The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, September 08, 2003, Page 8, Image 8
8 THE GAMECOCK ♦ Monday, September 8, 2003 |
^ —m—^ GAME SCHEDULE
nn,Tm. I I I \ | ■ T I 1 L 1 MEN'S GOLF at Cleveland Golf Kiawah Island Invitational at
CONTACT US I_" m I U/ I Kiawah Island, Monday and Tuesday
I ■ I I \ I i WOMEN’S GOLF at The TOBY Cup in Tokyo, Japan, Tuesday
Story ideas? Questions? Comments? I 1 / ■ I 111 VOLLEYBALL at Clemson, 7 p.m. Tuesday
E-mailusatgamecocksports@hotmail.com _i_ 1 V. i WOMEN’S SOCCER at Texas A&M, 8:30 p.m. Friday
FOOTBALL
Turman carries Gamecocks past Cavaliers
PHOTO BY JOHNNY HAYNES/THE GAMECOCK
USC’s Daccus Turman rushed for a career-high 123 yards in Saturday’s victory over Virginia, which put the Gamecocks in the AP poll for the first time since losing to Virginia a year ago.
BY BRAD SENKIW
THE GAMECOCK
It might not have been the
Demetris Summers show or a
Kenny Irons marathon, but USC
punished the' Virginia defense on
the ground on Saturday, plowing
its way to a victory and a No. 25
ranking in the Associated Press
poll.
The man behind all the big
plays and yards was none other
than sophomore Daccus Turman.
The young bruiser out of
Washington, Ga., didn't finesse his
way around the field or blow by
the defenders en-route to an 18 car
ry, 123-yard and one touchdown
performance. Instead, Turman
watched his offensive line push
the Cavaliers backward, opening
up holes for him to run through.
"Daccus Turman is a great
running back," USC quarterback
Dondrial Pinkins said. "They call
him D-train, and today he ran
like a train. No one can
stop him."
V irginia never had to
worry about Turman
stretching its defense
ana taKing one tne aistance, out
Virginia couldn't find a way to
keep this guy from bashing into
its secondary.
USC head coach Lou Holtz
said Turman's style of running
isn't impressive, but that "he
moves the chains."
Turman's previous career
high came against LSU last sea
son when he picked up 49 yards.
He gained that in the fourth quar
ter alone against the Cavaliers.
Turman was also the first
Gamecock to pass the 100-yard
rushing mark since Corey
Jenkins gained 101 yards against
Georgia almost one year ago.
The second half proved crucial
for the Gamecocks as they came
out of the locker room up by
three. Offensive coordinator Skip
Holtz challenged the running
game, and the players responded.
Turman quickly became the
featured back, racking up 80
yards on 13 attempts beginning
in the third quarter. Turman
also scored his first touchdown
of the season after Moe
Thompson recovered a fumble
on the Virginia 11-yard line.
Turman then rushed down to the
6-yard line before running
through Virginia's defense and
rolling into the end zone from six
yards out with 2:07 left in the
third quarter. It gave the
Gamecocks some breathing
room with a 17-7 lead
Even more impressive,
Turman only played in one
drive during the fourth quarter.
Ironically, it might have been
his most outstanding perfor
mance. Looking to put the game
away and run the clock at the
14:47 mark, Turman pounded
the ball six out of the next nine
plays. He took it four straight
times, moving the Gamecocks
from their own 37-yard line to
Virginia's 37-yard
line. He picked up
two first downs in
that stretch with a
pair of 12-yard gains.
The drive resulted in Finkins
slamming the ball into the end
zone for a touchdown, but
Turman played his role in the
marathon drive.
Although the running game as
a whole played well, the
Gamecocks were pleased to have
a strong runner such as Turman,
who wasn't highly recruited.
After breaking Herschel Walker's
high school rushing records in
Georgia, Holtz saw something
tough in Turman.
"I looked at him on film, and
he's not going to go 70 yards, but f
there's something about him,"
Holtz said. "You don't break
Herschel's records when you're
not getting a lot of big runs. That
means you're durable and you
fall forward on it."
Holtz also said how pleased he
was for his team playing un
selfishly. Turman fits right into
that mold and doesn’t think he
was responsible for the domina
tion he and his team displayed.
"I think I play unselfish,"
Turman said. "All the backs ran
well, and the offensive line played
great, and we're just giving them
the praise for the holes they gave
us."
Comments on this story?E-mail f
gamecocksports@hotmail.com
nlSC 31, VIRGINIA 7 ^
.
USC’s big plays and solid execution upset No. 15 Virginia
BY WES WOLFE
TDK (lAJIKCOCK
The USC football team surprised ev
eryone Saturday afternoon when they
dominated No. 15 Virginia 31-7.
The story of the day was the 99-yard
touchdown pass from Gamecock quar
terback Dondrial Pinkins to wide re
ceiver Troy Williamson. The offensive
line also dominated up front and pro
vided some running room the
Gamecocks, which led to 261 rushing
yards.
The long-pass play was the longest
play from scrimmage in the history of
Carolina football. The previous record
was set by a 97-yard pass from Todd
Ellis to Richard Brooks in a 1988 game
against East Carolina. The play also
tied a Southeastern Conference •
record, which was set by a pass from
Florida quarterback Chris
Collingsworth to Derrick Gaffney
against Rice in 1977.
USC improved to 2-0 on the year,
handing Virginia (1-1) its first lost of the
season.
"I'm so proud of this team and the way
they bounced back and the way they did
things," USC head coach Lou Holtz said.
Virginia head coach A1 Groh had an
understandably different reaction to the
game. "I was confident coming down
here that it would be a real tough fight,"
Groh said. "This was a very challeng
ing environment. Unfortunately, from
top to bottom, from head coach to some
one who didn't play much, we didn't do
well."
Although Turman's rushing perfor
mance helped the Gamecocks to a victo
ry, the highlight of the game was
Pinkins’ 99-yard pass to Williamson.
Backed up on the USC 1-yard line,
Pinkins threw a short pass to
Williamson who found the seam in the
Virginia secondary and broke away,
running untouched into the end zone.
Once Williamson had the catch, Pinkins
was confident of the result.
"When I saw the first safety stumble, I
knew he was going all the way,” Pinkins
said. "I think it gave us a lot of momen
tum. Troy made a great play and it
picked the offense up."
Pinkins was 9 for 24 passing for 162
yards, one touchdown and one intercep
tion. Pinkins also had good rushing num
bers to add to his passing statistics, rush
ing eight times for 43 yards and one
touchdown, averaging 5.4 yards a carry.
The Carolina defense played strong
for its second-straight game, allowing
one touchdown in its last eight quar
ters. Carolina had two interceptions,
with redshirt sophomore linebacker
Lance Laury picking off a Virginia
pass in the first quarter and senior
linebacker Jeremiah Garrison snag
ging another pass in the third
quarter.
Defensive back Ted Crawford led the
Gamecocks in tackles with a total of
nine. Defensive end Moe Thompson also
had an outstanding day, coming up with
two sacks, three forced fumbles and one
fumble recovery.
After the game, Thompson gave his
thoughts on the Gamecock's perfor
mance. "We just focused a lot more this
week," Thompson said. "We worked
hard to get ready for their offense. We
were tired of being known as the under
dogs.
"I really love playing the 4-3 defense. I
played it in high school, so it was easy
for me to adjust."
Holtz said he was happy with the way
the day ended, not only for his team but
for the 80,150 fans in attendance.
"I'm proud of our team, but I'm most jg
proud for our fans. Our fans can walk w
out of that stadium and feel good about
playing a nationally ranked team and
winning," Holtz said.
Comments on this story?E-mail
gamecocksports@hotmail.com
Volleyball falls to Michigan State, defeats UNC in Carolina Classic
BY BRAD SENKIW
THE (iAMEGOCK
The USC volleyball team se
cured its second win of the season
Sunday when it defeated the 17th
ranked North Carolina Tar Heels
in the Carolina Classic after los
ing to No. 25 Michigan State on
Friday. The Gamecocks (2-3)
fought off several UNC (2-2) rallies
to win 3-1, while Michigan State
(4-0) used a strong, powerful squad
to beat Carolina 3-1.
In the first match with the
Spartans, Carolina was out
killed 67 to 57 by a team with
three players over six feet tall.
Niece Curry led both teams with
15 kills while Shonda Cole fin
ished with 11. Iris Santos and
Nicole Miller recorded 12 digs
an,1 10 digs respectively.
Michigan State had five players
in double digits in kills, led by
Michelle Kopka’s 14.
After getting destroyed in the
first game 30-19, the Gamecocks
bounced back to win the second
game 30-14. The team recorded
22 kills while Michigan State
managed 14 in the game. USC
lost the third game 30-17 and tal
lied only seven kills before los
ing a close fourth game 30-28.
Carolina was behind most of the
game and couldn’t outlast the
physical Spartans.
USC head coach Kim Hudson
Christopher said she was glad her
team got a chance to play a tough
team.
“We saw some good things out
of our young kids,” Christopher
said. “It’s a collective effort, and
we’re going to have to get better
and that’s what we’re here to do.”
In Sunday’s match against
UNC, the Gamecocks were able to
avenge last season’s NCAA
Tournament loss to the Tar Heels
with a 3-1 victory. USC played
with more intensity and an en
thused crowd behind them. The
team had four players with more
than 10 kills, including Curry’s 14
and Sarah Morgan’s 11. Carolina
out blocked UNC 13-5 and had 10
serve aces.
“We grew a lot today just with
toughness,” Christopher said. “I
liked what I saw in Sarah Morgan
and Katelyn Panzau and Niece
Curry, just some real mental
toughness during key times.
Today was a very good match for
us as far as growing pains.”
The Gamecocks won the first
game 30-27 in a highly contested
match. After trailing 13-8 in game
two, UNC'Capitalized on several
Gamecock errors to rally and win
the game 30-25. USC dominated
game three with a 30-16 win and
pulled out the 30-27 victory over
North Carolina with the support
ive fans cheering them on. Curry
recorded the game-winning kill to
hand UNC its second-consecutive
defeat.
Morgan said that beating this
previously troublesome UNC team
helped this young squad.
“It’s big because we lost two
years in a row to them in the
NCAAs,” Morgan said. “It’s al
ways good to win in our gym and
our fans were awesome. I think
winning this one really helped our
confidence.”
Christopher was especially
pleased with the fundamentals
that Morgan showed over the
weekend. Morgan “stepped in
♦ VOLLEYBALL, SEEPAGE 9
PHOTO BY MARK SCHILLING/THE GAMECOCK
A y
Sarah Morgan attempts a kill over two Michigan State defenders.