LOU SAID IT
“... You can say Georgia is a great team, j
they are ranked number three, and that 1
we fought them down to the wire. That’s
Page 12 all irrelevant, we lost the game.”
Friday, September 13, 2004 lou holtz
r HEAD FOOTBALL COACH
(Q) 20 GEORGIA — USC 16 g
USC stopped short
DAVID STAGG/THE GAMECOCK
USC quarterback Dondrial Pinkins attempts to break through the Georgia defense on a fourth down and one situation late in the fourth quarter at the UGA 11-yard line.
Pinkins failed to make the first down, forcing Carolina to turn the ball over on downs. The USC offense was in the red zone twice in the fourth quarter without scoring.
By STEPHEN DEMEDIS
THE GAMECOCK
An injury-riddled USC football
team (1-1, 0-1) limped off the field
Saturday night after a 20-16 come
from-behind win by the No. 3
Georgia Bulldogs (2-0,1-0). The loss
continued the team’s trend of losing
to ranked teams by narrow margins.
Head coach Lou Holtz wasn’t
interested in moral victories.
“We lost the football game,”
Holtz said. “You can say Georgia is
a great team, they are ranked
number three, and that we fought
them down to the wire. That’s all
irrelevant, we lost the game.”
At half time, the Gamecocks
held a 16-6 lead over Georgia.
Nine of those came from the
defense. Linebacker Marcus
Lawrence tackled running back
Danny Ware in the end zone for a
safety on the Bulldogs’ first play
from scrimmage. Freshman safety
Ko Simpson made the first
interception of his career and ran
57 yards for a touchdown,
increasing USC’s lead to 16.
Carolina’s other score came after
Georgia missed a 47-yard field goal
attempt. On third and five,
quarterback Dondrial Pinkins hit
receiver Troy Williamson on a slant
that resulted in a 65-yard
touchdown. Williamson finished the
game with three catches, 131 yards
and a touchdown, the only points
Carolina could score on offense.
While Carolina tried to maintain
their 16-point advantage, Georgia
slowly moved the ball down the field
and chipped away at the deficit.
After two field goals, the Bulldogs
moved within two scores of the lead.
Midway through the third
quarter, Georgia scored its first
touchdown on a 12-yard screen
pass to backup running back Tyson
Browning, bringing the score to
16-13. The Bulldogs took the lead
on a 22-yard play action pass to
Reggie Brown from quarterback
David Greene.
Down by four, USC had three
chances to take the lead. With 10
minutes left in the fourth quarter,
Carolina drove into the red zone
with a nine play, 60-yard drive. On
first and 10, Pinkins scrambled for a
five-yard gain, but was drilled by two
Georgia defenders and fumbled the
ball, which was recovered by Arnold
Harrison.
Once again, the Carolina defense
kept the team in the game by forcing
and recovering a fumble of its own.
On the ensuing drive, USC drove to
within seven yards of the end zone,
but failed on a fourth and one play,
turning the ball back over. Carolina’s
final attempt to score ended when a
Pinkins’ pass was tipped and then
intercepted by Paul Oliver.
USC was severely handicapped
in its final three drives. The offense
was without scoring threats
Demetris Summers and Troy
Williamson. Summers injured his
ankle on the first play of the game
and Williamson was out for the
fourth quarter with hamstring
cramps. Cory Boyd came on to
replace Summers despite an ankle
injury of his own and was
Carolina’s only receiving threat.
Holtz said the loss of Summers
limited the offense.
“It affected us big. He is the one
guy that can make things happen.
He carried the ball twice. It is just
different when he runs.”
STAT BOX — GAME 2
9 Points scored by USC’s defense
7 Points scored by USC’s offense
5 USC starters injurld by-the end of the
game
2 Number of Demetris Summers carries
Carolina was also without Noah
Whiteside. A serious deep threat,
Whiteside should have been
available to come on in place of
Williamson, but was suspended for
the game for breaking team rules.
On defense, USC lost two of its
best corners, Tremaine Tyler and
Jonathan Joseph. Joseph broke his
foot in the first quarter and Tyler
sustained a pinched nerve in his
neck in the third quarter. Both
Bulldog touchdowns came after
Tyler and Joseph were injured.
Despite the outcome of the
game, Holtz realized the odds the
team faced late in the game.
“1 was proud of our football
team. They overcame a lot of
things.”
Now Holtz’s team not only has to
overcome the mental letdown of
dropping yet another close game —
Carolina lost to Tennessee, Ole Miss
and Florida by a combined sum of
eight points last year — but also will
have to recover physically from the
injuries that kept them back in
dropping a close one to Georgia.
Comments on this story? E-mail
gamecocksports@gwm.sc.edu
Min ter’s defense hangs
tough against Bulldogs
By JONATHAN HILLYARD
THE GAMECOCK
No one can blame Saturday’s
loss on the Carolina defense, which
single-handedly kept the
Gamecocks neck and neck with the
mighty Bulldogs of Georgia.
After an end of the season
collapse of the Carolina defense a
year ago, defensive coordinator
Rick Minter and his unit proved
that this year’s squad would not
back down to anyone, even
Heisman Trophy candidate David
Greene and the Georgia offense.
“I'm very proud of how hard our
kids played,” Minter said. “That’s
what 1 promised when 1 came here
is that our kids would go out, play
hard and battle to the end.”
The defense set the tone for the
game immediately, despite the
offense’s inability to capitalize on a
fumble by UGA punt returner
Tyson Browning. On the Dog’s first
play from scrimmage, senior
linebacker and leader Marcus
Lawrence introduced UGA
freshman Danny Ware to the SEC
by leveling him in the end zone for
a safety. Lawrence was without a
doubt USC’s player of the game on
defense, totaling 13 tackles and two
tackles for losses. In addition to the
safety, he also would force a crucial
fumble later in the game.
Like last week, the defense
dominated the opposition in the
first quarter, allowing the
defending eastern division champs
just 28 yards in the first quarter.
The second quarter yielded
much of the same for the Carolina
defense. After a USC three-and-out
from its own 11, the defense came
up big again, this time in the form
of a Ko Simpson interception
return for a touchdown. The score
marked the second consecutive
week the Gamecocks have scored a
defensive touchdown.
“Ko really showed up to play
tonight,” sophomore cornerback
Fred Bennett said. “I told him that
was an All-American play he made
and I’m really proud of him.”
The freshman from Rock Hill
would also Save a touchdown later
in the quarter, but dropped a
possible interception at the goal
line that he would have easily ran
99 yards for another touchdown.
The Georgia offense finally
started to click in the second
quarter, breaking into the red zone
twice late in the half. Here is where
the defense showed perhaps the
most poise, holding the Bulldogs to
a field goal on both occasions and
allowing the Gamecocks to enter
halftime with a 10-point lead.
The defense, despite allowing
two touchdowns and losing two
talented cornerbacks in Jonathan
Joseph and Tremaine Tyler,
continued to answer the call
repeatedly in the second half. The
Carolina offense, which time after
time failed to put points on the
board, relied on the defensive unit
to keep them in the game and that
is exactly \tfhat they did.
With approximately seven
minutes to go in the game, a
Dondrial Pinkins fumble in the red
zone seemed to seal the
Gamecocks’ fate. However, just
k
♦ Pleas* see DEFENSE, page 10
KATIE KIRKLAND/THE GAMECOCK
Freshman running back Danny Ware is trailed by Darrell
Shropshire (57) and the rest of the USC defense. Ware was
injured at the end of the, first half and didn’t return.
Carolina
mistakes
black out
chances
■ USC didn’t capitalize
on opportunities against
a vulnerable Georgia
Let’s face it. Through all the
horrible calls and bad breaks, we
shot ourselves in the foot time and
time again Saturday night. Before
we shift the
blame, we
must look at
the missed
opportunities.
Let me first
say l thought
we played
pretty well.
Individually, I
PVAN would take 13
n ary of 21 for 200
vLHn I yards each and
FOURTH-YEAR f6*
ELECTRONIC from Dondrial
JOURNALISM Pinkins. I’m
STUDENT _ ■ ,
certainly not
saying he
couldn’t do better, but those are
pretty good numbers.
But Pinkins made two big
mistakes that we must look back
at. His fumble in the fourth
quarter was a crucial play that
swung the momentum. His
interception late in the game ended
our chances. However, let me
make it clear that Pinkins did not
lose the game for us.
Here are some of the missed
opportunities that weren’t so
obvious at the end of the game.
While Ko Simpson had an
interception for a touchdown, we
dropped two picks that cost us
three points and 35 yards.
We missed another field goal.
Although I will say a questionable
offensive pass interference call
caused that.
We failed repeatedly in the
second half to move the ball and it
kept the defense out there much
longer than they should have been.
And finally, when Georgia
fumbled the punt return in the first
quarter, we got no points in the
pursuing drive. When you play the
No. 3 team in the country, you
must capitalize on their mistakes.
We didn’t do that Saturday night.
Other factors that didn’t help
were the poor field position we
had all game, Demetris Summers
getting injured on the first play and
four dropped passes.
But on top of all that, there is a
positive to take from this. We
played right with the so-called best
team in the SEC. Heck, we should
have beaten them. Troy
Williamson continues to impress
cvciyunc anu riiiKiiia uhcw me
ball pretty well.
Now that we’ve looked at what
needed to go first, let’s question
some of the calls. 1 already
mentioned the offensive pass
interference on Cory Boyd, but
how about the obvious. After
looking at the replay, where on
earth was the sideline official
marking Pinkins’ spot in the fourth
quarter? He marked the ball over a
yard off.
Also, where were the holding
calls? Not one was called all game.
You’ve got to be kidding me.
Finally, 1 must give a shout out
to our defense. For being out there
as much as they were, they played
outstanding. Time and time again,
they made play after play. This
game showed a lot of promise and
I’m excited about the future. I
can’t wait until next week.
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Jonathan Hillyard on
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