aggies in 2001. “You
better stop the option; you better
stop the run. At the same time,
you are very vulnerable to the
play action pass.
“I’m anxious to see (our) football
team play. We might be very good;
we might be very, very good. We
might be very bad. It depends on how
we react in game-like situations.”
Senior defensive end Dennis
Quinn described how the USC de
fense plans to attack the Aggies’
offense.
“They run the option a lot, so
we’re prepared to stop the option
and the run,” Quinn said. “First,
we’ve got to stop the run, and once
we control the line, we’ve got to
get a pass rush down.”
Although there is always room
for improvement, Holtz says, he
likes his team’s chances.
“We are pleased with what
we’ve done, but we’re not satisfied
with where we are,” he said. “We
went from 0-11 to 19th in the coun
try to 13th in the country. Now we
have to see if we can do it after los
ing all those good athletes.... If we
are all healthy, on the same page,
play in the game the way we prac
tice, then we will be a very solid
football team.”
Comments on this story?E-mail
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PHOTO SPECIAL TO THE GAMECOCK
Rashad Faison (No. 11), Matthew Thomas (No. 15) and Andrea Gause (No. 19) will get to run out on the field at Williams-Brice
Stadium again Saturday, when the Gamecocks, ranked 22nd In the nation. Dlav host to New Mexico State in their season onener
FOOTBALL 2002
This year’s special
.__.;. .» "-f^PT^SIW
PHOTO BY AARON HARK/THE GAMECOCK
Daniel Weaver’s last-second field goal lifted the Gamecocks to a 31-28 win over Ohio State
In the Outback Bowl last season. He’s an All-SEC candidate this season.
Kicking game
crucial for USC
BY BRAD SENKIW
THE GAMECOCK
The USC special teams unit
hopes to pick up right where it
left off last season.
Carolina knocked off Ohio
State in the Outback Bowl
thanks to the last-second, 42
yard field goal that kicker
Daniel Weaver pushed through
the uprights.
“It was a big moment for me
and the team to end the season
in a great way,” Weaver said.
“We like always finding some
way to win at the end.”
Weaver, an All-SEC candidate,
returns for his junior season with
high expectations, and he hopes
to build on his season-ending suc
cess. The place-kicker was 13-for
17 in field goals last season, with
his longest being a 43-yarder.
“This year, I want to improve
on last year’s mistakes,”
Weaver said. “I always want to
be perfect, so that’s what I aim
for.”
The punt team will be led by
senior punter Tyeler Dean, an
other All-SEC candidate. Dean
is aiming for more fair catches
and an average of 45 yards per
punt, up from last year’s 43
yards per punt. He will be joined
by Kevin Saylor as the new long
snapper.
“We have a couple of new
guys on the punt team, and
through camp and last spring,
they’ve looked real good,” Dean
said. “I’m confident now that we
shouldn’t get any (punts)
blocked.”
Joey Bowers will be handling
any punts within 40 yards.
Head coach Lou Holtz be
lieves the kicking game will
once again be a key to the
Gamecocks’ success.
“In order to take it to the next
level, you’ve got to be solid in
the kicking game,” Holtz said.
“Tyeler Dean and Daniel
Weaver are both capable of hav
ing big seasons for us.
“We’ve got to win the kicking
game each week. That’s impor
tant with the kind of schedule
we have to face.”
The big question going into
this season is, who will return
kicks and punts for the
Gamecocks?
The dismissal of Derek
Watson leaves senior Ryan
Brewer as USC’s only experi
enced return man, but Brewer
has been slowed by offseason an
kle surgery.
Carolina could receive help
from a couple of track team
members in James Adkisson
and Jared Farabee. Receiver
Chavez Donnings should get an
opportunity to return as well.
Holtz’s main concern is hav
♦ SPECIAL TEAMS, SEE PAGE 9
Who has the edge?
New Mexico State (0-0) at No. 22 USC (0-0)
use's pass against the NMSU defense: ^ ^ \AN TAG E
NMSU SS Siddeeq Shabazz was all-conference last season, but he can’t be
the whole secondary. USC QB Corey Jenkins, still doubted by some as a
passing threat, has a perfect chance Saturday to start silencing those critics.
USC’s rush against the NMSU defense:
Injuries have put in doubt the effectiveness of USC FB Andrew Plnnock and
TB Ryan Brewer, but it shouldn’t matter against the Aggies, who have an
inexperienced front seven that should be overmatchedby the USC line.
NMSU’s pass against the USC defense:
Carolina’s secondary is a question mark after losing three starters to the NFL.
But NMSU is unsettled at QB. Buck Pierce will get the start, but Paul
Dombrowskl is expected to see playing time as well.
NMSU’s rush against the USC defense:
NMSU’s massive line could help establish the Aggies’ option attack, but the
Gamecocks have the speed to counter. TB Walter Taylor will start for NMSU,
but it will be only his third career start in four years.
Intangibles:
The Gamecocks are at home playing a season opener against a team with far
less talent than them. The goalposts won’t come down this time, but expect
USC to have its way with the Aggies once again.
! — rnMPii pn ry kyi p ai Mnwn and matt potucwopd^
1._....—_-____I
Blame Budfor baseball’s woes >
MATT ROTHENBERG
GAMECOCKSPORTS@HOTMAIL.COM
Baseball commissioner
Selig should step down.
Well, another Major League
Baseball player strike might or
might not be upon us right now.
Everybody seems quick to blame
either the players or the owners
or both, yet many fail to point the
finger at someone else: the com
missioner, Allan H. “Bud” Selig.
Yep, I’m blaming Bud. I don’t
think he gets enough credit for his
bad ideas.
In September 1992, Selig was
elected Chairman of the Major
League Executive Council — es
sentially, the “interim commis
sioner.”
Shortly thereafter, he said of
MLB’s problems: “Network (TV)
ratings of games are down, and
more than half the teams are los
ing money. And the major prob
lem is the huge salaries the play
ers are getting.”
Ten years later, nothing’s
changed.
As chairman, Selig presided
over the 272-day player strike from
1994-95.
I find it ridiculous that a guy
who was still an owner then man
aged to keep hold of all of major
league baseball. Didn’t a conflict
of interest ever cross his mind
then?
It sure didn’t in 1995, when he
took a loan from Minnesota Twins
owner Carl Pohlad — an illegal ac
tion that was clearly a conflict of
interest. Selig wasn’t dismissed.
At the annual winter meetings
that year, when the owners passed
Selig’s interleague play concept,
Selig said, “We’re doing things
that, frankly, our fans want.”
Uh huh, sure Bud. That’s why
only 15,874 fans showed up at a
Devil Rays-Marlins game in
Tampa, and only 27,441 in Kansas
City for a game against the Padres
this past June.
Interleague play seems to have
worn out its welcome since it be
gan in 1997. Nobody, short of some
passing local interest, gives a rat’s
ass about those games.
Who wants to see the Mets play
the Yankees and the Giants play
the A’s? A lot of people do.
Who wants to see the Tigers
play the Pirates or the Phillies
play the White Sox? Not me, and
not many others.
Selig was formally elected com
missioner on July 9, 1998.
Fittingly, he was the head of the
search committee for a commis
sioner. All he had to do was look
in the mirror.
After the 2001 World Series,
when he decided two teams —
most likely Minnesota and
Montreal — were to be eliminat
ed, all hell broke loose.
Now I see how he paid back his
loan to Pohlad: By relieving the
old billionaire of his personal
money pit.
Smooth move, Bud. Real
smooth.
Some owners swayed Selig to
move for contraction. It should be_j
noted those owners included the
New York teams, Boston, Texas
and Houston — teams whose rev
enues are helping those smaller
clubs.
Today, Minnesota occupies first
place in their division, and the
Expos might land in the top half
of their division. Selig calls it an
“aberration.”
I don’t think contraction’s
needed. Move them, give them
more time, just don’t say, “Hey,
thanks for what you’ve done for
baseball, it was nice knowing
♦ ROTHENBERG, SEE PAGE 9