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THE GAMECOCK ♦ Friday, October 31, 2003 7 y^v "l V m GAME SCHEDULE rniMTAPT IT's! Lf I 1 I J ' I ' MEN’S AND WOMEN’S SWIMMING vs. Virginia, 3 p.m. Friday UUli L1A\J 1 UO I I I I “V I . MEN'S SOCCER vs-Davidson, 7 p.m. Friday Story ideas? Questions? Comments? I \ I L 1 ™^Tn^lE^B^!'L«a,tAuburn’8 PtF E-mail us at gamecocksports@hotmail.com _JL_ B —B— rV—/ FOOTBALL at Ole Miss, 12:30 p.m. Saturday USC looks to run past the Rebels * * °L USC at Ole Miss 12:30 p.m. Saturday Oxford, Miss. TV: Jefferson-Pilot Sports BY JONATHAN HILLYARD THE (iAMEGOCK The USC football team (5-3,2-3 SEC) looks to become bowl-eligible this Saturday against the Ole Miss Rebels (5-2,4-0). USC faces its fifth ranked opponent of the year in the No. 20 Rebels. This is Ole Miss’ first showing this season in the AP poll. “Their team probably has more momentum in this conference than any other,” USC head coach •bu Holtz said. “They are playing ery well in all areas. I don’t think anybody wants to go to Oxford and play them right now.” Ole Miss head coach David Cutcliffe’s squad has been hot as of late, winning four in a row, and is looking to match its longest win streak since 2001. The Rebels are 4-0 in conference play for the first time since 1970 and are atop the SEC’s Western division. Ole Miss is nationally known for its passing game, led by senior quarterback Eli Manning. Manning leads the SEC in passing yards per game, completions, touchdown passes, pass efficiency and total offense. As a team, the Rebels lead the SEC in scoring and total offense. The unit is amazingly efficient as well, scoring on 50.5 percent of its possessions, an SEC best. The Gamecocks, No. 3 in the SEC in pass defense against, have their work cut out for them. “We have to get inside pressure from our line,” USC defensive co ordinator Chris Cosh said. “We need to be able to pressure, yet also contain, the opposing quar terback.” The aspect that separates this Ole Miss offense from previous years is its ability to run the ball. The Rebel rushers, led by senior Tremaine Turner, are the fourth ranked rushing unit in the con ference, with 1,366 yards through eight games. This statistic already tops last season’s ending mark of 1,226 yards. The Gamecock defense has al lowed 938 yards of total offense in the last two games and will need to step up in Oxford, Miss. If history is any indication, USC might try to shut down the run and make Manning beat it through the air. Manning is 7-10 when attempting more than 35 passes in a game. Defensive ends George Gause and Moe Thompson need to have big games pressuring the quar terback and keeping Ole Miss out of the red zone. The Rebels are 92.7 percent in red zone scoring. The opening possession will also be a sign of how the day might turn out because Ole Miss has scored on six of its eight opening possessions. USC’s offense also has more of a challenge than it would in the past against the Rebel defense. Ole Miss ranks third in the SEC in rushing defense and has allowed an average of 204.5 yards through the air during the past four games. Last week the Rebel defense held SEC rushing leader Arkansas to 82 yards rushing, 143 yards below the Razorbacks’ average. A big key for the USC offense this week is getting off to a good start. Ole Miss has allowed only one score on opponents’ opening posses sions this season. However, Manning is 6-7 when trailing at halftime and 4-8 when trailing af ter three quarters. USC quarterback Dondrial Pinkins is suffering from a sore shoulder, but expects to start. The game will be played at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium in Oxford at 12:30 p.m. Saturday. Jefferson-Pilot Sports will air the game throughout the Southeast. Comments on this story?E-mail gamecocksports@hotmail.com Daccus Turman, who leads the Gamecocks with six rushing touchdowns, looks to lead USC on the road at Ole Miss on Saturday at 12:30 p.m. Men’s soccer to play Davidson PHOTO BY JOHNNY HAYNES/THE GAMECOCK The Wildcats will take on USC tonight at 7 p,m. at Stone Stadium. BY BRAD SENKIW THE GAMECOCK The USC men’s soccer team hopes to make it a scary visit for the Davidson Wildcats (10-4-2,5 1-0 Southern Conference) at the Graveyard tonight. The Gamecocks (8-5-1) are looking for a win to boost them toward the NCAA Tournament. With only four games re maining this season, USC head coach Mark Berson knows how important a home win would be on Halloween. “I think we need to get back on track here,” Berson said. “This stretch will define our sea son with the success that we’ve won games or not won games.” Carolina has had 11 days off to prepare for Davidson, an edge Berson hopes his team will take advantage of. “I think it was good for us to get a rest,” Berson said. “We’ve had a few guys that had some wear and tear at this point in the season. I think we’ve come back for a good week of preparation for Davidson.” It’s been an interesting stretch for the Gamecocks, who started 7-0 before dropping its next five games. Carolina bounced back to knock off Charlotte 1-0 and four days later had a scoreless tie with Furman. Davidson comes into the match also having faced Furman their last time out as the Wildcats held off the Paladins 1 0 at Davidson. The team also faced then No. 3 UNC on Oct. 15 and lost at home 1-0 to a tough Tar Heel squad. North Carolina got a goal just 27:25 into the game, as the Wildcats couldn’t find a way to get on the board. Forward Jeff Davis has been dominating for Davidson with his team-leading seven goals and four assists. Goalkeeper Bart Creasman has kept opponents in check by giving up 11 goals in 15 games this season and recording 54 saves. The Wildcats pride them selves on being a solid defensive team, and Berson said they are a team that has few weaknesses. “They have a lot of confidence and are the type of team that is really solid all over the field,” Berson said. “If you make a mis take, they are very opportunis tic and capitalize on those things.” The Davidson match with Carolina is the first of three cru cial home contests in which College of Charleston and North Carolina will come visit. The Gamecocks lost to all three of those teams at this point last sea son. Berson said his team must look to reverse that skid this sea son if it is to challenge for the ul timate goal. “Our goal is to win the na tional championship, but you’ve got to get to the NCAA Tournament first,” Berson said. Tonight’s game is scheduled for a 7 p.m. start at Stone Stadium. Comments on this story?E-mail gamecocksports@Jiotmail.com BRIEFLY Women’s soccer to face No. 10 Florida The USC women’s soccer team (10-6-3,3-3-2 SEC) will close out its season Saturday against . No. 10 Florida (13-3-1,5-2-1 SEC) in Gainesville, Fla. The Gators are coming into this weekend’s game ranked at their lowest position so far this season. Florida was ranked as high as fifth in the nation on Sept. 22. However, Florida had a hard time in Mississippi last week end, losing its second conference game of the year to Mississippi State on Oct. 24 and going to two overtimes to put away Ole Miss on Oct. 26. 4 USC will look to score first on Florida because the Gators a're 11-0 this season when scoring first in a game. To counter the Florida attack, Carolina will bring star goal keeper Elise Matthews. Matthews was named to the Soccer America Team of the Week and SEC Defensive Elayer of the Week for her performance last week, which included 18 saves against Ole Miss. Carolina takes on Florida at noon on Saturday. USC swimming, diving to compete The USC men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams (both 1-1) take on Virginia today and are looking for their second wins of the season. In action this past week, the USC women’s team placed fifth of six teams in the Southern Methodist University Classic. At SMU, junior Holly Hodges won Most Outstanding Diver honors. The men last competed in a loss at Clemson, in which Istvan Bathazi won three evens, in cluding the 1,000-meter freestyle, 200-meter individual medley and 200-meter breaststroke. The USC-Virginia meet will be at 3 p.m. at the Carolina Natatorium. Women’s tennis to hold tournament The USC women’s tennis team will play host to the Southern Intercollegiate Tennis Tournament, starting today. The tournament field will in clude players from 15 schools, in cluding Appalachian State, Armstrong Atlantic State, Charleston Southern, Clayton College, East Tennessee State, Furman, Georgia State, Georgia Tech, Presbyterian College, South Carolina State, UNC-Charlotte, UNC Wilmington, Western Carolina and Wofford. The tournament will be played at the Maxcy Gregg Tennis Courts on Blossom Street; the Sam Daniels Tennis Courts, next to the baseball sta dium; and the Columbia Tennis Center on Pickens Street. The matches will begin tonight at 8 p.m. i SPORTS CHALLENGE i : THE CHALLENGE: Brad Wes Charles Adam Mary Dimitri ; The Gamecock’s readers and Senkiw Wolfe Tomlinson Beam Waters NaJIm ’ staff test their sports knowledge Sports Asst. Sports Editor in Managing Slot Copy Reader of with predictions of the Editor Editor Chief Editor Editor the Week weekend’s games. (Rankings (53-37) (52-38) (54-36) (62-28) (58-32) (48-40) are from The Associated Press.) Arkansas at Kentucky Arkansas Arkansas Kentucky Kentucky Arkansas Arkansas Virginia at N.C, State N.C. State N.C. State Virginia N.C. State Virginia_N.C. State 12 Nebraska at 16 Texas Nebraska Nebraska Nebraska Texas Texas _Texas 11 Michigan at 9 Mich. St Michigan Mich. State Michigan Michigan Mich. State Mich. State Washington St at 3 So. Cal. So. Cal. So. Cal.So. Cal. So. Cal. So. Cal. So. Cal. ^rMiami at 10 Virginia Tech Va.Tech Miami Miami Miami Miami Va. Tech 14 Okla. Si. at 1 Oklahoma Oklahoma_Oklahoma Oklahoma Oklahoma Okla. State Oklahoma .4 Georgia at 23 Florida Georgia Georgia Georgia Georgia Georgia_Georgia Clemson at Wake ForestClemson WakeClemson Wake Wake_Wake USC at 20 Ole Miss Ole Miss Ole Miss Ole Miss USC USC USC 31-17 35-17 29-13 42-35 21-7 21-20 SPORTS CHALLENGE’S NINTH-WEEK OUTLOOK: Managing Editor Adam Beam had a fluke week and went 10-0, beating all challengers. Editor in Chief Charles Tomlinson, page designer Staci Jordan and reader Matt Hammond all came in at 8-2. Sports Editor Brad Senkiw surpassed assistant Wes Wolfe this week with a 7-3 outing. With the Sports Challenge coming down the stretch, Beam is looking to run away with the title while everyone else will have to battle for second place. Be sure to get your picks in next week by Thursday at 2 p.m. WAIVTTO BE READER OF THE WEEK? E-mail your selections next week to gamecocksports@hotmail.com. If you're picked and have the^est record, you’ll win si free Gamecock T-shirt and be able to talk all the trash you want. Volleyball hopes to get back on track against Alabama, Auburn BY WES WOLFE THE GAMECOCK The USC volleyball team (10-12, 4- 6 SEC) returns to action this weekend when it travels to the Heart of Dixie to face the Auburn Tigers (10-12, 1-9 SEC) and the Crimson Tide of Alabama (11-11, 5- 5 SEC). Auburn is coming off its first SEC win in almost three years af ter beating Mississippi State 3-2 on Sunday. Before that point, the Tigers had dropped 42 consecutive conference matches. Auburn last won an SEC game on Nov. 5,2000, against LSU. “A lot of people have been talk ing about the streak and it finally being over,” Auburn head coach Laura Farina said. “Itireally wasn’t on our minds much, but it’s good to win. We gave great ef fort. We knew it was just a mat ter of time before ending the streak.” The main threat from Auburn comes from its senior outside hit ter, Ashlee Johns. Johns leads her team in kills this season and is sec ond in hitting. Auburn’s defensive attack comes from middle blocker Julie Bosler, who leads the team in blocks with 71. Last season, Carolina beat Auburn twice, once in September and once in October. USC won the first match at home 3-0 and also won at Auburn 3-0. After taking on Auburn, USC travels to Tuscaloosa, Ala., to play Alabama. The Crimson Tide is in the middle of a six-match home stand and has won its past tjpree matches, which were against South Alabama, Ole Miss and Mississippi State. The Crimson Tide beat USC last year 3-0 to advance in the SEC Tournament but lost to Arkansas in the next round. Alabama’s win tied the overall series, which now stands at 11-11. and broke Carolina’s four-match win streak over Alabama. Alabama will be coming at USC with outside hitter Erin Heffner, who was named SEC Volleyball Player of the Week for her play in the three wins last week. Heffner had 65 kills and a .453 hitting a verage covering the three matches. Auburn will entertain USC at 8 p.m., and the Gamecocks will take on Alabama at 2:30 p.m. Sunday. --— Comments on this story?E-mail gamecocksports@hotmail.com