The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, September 25, 2002, Page 9, Image 9
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.