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• _
USC rolls over hapless Blazers
BY WES WOLFE
THE GAMECOCK
Demetris Summers ran all
over the University of Alabama
at Birmingham (1-3) Saturday
night, scoring three touchdowns
in the first half as the Gamecocks
(3-1) blew out the Blazers at
Williams-Brice Stadium, 42-10 on
Saturday.
Summers scored on carries of
21,54 and 5 yards and finished
the game with 161 rushing yards
off of 21 carries.
“Demetris Summers really
makes a difference,” USC head
coach Lou Holtz said. “I thought
he had a tremendous game.”
UAB head coach Watson
Brown also was impressed with
the Gamecock running attack.
“South Carolina played well,”
Brown said. “Anytime they ran
it at us, they ran right at us pret
ty good. They looked good and
controlled the line of scrimmage,
especially in the first half.”
Carolina held UAB’s vaunted
sophomore quarterback Darrell
Hackney in check, limiting him
to 17-of-38 passing for 141 yards
and a pair of interceptions.
Hackney had passed for over 200
yards in each of UAB’s previous
games.
“They did everything we ex
pected. They were at the right
place at the right time. I blame
myself,” Hackney said.
USC also took advantage of a
Hackney interception when
- Gamecock defensive back Dunta
Robinson ran back a pick 29
yards for a touchdown.
“It was a great feeling to final
ly get my first interception of the
season and also to return it for a
touchdown to put points on the
board,” Robinson said.
The only bad spot in
Carolina’s play on Saturday was
the kicking game. USC missed
field goals from 40 yards and 28
yards, plus a botched extra-point
attempt in the second quarter.
However, the Gamecocks made
up for the missed extra point
with a two-point conversion by
Dondrial Pinkins following the
next touchdown.
Pinkins led Carolina with
ease, throwing 13-of-19 passes for
202 yards and one turnover.
“I thought Dondrial bounced
back with exception of one in
terception,” Holtz said. “I was
proud of our football team.”
Pinkins, however, gave the
credit to his supporting cast. “All
the credit should go to the offen
sive line, the running backs, the
receivers — everybody else
played well. I don’t think I played
as well as I needed to play.
Without those guys, it probably
wouldn’t have been as good as it
was,” Pinkins said.
USC’s corps of receivers were
on the end of Pinkins’ success
with Daccus Turman catching
three passes for 59 yards and
tight end Hart Turner grabbing
three passes for 23. yards, wide
receiver Troy Williamson catch
ing two passes for 34 yards and
wide receiver Matthew Thomas
snagging three passes for 55
yards.
Turman added to the rushing
game with 13 carries for 45 yards
and one touchdown.
The UAB offense, on the oth
er hand, was inept at best. The
Blazers’ only solace came on a
touchdown pass from Hackney
to UAB wide receiver Jhun Cook
with five seconds left on the clock
and the game far out of reach.
“I thought that our offense
just took control of the game ear
• ly,” Holtz said. “I credit UAB.
They never gave up.”
The USC defense made life
hard for UAB, with three tack
les-for-loss, three forced fumbles,"
two interceptions, three pass
break-ups and three quarterback
hurries.
“I think that (Darrell)
Shropshire is playing really well,
but boy, we’re really thin there
now. So we’ll just have to see,”
Holtz said.
The Gamecocks did suffer a
let down with two players going
down with injuries. Defensive
lineman Preston Thorne is lost
for the season after tearing the ,
ACL in his right knee. Offensive
lineman Chad Walker, who re
ceived his first start of the sea
son on Saturday, went down af
ter dislocating his knee and pos
sibly tearing ligaments, which
could cost him his season as
well.
USC’s next game is Sept. 27 in
Knoxville, Tenn. against the No.
8 Tennessee Volunteers, who
knocked off No. 25 Florida 24-10
on Saturday. The Vols game
against USC will be televised on
ESPN at 7:45 p.m.
Comments on this story?E-mail
gamecocksports@hotmail.com
USC's Demetris Summers breaks a tackle attempt by an UAB defender in Saturday’s 42-10 romp over the Blazers. Summers
finished the game with 21 carries for 161 yards and three touchdowns for the Gamecocks.
GAME 4
m UAB 10
™ (1-3,0-1CUSA)
K: USC 42
(3-1,0-1 SEC) **
“Demetris Summers
really makes a
difference. I
thought he had a '
tremendous game.”
LOU HOLTZ '
USC HEAD COACH
BY THE NUMBERS
74
Matthew Thomas’ 74-yard
kickoff,return in the third quarter
was the longest kickoff return by
a Gamecock this season and
USC’s longest nonscoring return
since an 87-yard run in 1995.
161
Demetris Summers ran for 161
yards on 21 carries, the third
highest single game rushing total
by a Carolina freshman. Brandon
Bennett holds the record with a
278-yard effort in 1991.
202
Dondrial Pinkins threw for 202
yards against UAB on Saturday,
marking the first time Pinkins
has surpassed 200 yards in his
career at USC. His second-best
came against UL-Lafayette when
he passed for 185 yards.
Summers proves to be big difference in Carolina’s offense
BY BRAD SENKIW
THE GAMECOCK
ith the Gamecocks struggling to find a
passing game and big plays this season,
the team might have found its secret
weapon, which isn’t a secret anymore.
USC head coach Lou Holtz said that the only
highlight against Georgia last week was that the
game made his coaching staff take a serious look
at freshman running back Demetris Summers.
“We just felt that at the end of Georgia, he caught
that screen pass and just made some things hap
pen,” Holtz said. “At the staff meeting this morn
ing (Saturday morning) when I watched the offen
sive film, I didn’t think Demetris had gotten enough
reps.”
Offensive coordinator Skip Holtz used the two
back system, something Gamecock fans were fa
miliar with a few years ago when Derek Watson
and Andrew Pinnock lined up in that set. On
Saturday, Skip Holtz went with Daccus Turman as
fullback and gave Summers the chance to be the
featured back.
So what did Summers decide to
do with the opportunity to get more
touches? The Lexington native took
the ball for 161 yards on 21 carries,
including three touchdowns in the
first half. He tied the school record
for touchdowns by a freshman in a
single game with Harold Green,
Brandon Bennett and Zola Davis. _
Summers got the ball early and ummers
often, finding holes in the Blazer de-'
fense and blasting his way for 110 yards on eight
rushing attempts in the first quarter. He even
scored on the first drive of the game when Carolina
got down to the Blazers’ 21-yard line.
Summers took a handoff and quickly cut up the
field to the right, where he ran through a couple of
hand tackles and walked into the end zone for his
first rushing touchdown of his career and his sec
ond of the season.
It didn’t take USC very long to score again when,
two drives later, Summers took the ball from USC’s
own 46-yard line to the UAB end zone on a 54-yard
run that showed the excellent vision of the young
running back.
“He just has good eyes,” Holtz said. “He’s got good
peripheral vision and he also ran physical when he
was in traffic. I thought he did a nice job of falling
forward.”
Wide receivers Troy Williamson and Matthew
Thomas provided the blocks and Summers just
found the holes.
“I just waited patiently and when the holes
opened up, I just got what I could get,” Summers
said.
Summers got a break in the second quarter, car
rying the ball only four times for 12 yards, but saw
his third touchdown on a 5-yard run that was set
up by a 47-yard pass from quarterback Dondrial
Pinkins to Turman.
In the second half, Summers was used very lit
tle with such a big lead but did catch a 20-yard pass
in the fourth quarter.
Being such a highly touted freshman coming out
of high school, Summers has shown maturity to the |
coaches and has waited his turn to showcase his
► SUMMERS, SEE PAGE 11
,<ss wo victoriesin
BY WES WOLFE
AND BRAD SENKIW
THK (iAMBCOCK
The USC volleyball team (6-6)
wrapped up its nonconference
play at the Gamecock
Invitational this weekend, win
ning two of its three matches.
Carolina lost to 17th-ranked
Santa Clara in the first match 3-2
on Thursday but bounced back
with a sweep on Friday over
Duke, 3-0, and a tight 3-2 victory
over George Washington on
Saturday.
Santa Clara 3, USC 2
On Thursday, the Gamecocks
dropped a close match to the
Broncos (8-4) after it seemed that
Santa Clara was going to run away
With an easy win. The visiting
“if we can just stay in
our system and keep our
unforced errors down, i
think we’ve got a good
future a head of us.”
KIM HUDSON CHRISTOPHER
USC VOLLEYBALL HEAD COACH
Broncos went up early on
Carolina, winning the first two
games 32-30 and 30-25.
With USC facing a loss, the
Gamecocks responded with a 30
12 thrashing over Santa Clara in
the third game with a .478 hitting
percentage. USC found a way to
pull out the fourth game 30-25,
forcing the Broncos into 12 errors
for the game. Carolina ran out of
steam after an amazing comeback
and lost the final game 15-12, giv
ing USC its fourth loss of the sea
son against ranked opponents.
Lauren Ford recorded a career
high 17 kills as the team picked up
a season-high of 17 blocks as well.
Ford, Niece Curry and Lynae
Vanden Hull posted seven blocks
each and Shonda Cole added 10
kills in the match.
USC 3, Duke 0
The Gamecocks had its first
sweep of the season on Friday with
a dominating performance over
the Duke Blue Devils (4-8). Vanden
Hull, Curry and Iris Santos each
recorded 11 kills as they faced a
tired Duke team that lost to Santa
Clara earlier in the day. Lauren
Ford added nine kills and four
blocks for USC. Krista Dill led
Duke with 12 kills in the loss.
♦ INVITATIONAL, SEE PAGE 11
PHOTO BY MARK SCHILLING/THE GAMECOCK
USC’s Lynae Vanden Hull and Lauren Ford go for a block In a match during the Gamecock
Invitational. The Gamecocks lost to No. 17 Santa Clara (jut beat Duke and George Washington':