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0 _ THE GAMECOCK ♦ Wednesday, September 25,2002 G4ME SCHEDULE MEN’S GOLF at Carpet Capital Collegiate in Dalton, Ga., Friday-Sunday rnWTAPT TN VOLLEYBALL vs. Auburn, 7 p.m. Friday liAVJ 1 U kJ WOMEN’S TENNIS at Furman Fall Classic, Friday-Sunday Story ideas? Questions? Comments? CROSS COUNTRY at The Citadel Invitational, 9 a.m. Saturday E-mail us at gamecocksports@hotmail.com FOOTBALL at Vanderbilt, 7 p.m. Saturday I use at Vanderbilt 7 p.m. Saturday Dudley Field TV: Pay-per-view only BY JASON NOLL THE GAMECOCK Although USC head coach Lou Holtz was happy with his football team’s performance against Temple this past weekend, he is still concerned about problems that could cost the team in the fu ture, namely the defense. “We can not even begin to sleep until we get better on defense,” Holtz said at his weekly news con ference Monday. “That’s an abso lute necessity.” Ho^tz was especially concerned with his defense’s inability to play well for all four quarters of a game. “We’ve not gotten off to a good start in any of the four games de fensively, which concerns you somewhat,” Holtz said. Holtz said the areas the defense needs to work on the most are stopping the run and reducing mental mistakes. “We had too many mental er rors, we had too many missed tackles, we had too many big plays,” Holtz said. Other problems Holtz found were the reliability of his second string and the ability of his offen sive line to control the line of scrimmage. Holtz also questioned the leadership ability of his up perclassmen. Overall, Holtz said his team has been playing well but men tal lapses are holding the team back. “When we play good football, we’ve never been able to sit back and celebrate because we’ve done the stupid things,” he said. Youth stepping up Holtz was pleased with the di rection his football team is tak ing, especially concerning the emergence of his younger play ers. “We could start as many as six or seven true freshmen this week,” Holtz said. The move to a younger lineup comes after several of the young players were a major factor in the team’s 42-21 victory over the Owls. The freshmen that made the biggest impacts were wide re ceivers Troy Williamson, who had four receptions for 75 yards and a touchdown, and Kris Clark, who had two receptions for 36 yards. Holtz was also impressed with his freshmen running backs, es pecially Daccus Turman, who led the team in rushing in Saturday’s victory. “I thought the freshman backs played well,” Holtz said. Turman “isn’t very quick, he isn’t very fast, but he is productive.” Holtz said he is encouraged by the development of freshman defen sive tackle Moe Thompson, who recorded four tackles in the game. “Moe Thompson makes a lot of mis takes because he’s a true freshman, but he’s a real talent,” Holtz said. Holtz noted that he hasn’t started this many fresh men since ins years as a high school coach. Holtz compared USC’s freshmen lineup situation to his 1991 Notre Dame team, which went 10-3, won the Sugar Bowl and finished the sea Redshlrt freshman Daccus Turman led Carolina in rushing Saturday against Temple. son ranked 13th in the nation. “A freshman should never play unless an upperclassman gives him the opportunity to do so,” Holtz said. “It’s not the ideal situation, but you have to do what gives you the best chance to win.” Despite the change to a younger lineup, Holtz said he is still pleased with the play of some of his key upperclassmen — espe cially quarterback Corey Jenkins, nose tackle Langston Moore, safeties Rashad Faison and Jonathan Martin, and wide re ceiver Michael Ages, who Holtz said is playing the “best football of his career.” Holtz was also pleased with se nior running back Andrew Pinnock, despite the fact that Pinnock didn’t receive any carries against Temple. “Andrew Pinnock has been an excellent football player,” Holtz said. “When he played last week, he played very well.” “We can not even begin to sleep until we get better on defense. That’s an absolute necessity.” LOU HOLTZ use FOOTBALL HEAD COACH Stopping Vandy Looking ahead to Saturday’s game against Vanderbilt, which Holtz calls “a heck of a challenge,” , the coach’s main concern is with his team’s ability to stop the run, especially because Vanderbilt’s of fense is built on running the op tion. However, Holtz thinks he will have his team properly prepared for Saturday’s game. “I don’t know many things, but one thing I do know is option foot ball,” Holtz said. Still, the Gamecock defense is questionable. ♦ FOOTBALL, SEE PAGE 10 Gamecocks receive a breath of fresh air Carolina’s true freshmen resuscitate struggling Carolina offense PHOTO BY CANDI HAUGLUM/THE GAMECOCK Troy Williamson holds on to this touchdown pass In the third quarter of Saturday’s win against Temple. The score put USC ahead 35-14. Williamson, a true freshman from Aiken who was highly recruited by Carolina, had a great game for the Gamecocks, catching four passes for 75 yards. BY KYLE ALMOND THE (iAMECOCK Croy Williamson, one of the USC football team’s prized recruits in the offseason, admits it was hard to stay patient and wait for his chance to play. But when he got his chance Saturday against Temple, the fresh man wide receiver made the most of it, catching four balls for 75 yards and a touchdown. “For somebody that was recruit ed so hard ... it gets real aggravat ing sitting on the sideline and wait ing to go in and waiting for the coach to call your name,” Williamson said. “I knew I had to wait my turn. And now that I’ve waited my turn, I hope I can get more into the rotation of things.” Williamson is just one of several Carolina true freshmen who made an impact this past weekend with their first significant roles in the offense. Other young players, including tail back Kenny Irons and wide receiver Kris Clark, shined also when given the ball. Head coach Lou Holtz “told us in practice that he was going to play this many people, and the freshmen got in and did their thing,” said Irons, who had 30 yards on nine carries. “They balled out.” Going into the season, the USC coaching staff was excited about the new talent it had on offense. Holtz praised the team’s speed and said he expected big things from the newcom ers. In Carolina’s first three games, how ever, the newcomers didn’t see much of the field. The coaches decided to keep the ball in the hands of their more experienced players, like seniors Andrew Pinnock, Ryan Brewer and James Adkisson. But when Adkisson went down with a serious knee injury and Pinnock struggled with turnovers, the coaches thought it was time to give the freshman a serious look. It couldn’t have come at a better time, said Clark, who, like Williamson, was discouraged early on in the sea son. “At first, we all wanted to get red shirted; we didn’t think we were go ing to play,” Clark said. “And then James went down, and they called us into the office on Monday and asked us if we were ready and if we would step up. And we were like, ‘Yes, sir, we’ll step up.’ ” Clark, a freshman walk-on from Lexington, started on Saturday and had a pair of catches for 36 yards. “I knew I was going to get the start,” Clark said. “At first, I thought we were going to do a rotation, but I ran the first three series by myself, and that kind of surprised me. I always looked to the sideline to see if I was about to come out.” Holtz said he started Clark because he worked hard and did the “little things” in practice. “There were certain things that I wanted from the receivers, and the younger players seemed to give it to us,” Holtz said. “They understood what we wanted, which is effort down field, running the routes at the right place and being there at the right time. If you run an 18-yard route, they’re go ing to be at 18. “We just felt that we’d give them Making an Impact A few true freshmen are getting their chance to shine on offense for the Gamecocks. Kenny Irons RUNNING BACK I Averaging 4.2 yards a cany, Irons could lj be the breakaway | threat USC needs. ■ray wmiamson WIDE RECEIVER I Williamson has the size (6-2) and the confidence to be a J top SEC receiver. Kris Clark (WIDE RECEIVER Clark’s work ethic has put the walk-on at the top of the J USC depth chart I_—I a chance,” Holtz said of the fresh men. “At least you know what to ex pect when the ball is snapped to them.” Many Carolina fans are expect ing big things out of Irons, who showed explosiveness in his debut against Georgia two weeks ago. Since Derek Watson was dismissed last semester, the team has lacked a breakaway running threat, some ♦ FRESHMEN, SEE PAGE 10 Augusta National missing out on real beauty KYLE ALMOND GAMECOCKSPORTS@HOTMAIL.COM When they’re around 8 or 9 years old, boys have their special club (sometimes meeting in a tree house), where there’s one rule and one rule only: no girls allowed. It makes sense when you’re in the fourth grade. After all, girls are gross and weird, and all they do is get in the way when you’re trying to play war or plot world domination. That all changes as you get old er, though. Puberty comes out of left field and changes your whole per spective. Sure, you might not have much of a clue about them (if any), but you’re starting to come to your senses and realize there’s some thing pretty cool about a pretty girl. Apparently, that scenario doesn’t apply to old, upper-class white men—particularly the ones at Augusta National. The most well-known private golf club in the world, located just a couple of hours west of Columbia, has been catching flak in recent weeks be cause of its refusal to open its elite membership to women. Augusta National chairman Hootie Johnson, a USC graduate, has said on record that the club has no exclusionary policies. Women are allowed to play the course as guests. But in its 69-year history, there hasn’t been a single woman member. There has been talk that some woman’s groups would pressure Augusta National and the spon sors of the club’s major tourna ment, the Masters. But, neverthe less, Johnson has made it clear that he will not be pressured into making any decisions the club isn’t ready to take. I say, that’s cool—it’s a private club, and it shouldn’t be forced by outside forces to change its ways if it doesn’t want to. But the question I have is, why not? What’s wrong with bringing in some women members? Don’t bring women because you have to or because someone is going to force your hand. But bring wom en in because you want to. Augusta National is a beautiful course, maybe the most beautiful in golf. Why not enhance that beauty with some lovely ladies? Watching and hanging out with a bunch of dudes all day has to get boring. You can still be exclusionary. Bring ii^the best women’s golfers in the world. Bring in the richest, or the most attractive — whatev er floats your boat. But spice it up a bit. As most of us guys learned when we were 13, including fe males can be an exciting thing. Weekly Awards Pimp Daddy of the Week: Charles Rogers Notre Dame won the game and deserves its props, but wideout Rogers was simply awe some for the Spartans. He had seven receptions for 175 yards and two touchdowns, and a cou ple of his grabs were worthy of an ESPY. Rogers tied an NCAA record by catching a touchdown pass in his 12th straight regular-season game, but it was his dominating perfor mance this past weekend that should have NFL scouts slobber ing all over themselves. Toolbox of the Week: William Ligue Jr. Ligue and his 15-year-old son ran onto the field at Comiskey Park on Saturday and brutally at tacked Kansas City Royals first base coach Tom o m Kr>o i n n ninth inning. It was one of I the most disturb ing moments in baseball history, I and who knows Ej why it happened. * mgue s sxsier ioiu Ligue Jr. the Associated Press it was pre meditated, but it will be a while until we find out the real story. Ligue, who looks like a wel fare Bon Jovi, claims he and his son were provoked by an obscene gesture, something Gapaboa de nies. But if somebody gives you the finger, man, you don’t pummel him in front of thousands of peo ple when he’s not expecting it. It’s a cowardly move any way you look at it. Quote of the Week: “We don’t try to injure people. We just try to inflict as much pain as we possibly can within the rules.” — Chicago Bears de fensive back Larry Whigham, in response to Falcons quarterback Michael Vick’s claim that the Bears were trying to take out his knees during their game two weeks ago. Hey, Mike, football is a dirty game. Didn’t you know this com ing in? Almond is a fourth-year print journalism student. His column appears every Wednesday in-' Gamecock Sports.