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^ . THE GAMECOCK * Friday, October 11,2002 7 - GAME SCHEDULE CONTACT IIS MEN’S TENNIS in Chattanooga, Tenn., Friday WOMEN’S SOCCER vs. Arkansas, 7 p.m. Friday Story ideas? Questions? Comments? MEN’S SOCCER at No. 3 Wake Forest, 7 p.m. Friday E-mail us at gamecocksports@hotmail.com FOOTBALL at Kentucky, 6:30 p.m. Saturday USC looks for fourth straight win Improved Wildcats present tough matchup for Carolina USC at Kentucky 6:30 p.m. Saturday Commonwealth Stadium TV: ESPN2 BY NICK YOUNG THK (lAMKCOGK Going into Saturday’s matchup against Kentucky, a cru cial showdown in the SEC Eastern Division, the USC foot ball team is facing several ques tion marks. Carolina’s win over Mississippi State last week might have been the most costly win of the season. In the 34-10 victory, the Gamecocks’ third straight win since starting 1 2, quarterback Corey Jenkins and defensive end Dennis Quinn had to leave the game with sprained an kles. Both athletes have been lim ited this week in practice, and then roles in this week end’s game is ques tionable. Jenkins’ injury, in particular, has USC’s coaching staff worried. “I’m concerned about Corey’s an kle,” offensive co ordinator Skip Holtz said. “It’s tender, and he’s not able to do all of the things that he normally is able to do.” Redshirt sopho more Dondrial dmr Corey Jenkins’ status for Saturday is unknown after he suffered a sprained ankle last week. Pinkins will get the start if Jenkins is not ready to play. “I thought Dondrial had a good practice on Tuesday, so he re ceived most of the work with the ones today,” Holtz said. “What we are looking for is production and being able to get the ball into the end zone.” Although some Gamecocks will not be able to play this week, se nior wide receiver James Adkisson returns after being in jured against Virginia. Adkisson comes back to a crowded Carolina receiving corps, but he should get plenty of action. USC head coach Lou Holtz felt the defense and special teams played very well in the Mississippi State game. Special teams kept the Gamecocks in great field position all game with booming kickoffs from Joey Bowers and sailing punts from Tyeler Dean. Defensively, Langston Moore, Jeremiah Garrison, Jermaine Lemon and George Gause played well against MSU. The secondary might have played its best game all season Saturday, giving up one play of more than 30 yards. But the defense must stay sharp since Kentucky (4-1,0-1 SEC) has a very dangerous offense and, according to Lou Holtz, one of the confer ence’s best running backs. “They’re 4-1 and are No. 1 in the conference in scoring, averaging 41 points a game,” he said. “Offensively, they have maybe the best tailback in the conference in Artose Pinner. He just makes all kind of plays, averaging about seven yards per carry, but he is also their leading receiver. He is the biggest difference in Kentucky’s offense from last year.” Pinner is not the only weapon in the Wildcats’ conference-lead ing offense. Quarterback Jared Lorenzen runs the offense and has put up solid numbers this season, throwing for 14 touchdowns and only three interceptions. Lorenzen’s favorite targets are game-breaking receivers Aaron Boone and Derek Abney. PHOTO BY CANDI HAUGLUM/THE GAMECOCK USC wide receiver James Adkisson battles for the bail with some Virginia defenders earlier this season. Adkisson returns to the team this Saturday after missing several weeks with a knee injury, and he’ll bolster the Gamecocks’ receiving corps. Kentucky’s defense is far ahead of its defenses of the past. The last few seasons, the defense has paled in comparison to the team’s of fense. But this year is the de fense’s year to shine, and it’s turn ing a few heads, especially Lou Holtz’s. When talking about Kentucky’s game against Louisville, Lou Holtz said he was sold on the Wildcats defense. “Louisville couldn’t protect its passer, and their receivers couldn’t get open,” he said. “Now, they were able to protect their quarterback against Florida State, but not Kentucky. (Kentucky’s) de fensive front will be playing on Sundays.” Motivation should not be a problem for the Gamecocks (4-2,2 1), because the SEC East race is still wide open. Before the game, many Carolina fans will have their eyes on the Tennessee Georgia ' matchup. If the Volunteers and USC win their games, then USC will be in a first place tie in the division. Saturday’s Carolina-Kentucky contest will kickoff at 6:30 p.m. and be televised on ESPN2. Comments on this story? E-mail gamecocksports@hotmail.com It’s time for the Rothy Awards MATT ROTHENBERG GAMECOCKSPORTS@HOTMAIL.COM Finally, an awards show where I can give out meaningless honors. ^ • Now that the hype of the - Primetime Emmy Awards has . died down, I’ve decided to follow ! ESPN’s lead and create a bunch of meaningless sports awards to give to individuals or organizations that sort of deserve them. I know Kyle gives out his weekly awards, but I figure I’ll talk about more than tools and the like. So, without further ado, I here by introduce... The Rothys. (These awards are my own brainchild. Therefore, I am the sole being that decides what kind of categories there are and who re ceives the honors. If anybody begs to differ about my choices, the e mail address you can reach me at is directly underneath my face. I will take all suggestions for future Rothy award categories.) Now, on with the show... WORST FANTASY BASEBALL TRANSACTION OF THE SEASON: That one goes to me. If only I hadn’t gotten rid of Derek Lowe before the season started. I could have had a Cy Young Award-cal iber starting pitch er on my staff — before I traded Lance Berkman fnr RanHv Johnson. A truly |_0we stupid move on my part, but what made it worse was that I dropped Lowe for John Rocker. What a * mistake! THE MOST OVERDUE RETIREMENT This one goes to Patrick Ewing with Hakeem Olajuwon a close second. It’s about damn time Ewing threw in the towel! He was never really the same after injur ing his wrist against the Buck: several years ago, and his knee: were getting gimpier by the day Besides, he got himself a nice cushy job from his pal Michae Jordan, so he’ll live comfortable well into the future. THE “LITTLE ENGINE THAT COULD1 AWARD: The Anaheim Angels ar< the grand recipients of this honor Who’d have thought after theii mediocre start that they’d con vincingly beat the Yankees in th< Divisional Series and be competi tive against the Twins in th< ALCS? This scrappy bunch nevei gave up and clawed its way into th< playoffs. They’re a talented team and with fine, young pitching, th< Angels are guaranteed to be a con tender for several more years. WORST FASHION STATEMENT 01 THE YEAR: The retro sports jer seys. They were nice in the ’60s oi ’70s, but this is the 21st century. I: there really a place in today’s so ciety for those hideous polyestei uniforms? I don’t think so Besides, if we’re knocking dowr all those multipurpose stadium: from that era, then why is some one bringing back the jerseys' Does any person who wears thes< clothes actually remember seeinf them when they originally ap peared? I doubt it. Just keep then locked up with the mothballs. BEST REPLACEMENT OF ORIGINAI ARENA SIGN: Some desperate Charlotte Hornets fan(s) replaced the “Go” in the “Go Hornets Go” sign: at the Charlotte Coliseum during th< NBA playoffs this past May. Thej covered up the word “Go” with a sigr that said “Stay” to make the whole thing read “Stay Hornets Stay.” Ii the end, it proved useless, since th< team moved to New Orleans, but yoi have got to give whoever did it somi points for trying. WORST ATTEMPT AT INTERFERINC WITH A BALLPARK CONTEST: M; friends at PETA get this award be cause of their trying to get the Milwaukee Brewers to add a veg gie hot dog to the traditional Sausage Race. I covered this in an earlier column of mine, and I think PETA takes the cake when it comes to this category. WORST NEW UNIFORMS IN ALL OF THE MAJOR SPORTS: After lengthy consideration, the Buffalo Bills re ceive this honor. It was nice when they had the simple red and blue as their primary colors. Then they 1 decided they just had to add black i and re-design their jerseys. They look horrible. It shouldn’t take the Bills long to realize what jersey de sign got them to the Super Bowl in : the first place. Coming in second, me vvasmngion Redskins are eeri ly beginning to look like the Florida State Seminoles. How in the world could Spurrier let that happen? Well, at least he still has ■ his visor. And the last Rothy of this • a wards ceremony... MOST INEPT FRONT OFFICE IN MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL: Hands down, this goes to the group in con ’ trolofthe Boston Red Sox. Sure, you ! have Pedro, Nomar, Manny, and an : interesting ensemble cast. But what do you have to show for it? Nothing. Nice move trading away most of your top minor leaguers for fringe players to ensure yourselves the worst farm system in all of the mi nors. Keep trying; maybe one day ■ you’ll get it right. I hope to continue the Rothy awards at regular points through i out the semester, or whatever’s left i of it. If you have any suggestions for ! categories, let me know. For what it’s worth, I say if ESPN can have « its own little awards, well, so can I. Rothenberg is a fourth-year sport management student. His column appears.every Friday in Gamecohk Sports. Spurrier Who has the edge? USC (4-2,2-1 SEC) at Kentucky (4-1,0-1) USC's pass against the Kentucky defense: ADVANTAGE. ! A lot of this will depend on who is throwing the ball for the Gamecocks. If Corey Jenkins is healthy and ready to go, he could fare well. His backup, Dondrial Pinkins, is unproven, however, and might have trouble playing in front of a hostile crowd in such a pivotal game. USC's rush against the Kentucky defense: Kentucky’s defensive front is much improved, but Carolina has too many weapons in the running game. Both Jenkins and Pinkins are dangerous rushers, and FB Andrew Pinnock and TB Kenny Irons should find space as well. USC will look to control the clock and keep UK’s offense off the field. Kentucky’s pass against the USC defense: Kentucky QB Jared Lorenzen is a gunner, and he’ll attack a Carolina secondary that still has to prove itself. Lorenzen will look toward WRs Derek Abney and Aaron Boone to make plays. Someone will have to step up for USC on the other side of CB Dunta Robinson. Kentucky’s rush against the USC defense: TB Artose Pinner has forced opposing defenses to play honest this season. Teams can’t key on Lorenzen because Pinner will make them pay. USC has been hot and cold against the run, and with LB Lance Lauiy still out with an injury, the Gamecocks might have trouble corralling Pinner. Intangibles: Both teams have renewed confidence. Kentucky is sitting pretty at 4-1, and USC has won three straight. But the home crowd and the uncertain status of Jenkins tips the scale in favor of the Wildcats. They also don’t have anything to lose - they’re banned from the postseason because of NCAA violations. — COMPILED BY KYLE ALMOND AND MATT ROTHENBERG SPORTS CHALLENGE THE CHALLENGE: The Gamecock’s readers and staff test their sports knowledge with predictions of the weekend’s games. (Rankings are from the Associated Press.) Kyle Matt Chris Almond Rothenberg Foy Sports Asst. Sports Defending Editor Editor Champior (38-22) (42-18) (37-23) Maiy Charles Hartney Tomlinson Editor in Co-Editor, Chief The Mix (39-21) (30-30) Rich Wofford Reader of the Week (37-23) 10 Tennessee at 6 Georgia 18 LSU at 16 Florida Arkansas at 24 Auburn 9 Florida St. at 1 Miami 2 Oklahoma at 3 Texas IS Penn St at 13 Michigan Texas Tech at 11 Iowa St. Oregon St. at Arizona St. Clemson at Virginia USC at Kentucky Georgia_Georgia_Tennessf Florida Florida Florida Auburn Auburn Auburn Miami Miami_Miami Texas TexasOklahom Michigan Penn St. Michigar Iowa St. Iowa St. Iowa St. Oregon St. Oregon St. Oregon £ Clemson Clemson Clemson Kentucky Kentucky USC $5-21 45-28 38-31 e Tennessee Georgia Florida LSU_ Arkansas Auburn Miami_Miami a Oklahoma Texas Michigan Michigar Iowa St. Iowa St. t. Arizona St. Arizona! Clemson Virginia Kentucky USC 26-20 24-21 Georgia Florida Auburn Miami Texas Michigan Iowa St It. Oregon St Clemson Kentucky 35-24 LAST WEEK’S WINNER: Jill Martin (8-2) - The copy desk chief pulls off a shocker, going 8-2 and winning the week. The Gamecock's staff now sits at .500 - still in last place, but not as embarrassed as before. Hartney moves into second place overall with a 7-3 week, making up two games on Rothenberg (5-5). Reader of the week Peter Farr went 6-4, while Foy and Almond went a putrid 4-6. WANT TO BE READER OF THE WEEK? E-mail your selections next week to gamecocksports@hotmail.com. If you’re picked and have the best record, you’ll win a free Gamecoc^T-shirt and be able to talk all the trash you’ want