The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, September 13, 2004, Page 10, Image 10
Yellow Jackets sting Clemson in comeback victory
By JEFFREY COLLINS
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
CLEMSON — Reggie Ball threw
an 11-yard touchdown pass to
Calvin Johnson with 11 seconds
left to give Georgia Tech a 28-24
win over No. 20 Clemson on
Saturday night.
Johnson, a freshman, reached
high over the Tigers’ Justin Miller
just inside the goal line near the left
sideline to haul in his third
touchdown of the game.
The winning score came a play
after Clemson’s Geoff Rigsby’s
fourth-down snap skipped past
punter Cole Chason, who had to
fall on the loose ball deep in his
own territory.
The Tigers (1-1, 1-1 ACC) still
had one more chance. Airese Currie
returned the kickoff to the Georgia
Tech 31 with 3 seconds to go. But
Charlie Whitehurst’s pass to Kelvin
Grant fell incomplete as three
Yellow Jackets swarmed the
receiver in the end zone.
The wild game saw five
touchdowns in the final 8 1/2
minutes, including three scores by
Georgia Tech (2-0, 1-0) in the final
4:36.
The Yellow Jackets would have
been out of it without Johnson and
Ball. They connected for an 8-yard
touchdown pass with 1:50 left.
But Georgia Tech didn’t come
near recovering the onside kick and
the game looked lost, especially
after Whitehurst ran for 9 yards on
a keeper on the next play.
But the Yellow Jackets stopped
the Tigers for no gain twice,
forcing Clemson to punt.
Rigsby’s snap never got any
height and skipped right past
Chason, who just fell on it at the
Tiger 11.
The stunned crowd at Death
Valley didn’t even have time to
collect its breath before Ball found
Johnson for the winning score.
Johnson caught eight passes for
127 yards and scored three
touchdowns in only his second
game.
Ball, who suffered through a
miserable 19-of-42 performance in
Georgia Tech’s 39-3 loss to
Clemson last year, completed 20 of
36 passes for 251 yards and four
The stunned crowd at
Death Valley didn’t even
have time to collect its
breath before... the
winning score.
touchdowns. P.J. Daniels, the
ACC’s leading rusher last year, ran
for 103 yards on 24 carries after
being held to just 34 yards against
the Tigers in 2003.
Whitehurst was 20-of-43 for
275 yards, while Grant and Currie
each caught six passes for 80
yards.
Clemson appeared to have
sealed the game twice in the fourth
quarter with two long touchdown
runs by seldom-used tailbacks.
Kyle Browning’s 54-yard
touchdown run straight up the
middle gave the Tigers a 24-14
lead with just over three minutes
to go.
The sophomore’s run came just
more than a minute after the
Yellow Jackets had cut the Tigers’
lead to a field goal with a lightning
Clemson's
Cole Chason
falls on his
fumbled
punt as Ga.
Tech's Avery
Roberson
and Pat Clark
rush him in
the fourth
quarter. Ga.
Tech
defeated
Clemsbn at
Memorial
Stadium on
Saturday,
28-24.
MARY ANN
CHASTAIN/THE
ASSOCIATED
PRESS
quick drive that ended with a 19
yard scoring pass from Ball to
Levon Thomas with 4 1/2 minutes
to go.
Just a few minutes earlier,
Reggie Merriweather appeared to
have sealed the game with a 62
yard score bolting untouched
through another big hole on third
and-1 to put Clemson ahead 17-7.
Merriweather, who was in for
only two plays and never carried
the ball in last week’s opener
against Wake Forest, led the Tigers
with 90 yards on eight carries.
Browning, who didn’t have a single
carry against the Demon Deacons,
had 80 yards on five carries.
Comments on this story? E-mail
gamecocksports@gwm.sc. edu
■ FASTENAU
Continued from page 9
she floated over in all of her drop
dead gorgeous glory, I realized that
on a network that has become a
religion to many people, this was its
goddess.
Arrington was extremely
understanding and cooperative.
Knowing I cared just as much about
her signature as I did the number of
the phone she was talking into, she
politely asked the person to whom
she was speaking if she could call
him or her back. She then
proceeded to tear off two sheets
from her notepad and sign -a
personalized message to Brandon
and me, all the while making
friendly conversation.
Jill struck me as someone who is
down-to-earth and a true
professional. This is a woman who
was voted Sexiest Sportscaster in
America in 2001 by Playboy.com,
but refused a $1 million incentive
to pose in its magazine. She
worked at CNN, FOX Sports,
TNN, Spike TV and CBS before
landing a job with ESPN covering
college football. The most
attractive feature of Arrington may
be her knowledge of the subject she
covers — football. A 32-year-old
alumna of football-crazed Miami,
Arrington learned the sport from
her father, a former NFL
quarterback.
My only regret is that, in all the
attention 1 devoted to not
drooling on myself and forming
my words correctly, I did not ask
anything from Jill to obtain
valuable quotes for the purpose of
this column.
If given the chance again, I
would have asked her what she
thought of our fans, namely the
ones who embarrassed me and the
university by constantly flying the
rebel flag in the background of the
SportsCenter segments. I would
have then asked her if she thought
ESPN management would think
twice about bringing GameDay
back to Columbia for the third time
after witnessing such a display. This
behavior is likely the reason the
show does not often feature
Clemson.
USC has some of the best fans in
the country as testified to by Lou
Holtz and the guys from ESPN. It’s
a shame that reputation was
tarnished by the actions of a few
individuals. Let’s hope it does not
keep the beautiful and wonderfully
talented Jill Arrington from
returning to cover the Gamecocks
— and taking me up on my dinner
proposition.
Comments on this story? E-mail
gamecocksports@gwm.se. edu
■ VOLLEYBALL
Continued from page 9
high 15 kills and 14 digs, giving
her the first double-double of the
season. Junior Lauren Ford had a
season-high seven blocks while
sophomore Shonda Cole led the
team with 17 kills. The Gamecocks
fought hard for every game,
battling the Fluskies point for
point. In game two alone there
were 15 ties and eight lead
changes. Carolina lost game three
but came out strong in game four
to lead by as many as 11 and finish
the match 30-21.
USC then swept the Towson
Tigers Saturday night (30-27, 30
23, 30-19) in its second 3-0 win of
the season, the first being last week
against Clemson. The Gamecocks
came from behind in game one to
tie at 19 and take the lead. Down
by one at 23-24, USC then went on
a 6-0 run, including back-to-back
service aces by setter Katelyn
Panzau. Carolina finished the
match on a kill by Cole to win
game one 30-27.
The Gamecocks established early
leads in the following two games,
which they never surrendered.
Morgan led the team in kills with
11 while Lauren Ford had the
highest hitting percentage with
.312. Both were named to the All
Tournament team. Though Cole
was held to just eight kills for the
match, she recorded her 100th kill
of the season.
Overall this weekend, Morgan
led the team in hitting for the
Gamecocks with a .272 kill
percentage — averaging 3.10 kills
per game. Ford had 14 blocks, a
season-high, and an impressive five
service aces.
Next Friday, USC hosts the
Gamecock Invitational in
Columbia. Michigan State takes on
Notre Dame to open the
tournament followed by the
Gamecocks against No. 1 Southern
California Friday night.
Comments on this story? E-mail
gamecocksports@pimi.sc.edu
■ DEFENSE
Continued from page 12
two plays later, Lawrence would
lay another big hit on Georgia
running back Tyson Browning,
forcing a fumble that was recovered
by USC’s Ricardo Hurley, giving
Carolina another chance for the
Carolina offense inside the red
zone. Result, another failed attempt
to score as Pinkins was stuffed on a
fourth and one.
Now the game is really over,
isn’t it? In the words of sideline
spectator Lee Corso, “Not so fast
my friend.” The defense once again
proved it was up to the task as it
forced Georgia into another three
and out, giving the offense yet
another chance. It turned into
another chance that the offense
couldn’t capitalize on, leaving the
Gamecocks with a bitter defeat.
“It really hurts, I’m pretty
upset,” Bennett said following the
game. “We were supposed to win
this game. We had it.”
Comments on this story? E-mail
gamecocksports@gwm.sc. edu
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