The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, November 17, 2003, Page 8, Image 8
S THE GAMECOCK ♦ Monday, November 17, 2003 q \ME SCHEDUI E
■ "V ■- ’V 7 11 / Ni MEN’S BASKETBALL vs. Gardner-Webb, 8 p.m. Monday
vs. Elon or Idaho, Tuesday
CONTACT IIS I_I U I vs. Navy, 8 p.m. Friday
uuninui ukj | | ■ | ^ WOMEN’S BASKETBALL at Clemson, 8:30 p.m. Friday
Story ideas? Questions? Comments? I V F B B 111 VOLLEYBALL vs. Alabama in SEC Tournament, 6 p.m. Friday
E-mailusatgamecocksports@kotmail.com _JL m m FOOTBALL vs. Clemson, 7 p.m. Saturday
USC suffers another Gator bite
GAME 11
©Florida 0A
(8-3,6-2 SEC)
fBt use
(5-6,2-6 SEC)
SOUND BITE
“You have to not be
afraid to lose; you
have to reach out and
take chances,
gambles, weigh the
odds and go with that.”
LOU HOLTZ
use HEAD COACH
BY THE NUMBERS
122
Daccus Turman rushed for 122
yards on 18 carries, just one yard
shy of his career-best 123 yards,
which he picked up against
Virginia earlier this season. Cory
Boyd added 43 yards.
73
Chavez Donnings returned a
punt 73 yards at the end of the
first half. The longest Gamecock
return belongs to Dick Harris,
who scored on a 77-yard return
in 1971.
6
Florida and USC combined to
fumble the football six times.
The Gators lost two of their three
fumbles while the Gamecocks
gave up only one of their three.
BY WES WOLFE
THE CAMECOCK
The USC football team had to
play a flawless game to defeat
Florida, but a botched fake punt
attempt and a key fumble gave the
Gators a 24-22 victory Saturday at
Williams-Brice Stadium.
“Teams have to learn how to
win,” USC head coach Lou Holtz
said. “You have to not be afraid to
lose; you have to reach out and
take chances, gambles, weigh the
odds and go with that. We’ve got
to learn how to
_ i-=-1 win.”
■ Carolina’s of
fense, when it ran,
ran with the legs of
running back
Daccus Turman,
who had 20 carries
for 122 yards in the
Boyd game. Also, Cory
Boyd finished with
15 carries for 43
yards and one touchdown.
The running game was anoth
er key to Florida’s offensive at
tack. Running back Ciatrick
Fason ran the ball 20 times for 190
yards, while DeShawn Wynn had
41 yards on nine carries and one
touchdown.
“Six to eight weeks ago, we
might not have won this game,”
Florida head coach Ron Zook
said. “We played a very good
team today. South Carolina had
a great plan, and Coach Holtz def
initely had his team prepared to
play.”
Carolina (5-6, 2-6 SEC) came
into the game for the third time
this year needing one more win to
become bowl-eligible. Early in the
game, it seemed like that win was
possible.
Carolina got the ball first but
punted and pinned Florida (8-3,6-2
SEC) on its own 8-yard line. On
Florida’s third play from scrim
mage. defensive end George Gause
sacked Florida quarterback Chris
^ PHOTO BY JOHNNY HAYNES/THE GAMECOCK
USC’s George Gause tackles Florida’s Ciatrlck Fason in USC’s 24-22 loss to Florida on Saturday.
Leak in the end zone for a safety.
A run by Turman for 25 yards
set up USC on the next series, and
Boyd punched the ball into the
end zone. Following the next
point, Carolina led the Gators 9-0.
The Gamecocks caught a break
on their next defensive series
when Wynn fumbled the ball,
which was then recovered by
linebacker Marcus Lawrence on
the Carolina 19-yard line.
Carolina punted on its next pos
session, sticking Florida on its
own 10-yard line. The Gators man
aged to put their offense together
with runs of 20 and 30 yards by
Fason, who put Florida close to the
end zone. Leak ran the ball in, and
Florida cut Carolina’s lead to two
points.
Just before the half ended, wide
receiver Chavez Donnings ran
back a Florida punt for a touch
down and put Carolina up 16-7 as
time expired.
The third quarter proved to be
the Gamecocks’ undoing. In the
first drive following the half,
Fason broke a 40-yard run and set
up a touchdown pass to tight end
Ben Troupe, which brought UF
back within two points.
Turman scampered for 24 yards
on USC’s next possession, but
Carolina was forced to punt, and
Florida punted on their next pos
session as well.
After the Gamecocks still
couldn’t get a drive together, USC
ran a fake punt that did not make
the first down and Florida took
over at the Gamecocks’ 21.
Carolina held the Gators to a field
goal, and Florida took the lead
17-16.
USC returned the ball to
Florida when a fumble by
Williamson on the USC 10-yard
line gave the Gators a chance to
score again, which they did and
put the lead to 24-16.
When Carolina got the ball
again, the offense put together an
admirable drive to give the
Gamecocks a chance to tie, 24-22,
before the extra-point try. USC
went for two, but the run by quar
terback Dondrial Pinkins was
stopped short of the goal line.
Pinkins finished the day 13-of-24
for 137 yards passing and 34 yards
rushine.
Carolina could not penetrate
the Florida 40-yard line in its last
significant drive of the game.
Free safety Taqiy Muhammad
still had a positive attitude after
the loss, though.
“We didn’t fold out there today,
and I am proud of our team,”
Muhammad said. “By the end of
the night, we just have to let this
go and get ready for Clemson. I re
ally don’t want to be sitting at
home for Christmas break.”
USC will try once again to be
come bowl-eligible when it plays
in-state rival Clemson at 7 p.m.
Saturday at Williams-Brice
Stadium. The game will be broad
cast nationally on ESPN2.
Comments on this story?E-mail
gamecocksports@hotmail.com
Men’s basketball to open season with Bulldogs
BY JOEL WALLACE
THE GAMECOCK
Dawn breaks Monday on the
USC men’s basketball team’s new
season, and the first team sched
uled to hear the Gamecocks crow
is Gardner-Webb.
The Gamecocks are coming off
an 81-62 win in an exhibition game
against the Lithuanian club team
Inter Hoop last Thursday. Five
Gamecocks scored in double fig
ures as USC extended its exhibi
tion game winning streak to 12.
Inter Hoop came into the game
having lost 85-76 to Missouri last
Monday.
“We had good improvement on
defense, and it was very intense,”
USC head coach Dave Odom said.
“We had great leadership out on
the court at all times, and it was a
really good performance by the
team. Inter Hoop shot the ball re
ally well against Missouri, and
they were ranked fifth in the coun
try, so we did a good job.”
The Gardner-Webb Runnin’
Bulldogs won two exhibition
games last Week in preparation for
their regular-season opener
against Carolina. The Bulldogs
looked impressive, scoring over
90 points in both of their games de
spite playing without starting cen
ter Tim Behrendorff, who will
miss the first eight games of the
season.
The Bulldogs return 10 players
from last year’s squad, including
point guard Andre Manning, an
Atlantic Sun Conference All
Freshman Team member in 2002
2003. Also, incoming freshman
Matt Pait looks as if he will get
some playing time. Pait was a first
team All-State selection in Indiana
last season, boasts a 41-inch verti
cal leap and averaged 18.1 points
per game as a senior.
If the Gamecocks beat Gardner
Webb on Monday, they will face
the winner of the Elon-Idaho
game.
Elon is entering its inaugural
campaign in the Southern
Conference with a new head coach
and former USC assistant, Ernie
Nestor. The Phoenix return eight
lettermen, including three
starters, from last year’s Big South
Conference runner-up team. Elon
will rely on returning starters
Steven Harvin and Big South All
Freshman selections Scottie Rice
and Rasmi Gamble.
“It’s a very challenging, de
manding schedule for our basket
ball team,” Nestor said. “We have
a tremendous 16-game league
schedule as well as some very
powerful nonconference oppo
nents. We’re very excited about
the opportunities that lie ahead.
We wanted to challenge our play
ers with our schedule, and I’m cer
tain that we’ve done that.”
Idaho is hoping this year’s team
will have an easier time putting
the ball in the basket, something
the Vandals are known to have
trouble with at times.
“I hope you see a team that
doesn’t struggle to score as much
as we have the last two seasons,”
Idaho head coach Leonard Perry
said. “That’s the one area I hope
we’ve improved. I do feel we have
more talent than we have in the
last two years.”
If the Gamecocks win their first
two games in the Guardians
Classic, they will travel to Kansas
City, Mo., for the semifinals next
Monday. The opening round of the
Guardian’s Classic against
Gardner-Webb is set to start at 8
p.m. at the Colonial Center.
Comments on this story?E-mail
gamecockudesk@hotmail.com
Rivalry can cause
coaching changes
BY PETE IACOBELLI
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
CLEMSON — Is this the last go
round for Bowden vs. Holtz?
About every five years, the
talk of the Clemson-South
Carolina game seems more
about the coaches’ future than
this season-ending rivalry.
That’s the case this year, too.
Although it’s just as likely both
Tigers coach Tommy Bowden
and Gamecocks coach Lou Holtz
will patrol their sidelines next
year as them leaving.
That hasn’t always been the
case — and not by the coaches’
choice.
In 1993, Clemson’s Ken
Hatfield and South Carolina’s
Sparky Woods both coached
their final games at their schools
in the Tigers 16-13 victory at
Williams-Brice Stadium. Five
years later, their replacements
— the Tigers’ Tommy West and
the Gamecocks’ Brad Scott —
were gone before kickoff at
Death Valley and a 28-19 win for
Clemson, although Scott’s fate
wasn’t officially known until the
following week.
Now, with Bowden’s status up
to his administrators and a new
Internet site — www.firelou
holtz.com — taking Holtz’s
tenure to task, the future of then
yearly battle doesn’t look as rosy
as it did a few years ago.
You’d figure that Bowden’s
job, shaky after poor losses to
Georgia (30-0) and Wake Forest
(45-17), would be more solid after
the Tigers (7-4) posted their first
win over Florida State since the
Danny Ford era, then followed
Saturday with a knee-cracking
40-7 win over Duke.
South Carolina’s largest news
paper, The State of Columbia,
ran nearly a full page on the
question, “Tommy Bowden,
Should He Stay Or Should He
Go?”
Thirteen of the 15 printed let
ters supported Bowden.
But Bowden, who has won
three of his four meetings with
Holtz, hasn’t heard one word
about next year from athletic di
rector Terry Don Phillips. “I just
assume eventually they’re going
to let me know something,”
Bowden said Sunday.
Phillips says he’ll evaluate the
program with Bowden after the
regular season.
♦ COACH.NG, SEE PAGE 9
PHOTO BY MARK SCHILLING/THE GAMECOCK
USC's Katelyn Panzau became the fifth Gamecock to pick up
1,000 assists in a freshman year on Nov. 14 against Florida.
Volleyball loses
to Florida, UGA
BY JIM ROCHE
the gamecock
The USC volleyball team (12-16,
6-10 SEC) came into this weekend
looking to upset No. 3 Florida and
powerhouse Georgia to get ready
for the SEC Tournament. But it
was the Gators (27-1,15-0) and
Bulldogs (17-12,10-6) who would
get the last laugh as the
Gamecocks dropped their final
two home matches of the season.
Carolina lost a 3-0 game at the
hands of Florida Friday night, de
spite Shonda Cole’s 12 kills and
USC’s seven team blocks.
USC’s freshmen setter Katelyn
Panzau recorded 32 assists and be
came the fifth freshmen in
Gamecock history to record 1,000
assists in a single season as a
freshman.
Florida’s senior Aury Cruz had
22 kills as the Gators won the
three games 30-23,30-25 and 30-17.
In game one, USC kept the
game close, as there were nine tied
scores and four lead changes. Cole
had five kills but was matched by
Florida’s Cruz with five kills as
well, and the Gators took the game
30-23.
Game two saw more of the
matchup between Cole and Cruz
as Cole posted six kills to Cruz’s
10 kills, but Florida edged the
Gamecocks 30-25 despite USC hav
ing their best hitting percentage
yet at .238.
In game three, Panzau posted
her record-setting 1,000th assist of
the season, but it was the Gators
who enjoyed the most glory by
running away with the game, hit
ting five straight aces in a row to
win game three 30-17 and the
match 3-0.
“This is the hardest I’ve seen
this team play all year,” USC
head coach Kim Hudson
Christopher said. “Florida has a
great program, but their offense
is centered mostly around senior
Aury Cruz.”
The Gamecocks dropped their
second straight match of the week
end to the Georgia Bulldogs 3-1 in
the Gamecocks annual Senior Day
contest to close out the end of the
regular season. USC’s Sarah
Morgan led the team with 18 kills
in the loss.
USC started out the first game
♦ VOLLEYBALL, SEE PAGE 9