Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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GAME SCHEDULE Paffe 9 Men’s soccer vs. William and Mary, 7 p.m. tonight , , _ . Women’s soccer vs. Houston, 7 p.m. Friday Wednesday, September 1, 2004 Volleyball at Wake Forest, 7 p.m. Friday THIS ISSUE: OFFENSIVE LINE COUNTDOWN TO KICKOFF: 3 DAYS Trench Warfare USCVandy linemen to play pivotal role this weekend in opening game of the season KATIE KIRKLAND/THE GAMECOCK The Carolina offensive line goes through drills in a practice during preseason camp. Led by preseason All-SEC center candidate John Strickland, the unit should be a bright spot in the 2004 season. By STEPHEN DEMEDIS THE GAMECOCK While much attention has been paid to the match-ups at the skill positions entering the season opener between USC and Vanderbilt, the game could be won and lost in the trenches. This means that the offensive line will play a pivotal role for both teams in Saturday’s game. Carolina’s line has the potential to be a very solid unit, but because of inexperience and position shuffling, it will not be its strongest in terms of depth. The bookends of the USC line are tackles Jabari Levey and Na’shan Goddard. Levey is a junior who will switch to guard occasionally. After a breakout year and a solid spring, he is considered to be one of the better linemen in the conference. Goddard, a junior i from Dayton, Ohio, can also bounce around the line, but is a superior tackle. Inside, the line is anchored by senior Jonathan Alston. The 6 foot-5-inch guard has battled an ankle injury this summer but should be ready to go in time for Saturday’s game. His counterpart is the most inexperienced member of the line. Sophomore Chris White was listed as the backup for the guard position in the spring, but has earned his way into the starting lineup with solid performances recently. The center position is another solid spot on the starting line as All SEC candidate John Strickland returns for his fourth season. The line will have to overcome the absence of Travelle Wharton, who was drafted in the third round by the Carolina Panthers. Wharton was a brick wall protecting the blind side of quarterback Dondrial Pinkins. However, the team will once again benefit from protecting a mobile quarterback who can avoid the rush. Another upside for the Gamecocks is that for the first time this fall, nearly everyone on the line, and the team for that matter, is healthy. When asked about the offensive line, head coach Lou Holtz said, “They are coming along. We are getting more depth there,” showing that the unit is improving, but not yet at its potential. Gamecock Grade: B Vanderbilt’s unit is an experienced one. The Commodores return six linemen with starting experience from a 2 10 team, including four of their five starters. The unit members communicate with each other very well and are very familiar with the blocking schemes. The line is anchored at left tackle by team captain Justin Geisinger. The four-year starter is a giant of a man at 330 pounds and holds the school bench pressing record at more than 600 pounds. Geisinger was named to the All-SEC team last year after surrendering just one sack. The • Commodores look to their senior tackle not just for pass protection, but also run blocking as Geisinger is the team’s best when it comes to clearing a hole for the running backs. The Commodores look to Brian Stamper to hold down the other side of the line. Stamper is a talented sophomore who was named to the All-SEC Freshmen team after taking over as starter. Stamper won the starting role coming into this season after a solid spring game. The two tackles will have their hands full with Carolina defensive ends George Gause and Moe Thompson. Inside, junior Mac Pyle and senior Brian Kovolisky start at the guard positions. Both are returning as starters, and Pyle is said to be one of the most improved players on the roster after spring practices. Center is the team’s one concern as the expected starter opted to embark on a Mormon mission for two years. In his place will be the one inexperienced lineman to start, junior Trey Holloway. Once the weakest area of depth on the team, the line benefited from a strong recruiting class and is now two-deep at every position. Overall, South Carolina knows how talented its opponent’s offensive line is. “I am really impressed with their offensive line,” Holtz said. “The last couple of years, they have out gained us on the ground.” In the 2003 game, Carolina registered two sacks and did not yield one to the Commodores’ pass rush. Gamecock Grade: B+ Commmts on this story? E-mail gamecocksports@gwm.sc.edu Men’s soccer to kick off against Tribe By TERENCE WASHINGTON THE GAMECOCK The USC men’s soccer team opens its season against the College of William and Mary Tribe today. The Gamecocks were left with a 0-0 tie against eighth ranked Virginia in an exhibition game Thursday. Carolina returns nine players from last year’s team, including sophomore goalkeeper Brad Guzan, a second-team preseason All-America pick. Guzan played every minute of every game and contributed eight shutouts to Carolina’s 9-7-2 record last season. William and Mary kept seven starters from last year’s team. Sophomore goalkeeper Kris Rake, a two-time Colonial Athletic Association Rookie of the Week selection, helped lead the Tribe to a record of 9-6-4 last season. William and Mary has had 29 consecutive winning seasons, the fifth-longest streak in NCAA Division I history. At the defender position, the Gamecocks return juniors Greg Reece and Josh Alcala and sophomore Makan Hislop, who played with Trinidad’s national under-20 team this summer. Alcala will see double-duty this season, as he will also play at midfield. Transfers Cody Perrot and Stephen Sprague, a former NSCAA High School All-American, and freshmen B.J. Neilsen, Daniel Upchurch and Ray Paracat give the Gamecocks options in the backfield. , William and Mary’s defense will depend on returning starters Colin Young and Jeff Marklin to spark a backfield hit hard by graduation. The Tribe lost three senior defenders, including second-team All-American and MLS draftee Phil Hucles. William and Mary has been forced to convert two sophomores, Chris Rodd and Brendan McCurdy, from offense to defense as the four players behind them on the depth chart have no game experience. USC is deep at the midfield position, including juniors Josh Alcala and Eric Szeszycki, who started all 18 games last year, and sophomore Ryan Leeton. A whole crop of freshmen is expected to make significant contributions this season, including scorers Jose Ramos, Jeff Gross and Sebastian Lindholm. Senior captain Bryan Hinkle, a second-team All-CAA selection who led the conference with nine assists last year, will be looked upon foaimmediate contributions on the field and in the locker room. Hinkle will start at midfield Gamecocks’ strongest position, returning last season’s top two scorers, junior Ryan Deter and sophomore Ayo Akinsete, who led the team in scoring as a freshman with seven goals and 16 points. Deter was second with 12 points and six goals. Freshmen Jose Ramos, Derek Law and Phil Beene, as well as sophomore Mike Sambursky, will also see playing time. For William and Mary, junior Pat Scherder will start at forward alongside senior Brannon Thomas. Thomas played just the last two games of last season after having brain surgery to remove a npn ♦ Please see SOCCER, page 10 for his fourth straight year, a well deserved distinction considering two of his five goals were game winners. Senior Andrew Terry and juniors Clayton Voss and Craig Myers will start ahead of freshmen Brock Jones, Doug McBride and Ryan Overdtyest, who will all be challenging for playing time. Forward ' is possibly the SARAH ZILINSKY/THE GAMECOCK Freshman Jeff Gross goes for the ball in Thursday’s exhibition against No. 8 Virginia. After holding the Cavaliers scoreless, USC will look for its first victory of the season against William and Mary. Touche, Jeremy Bloom, touche ■ Two-sport star is right to criticize the NCAA for denying him a chance Most of you probably don’t know who Jeremy Bloom is. 1 had heard of him before last week, but before then, I probably thought the same about him as the NCAA does. In Bloom’s own words, he can come off as “an immature and over ambitious 20 year-old.” JOEY You see> WALLACE lloom , . has been righting FIFTH-YEAR the NCAA for PRINT the past two JOURNALISM STUDENT years in an attempt to maintain eligibility in the Colorado Buffaloes’ football program while accepting endorsements to fund training for his skiing career. Bloom was a member of the 2002 U.S. Winter Olympics team, as well as a World Cup champion in freestyle skiing. in tne end, Bloom lost ms appeal to continue playing college football. The NCAA feels that, in order to maintain the spirit of amateurism, Bloom’s acceptance of endorsements to pay for his trainer, nutritionist and physical therapist should preclude him from playing college football. Taken separately, the NCAA’s decision isn’t really that surprising. What really got me interested in the whole situation was a column written by Bloom for The Sporting News. To be fair, it really isn’t so much a “column” as it is a large middle finger pointed squarely at the NCAA. Seemingly motivated by an endless amount of spite, Bloom approached the situation with such biting sarcasm that, as someone who enjoys writing columns, I can’t help but respect what he said. Sure, his situation is unfortunate, but he’ll be fine without college football in his life, and I’m sure college football will be just fine without Bloom — even though I’ve seen him play, and he is an explosive player for sure. But his plight wanes compared to some other atrocities. Bloom brought up the case of Aaron Adair. Adair was a college baseball player at the University of Oklahoma. If you were to talk to anyone who knows him, I’m sure they’d tell you he’s a great guy who possesses many admirable characteristics, especially determination. One other thing Adair possessed at one time in his life was brain cancer. Adair fought his disease and overcame unimaginably difficult odds to get the opportunity to fulfill his dream of playing college baseball. Adair even wrote a book while he was in college to impart some of his own experiences with the hope of helping others fight their own battles and win. Clearly, the understanding folks at the NCAA didn’t get Adair’s message. They revoked his eligibility because his name was attached to a corporate product. The thing that really gets me about this is while guys like Bloom and Adair aren’t allowed to play, guys like Willie Williams, a star football recruit at Miami, still can. Williams didn’t do anything despicable like write a book or put his name on some skis. No, all he’s done is get arrested 11 TIMES since 1999. 1 haven’t been to the dentist 11 times since 1999. It’s funny how the NCAA doesn’t want Bloom’s name on ski products, but it has no qualms with putting its logo on a jersey bearing the name of Bloom and thousands of other student athletes. Now they can look forward to seeing his name on a byline at the top of an article listing their numerous virtues. Have fun guys — you deserv^ it all.