Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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THE GAMECOCK ♦ Friday, October 18, 2002 9 "I \ T^| rri rN game schedule CONTACT US I J1 1 I y ' I ' MEN’S TENNIS in S.C. Fall Invitational (Columbia), Friday-Saturday I I I I I i SWIMMING at College of Charleston, 1j p.m. Friday Story ideas? Questions? Comments? I \ 111 WOMEN'S SOCCER vs. Georgia, 7 p.m. Friday E-mailusatgamecocksports@hotmail.com _B_ B B VOLLEYBALL at Alabama, 7 p.m. Friday * BAYOU BOUND PHOTO BY TRAVIS LYNN/THE GAMECOCK Corey Jenkins, left, will have his work cut out for him Saturday. USC's senior quarterback will have to deal with a talented LSU defense that ranks No. 1 In the nation In total defense and No. 2 In scoring defense. Surging Gamecocks face tough road test USC at No. 14 LSU 7:45 p.m. Saturday Tiger Stadium TV: ESPN2 BY KYLE ALMOND THE GAMECOCK The USC football team is red hot, winning its past four games since starting out 1-2. But the Gamecocks will face an even hot ter team Saturday. The LSU Tigers, ranked No. 12 in the Coaches’ Poll and No. 14 in the Associated Press Poll, have won five straight games — their latest being a 36-7 shocker at Florida. The Tigers went into the Swamp, a traditionally tough place to play, and dominated the Gators last weekend in every facet of the game. That win improved LSU to 5-1 on the year, 2-0 in the SEC, and grabbed the attention of USC head coach Lou Holtz. “The question I ask is, why are they only No. 12 in the coun try?” Holtz said. “They go down and beat Florida 36-7, and it was 36-7 with 12 minutes to go in the fourth quarter. It’s not like they scored at the end. “They are just an intimidating football team. Fundamentally, they are excellent. It’s their ath leticism, their size and funda mentals that really impress you.” Lucky for Holtz, the Gamecocks (5-2,3-1 SEC) have hit their stride just in time for such a pivotal conference game. Carolina rallied from a 10-0 deficit last weekend to defeat Kentucky 16-12 in Lexington. “Last week, I was really proud of how we kept our poise and the way we competed and came back and executed in the second half,” Holtz said. The Gamecocks will also get two important players back Saturday. Linebacker Lance Laury and center C.J. Frye re turn after missing several weeks because of injuries. The teams will do battle at 7:45 p.m. in LSU’s Tiger Stadium. The game will be nationally tele vised on ESPN2. While Carolina gets players back from injuries, LSU might be without one of its most im portant players. Starting quar terback Matt Mauck is question able with a foot injury, and sophomore Marcus Randall will receive the start instead. It will be Randall’s first career start. “I think Marcus has done a good job in practice this week,” LSU head coach Nick Saban said. “Marcus has to go out there and manage the game. He is a young quarterback, and we need to sup port him in what he does. He is capable of making some big plays because he is a good athlete.” Randall has played in four games this year, completing 4-of 8 passes for 33 yards. Randall has also rushed for 13 yards on five carries. “Me and Matt basically have al most the same style of play,” Randall said. “So the game plan’s not really going to change that much. We’re still Marcus going to run the Randall ball, do our quar will be terback draws, making his bootlegs and first career play-action pass start es. The offense is Saturday. going to still stay the same.” Holtz and the Gamecocks will have to exploit Randall’s inex perience on offense, because the Tigers defense is stacked. LSU is No. 1 in the country in total de fense, No. 2 in scoring defense, and the Tigers have only allowed 10.5 points per game. “They’re as well-coached and “They are just an intimidating football team. Fundamentally, they are excellent.” LOU HOLTZ USC FOOTBALL HEAD COACH, ON LSU fundamentally sound as any de fense as you will ever see,” Holtz said. USC will try to counter that defensive power with its usual hard-nosed rushing attack, led by quarterback Corey Jenkins. Jenkins leads the team in both passing yards (1,145) and rush ing yards (609). The senior also has a team-high 10 touchdowns. “South Carolina is an excel lent football team,” Saban said. “They are only giving up about 12 points a game (in SEC games), and they move the ball effective ly on offense. Saban is confident his team can extend its winning streak, however. “We have practiced and pre pared well all week, and I am pleased with the attitude that we have come back with,” he said. “We seem to have good focus on what we need to do against South Carolina.” Comments on this story?E-mail gamecocksports@hotmail.com USC snaps losing skid Glowienka goal finishes Charlotte at Graveyard THE GAMECOCK " After three heartbreaking loss es to Davidson, Clemson and Wake Forest, the USC men’s soccer team came into Wednesday’s match against Charlotte determined to get back on track. Carolina’s Tim Glowienka scored his first goal of the season in the 74th minute, and it could not have come at a better time. After a 49ers foul. Glowienka took a direct kick right outside of the box and stuffed it in the back-right cor ner of the net. His score broke a 1-1 tie, and 13th ranked Carolina Glowienka (8-3-1) held on for a 2-1 victory at the Graveyard. In the beginning of the match, it appeared as if the game was go ing to be a blowout. The Gamecocks possessed the ball and camped out in the 49ers’ half for the majority of the game’s first seven minutes. After defending yet another Carolina attack, Charlotte (7-4-1) quickly cleared the ball and raced up the field in an attempt to counter. USC was caught off guard and scrambled to get back, but the Gamecocks couldn’t make it in time. Tim Flavin connected on a pass to Mira Mupier, who did the rest by spinning past Carolina de fenders and toe-poking the ball past Michael Bachmeyer. USC answered just four min utes later, however, on a go'al by senior Jordan Quinn. “Somehow, the bah ricocheted out to me, and I was concentrating on keeping if on target,” Quinn said of his sixth goal of the season. USC head coach Mark Berson was proud of how his team came back and scored so quickly. “I was very proud of the team tonight, especially the way we an swered their goal,” he said. “I thought we came out and played very well early, and then all of a sudden—bang—they scored. For us to get our composure and to come back and answer was very big. It speaks of the character, the determination and the fighting power of this team.” For the rest of the first half, the score remained deadlocked, but USC continued to dominate play and hold the advantage in every statistical category. me Gamecocks outshot the 49ers 7-3 and held a 3-0 lead in corner kicks. The teams came out for the sec ond half, and Charlotte was fired up, desperately wanting to pull off the upset. The 49ers played with aggression. They battled for every loose ball and didn’t give up pos session without a fight. But USC’s defense played yet another strong game and thwart ed most 49ers attacks. The Gamecocks allowed only three shots, two of which were on goal. “All of the back four did great tonight,” Berson said. “Tim Glowienka, Willis Forko, Jordan Smith and Robert Rosenberg were simply outstanding.” According to Berson, the win was important for several reasons. “It was a must-win, a good win in the South Region,” he said. “We haven’t won a game in the South Region yet, and that’s what we need to do to get to the (NCAA) Tournament.” Comments on this story?E-mail gamecocksports@hotmail.com BRIEFLY 2 home SEC games left for USC women The USC women’s soccer team (164,3-2 SEC) will play its last two home SEC matches of the season this weekend. The Gamecocks play host to Georgia (6-7-1,2-2) on Friday, and they conclude the weekend Sunday against No. 14 Tennessee (1(M, 3-1). USC starts season against Charleston USC’s swimming and diving teams kick off their seasons Friday against the College of Charleston at 5 p.m. in the Carolina Natatorium. In last year’s NCAA Championships, USC’s men fin ished 26th and the women fin: ished 35th. Volleyball two wins away from milestone The 24th-ranked USC volleyball team is just two wins away from tying the program’s best start in SEC play, and the Gamecocks head to Alabama this weekend looking to reach that mark. Friday, the Gamecocks (14-3, 7-0 SEC) take on Alabama (13-7, 4-2), and Sunday, Carolina will face Auburn (1-17,0-6). USC, which defeated both teams already in Columbia, has won eight straight matches. Who has the edge? use (5-2,3-1 SEC) at No. 14 LSU (5-1,2-0) * USC’s pass against the t si I defense- ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ : LSU’s pass defense, ranked third in the county, made Florida QB Rex Grossman look like a novice last weekend in Gainesville. USC QB Corey Jenkins probably will only throw when absolutely necessaiy. IISC’s rush against the LSU defense lhe ligers rustling ueiense is tneir weak link, but only Decause tneir pass o is so good. LSU is seventh in the nation in rushing defense. But USC is tough to stop on the ground, with Jenkins and FB Andrew Pinnock. isii’s pass against the USC defense: QB Marcus Randall makes his first start of his career, and it comes at a bad time for LSU. The Gamecocks' secondary is starting to come together, and CB Matthew Thomas is establishing himself after moving from the offense. TB LaBrandon Toefleld is out with a broken arm for LSU, but backup Dominick Davis is just as good and maybe more explosive. The Gamecocks gave up more than 100 yards last week to Kentucky’s Artose Pinner. Both teams are playing with confidence, and they won’t budge an inch Saturday. But Tiger Stadium, one of the most hostile environments in college football, could create problems for USC. — COMPILED BY KYLE-ALMOND AND MATT ROTHENBEPG ^ SPORTS CHALLENGE THE CHALLENGE: Kyle Matt Chris Maty Emma Jason The Gamecock’s readers and Almond Rothenberg Foy Hartney Rltch Stewart staff test their sports knowledge Sports Asst. Sports Defending Editor in Asst. News Readerof with predictions of the Editor Editor Champion Chief Editor the Week weekend’s games. (Rankings (42-28) (45-25) (42-28) (45-25) (38-22) (41-29) are from the Associated Press.) 21 Ole Miss at 24 Alabama_ Auburn at Florida Kentucky at Arkansas 9 Iowa St. at 2 Oklahoma 7 Notre Dame at 18 Air Force 22 Washington at 19 So. Cal Minnesota at Michigan St. TCU at Louisville Wake Forest at Clemson DSC at 14 LSU Alabama Alabama Florida Florida Arkansas Kentucky Oklahoma Oklahoma N. Dame N. Dame Washington So. Cal Minnesota Mich. St. Louisville_Louisville Clemson Clemson use use 17-14 24-17 Ole Miss Alabama Florida Florida Kentucky Arkansas Oklahoma Oklahoma N. Dame Air Force So. Cal Washingto Mich. St. Mich. St. Louisville Louisville Clemson Clemson USC LSU 13-10 21-17 Ole Miss Ole Miss Florida Rorida Kentucky Kentucky Oklahoma Oklahoma N. Dame N. Dame i Washington So. Cal Minnesota Mich. St. Louisville Louisville Clemson Clemson_ use use 24-18 24-21 LAST WEEK’S WINNER: Charles Tomlinson (8-2) - After starting the season terribly, the Gamecock’s staff has rebounded with back-to-back victories. Copy desk chief Jill Martin went 8-2 two weeks ago. Tomlinson, co-editor of The Mix, won last week because he was the only one to pick LSU and Virginia to win. Overall leader Rothenberg went a trifling 3-7, and he now shares the lead with Hartney, who went 6-4. Three games behind the leaders are Almond (4-6) and Foy (5-5). Reader of the week Rich Wofford went 4-6. WANT TO BE READER OF THE WEEK? E-mail your selections nextweektogamecocksports@hotmail.com. If you’re picked and have the best record, you’ll win a free Gamecock T-shirt and be able to talk all the trash you want