The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, October 06, 2004, Page 13, Image 13
ICs amazing the difference a year
makes for Carolina defensive unit
Just five games into the 2004 season, the USC football
team appears ro be on the verge of a momentous campaign.
Defense wins championships, and this year’s squad is
already putting up some gaudy numbers.
Defensive coordinator Rick Minter’s unit ranks seventh
in the nation in total defense, giving
un a modest 256.2 yards per eame. ! —
The Gamecocks have a swagger
about them when the D is on the
field to go with a knack for big
plays.
It’s hard to pinpoint just how
Carolina manages to be so effective
on defense. With a total of five
sacks in five games, the Gamecocks
don’t blitz as often as would be
expected when Minter was named
defensive coordinator this
offseason.
Yet the Gamecocks have
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quarterbacks often, forcing them to
throw into coverage or telegraph their passes to the tune of
10 interceptions, which ranks third in the nation and is
already more than the nine picks USC had all of last
season.
Even Georgia quarterback David Greene had a sub-par
game against USC, completing only half his passes for just
213 yards with an interception.
The Gamecocks have also managed to keep opponents
out of the end zone with uncanny regularity. USC ranks
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fifth in the nation in scoring defense, giving up 7.8 points
per game for a total of 39 points in five games this season.
To put that into perspective, the Gamecocks gave up 56
points in the first three quarters of the Clemson game last
year.
The effect Minter has had on this team is nothing short
of amazing. The players are essentially the same — Moe
Thompson and George Gause still anchor the ends of the
line, widi Marcus Lawrence, Ricardo Hurley and Rod
Wilson all returning as starters.
The secondary lost Dunta Robinson to the first round
of the NFL draft, but Ko Simpson and company stepped
right in. This can only be attributed to Minter and his
coaching.
This defense just plays sound, fundamental football. It
hasn’t blitzed much because it hasn’t had to. The
interceptions are the result of guys simply being where
they’re supposed to be and catching the ball. The
Gamecocks have 10 picks already, but that number could
easily be 20 if they had caught all the balls opposing
quarterbacks have thrown their way.
Lou Holtz put it best in his news conference Monday
when he said of the defense: “Right now, they are playing as
well as anybody. They’re playing as a team.”
The question is, can they keep it up? Homecoming
against Ole Miss on Saturday will be a good indicator — the
Rebels are putting up 21.2 points per game and they have
one of the best kickers in the nation. If they can, the defense
has a chance to live up to that old football cliche — by
staying in the conference race and bringing home a
championship.
LET’S GET IT STARTED
I::_:I
KATIE KIRKLAND/THE GAMECOCK
Freshmen Stephen McDowell and Dwayne Day work on their dribbling skills during one of USC’s
first practices of the season. The Gamecocks will get into competitive play soon when they travel
to Canada. Carolina will play an exhibition match against USC Upstate on Nov. 8 at home.
BRIEFS
Lake, Wike lead USC
cross country to 15th
The USC cross country team topped
Alabama and finished 15th in the Great '
American Cross Country Festival in
Cary, N.C., on Friday.
The Gamecocks had many runners
come close to setting new personal
records. The 5K course was still wet from
hurricane rains that tore up parts of the
Carolinas over the last few weeks. The
course included a dramatic start down a
quarter-mile incline, followed by a path
through woods, up hills and ending with
a stadium finish.
“I was pleased with the effort,” USC
head coach Stan Rosenthal said. “The
course was really hard. The girls ran really
well for how hard the course was.”
Duke University won the festival with
a total of 56 points, while North
Carolina and Georgia followed with 85
and 122, respectively.
Leading the way for the Gamecocks
was senior Jenny Lake who finished 31st
with a time of 18:09, just seconds from
her personal record. Freshman Amy
Wike finished 75th with a time of
19:31.
USC’s next race is Monday at
Auburn.
■ SEASON
Continued from page 12
up to help ignite the Gamecock offense
alongside Williams. Kirk is tied for the
team lead in assists with sophomore Jessi
Swaim and has also played a large role in
Carolina’s set pieces delivering a solid
ball on corner kicks. Cobbs is second on
the team with three assists and has also
added a goal this year. While Randazzo
has not scored a goal so far, she has been
creating plenty of opportunities for
herself as well as teammates with two
assists on the year. Carolina has used the
services of 12 freshmen this season on
various parts of the field, including two
in the toughest spot on the pitch:
goalkeeper.
“The freshmen and sophomores have
played a huge role on our team,” Smith
n———~—r-——-—
insisted. “When you only have three
seniors on a team, then you have to rely
on the young players, and we have done
that.”
Smith has split time between Laura
Armstrong and Lindsay Thorstenson in
the net this season, with both seeing
action in seven games. Armstrong has
had a more favorable goal-against
average of 1.63 per game. Both have had
three wins and three loses, with
Thorstenson gaining credit for the tie
against Georgia. Overall, goalkeeping
has been solid this season, allowing two
goals or less in eight games, including
three shutouts. Carolina will have to
score more in the second half of the
season to capitalize on its solid
goalkeeping as the team has lost many
close contests this season.
After having fallen 3-1 to SEC
favorite Tennessee this past Sunday and
starting winless in conference play, the
Gamecocks have a long road ahead of
them to a postseason berth. However,
USC has already proven this season that
it is capable of upsetting very talented
opponents and will continue to do so as
it embarks on the second half of the
season.
“Our goal is the NCAA
Tournament,” Smith said. “All year we
have talked about the NCAA
tournament and with the talent we have,
we are more than capable of achieving
that. We have to be more consistent in
playing 90 minutes as a team so we can
win some games late. Our goal is to win
some late SEC games, get into the SEC
tournament and use that as a
springboard to the big one.”
Comments on this story? E-mail
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m—s-r——r-&-.. mass mmsm
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This week’s games:
5 Texas at 2 Oklahoma
13 Minnesota at 14 Michigan
7 California at 1 Southern Cal.
17 Tennessee at 3 Georgia
15 Wisconsin at 18 Ohio State
24 LSU at 12 Florida
Alabama at Kentucky
Georgia Tech at 23 Maryland
22 Oklahoma State at Colorado
Ole Miss at 25 USC
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MISS GAME. AND DON’T FORGET YOUR NAME!
■ TALENT
Continued from page 12
and tied Princeton, 1-1.
Carolina recorded its marquee
victory of the year so far when it
returned to the South to take on the
Wake Forest Demon Deacons in
Winston-Salem, N.C. Two rookies
combined for the game-winning goal as
Lindholm assisted fellow freshman J.D.
Moon in the 73rd minute of play. The
goal, the first of Moon’s career, lifted the
Gamecocks to a 1-0 victory over then
13th-ranked Wake Forest.
Following the big victory at Wake
Forest, the Gamecocks came out flat
against defending SEC champions
Davidson. They trailed 1-0 at the half
but rallied behind four goals from four
different players to come out with a 4-1
road victory.
In what Berson called “a tale of two
halves,” the Gamecocks rallied from a
two-goal deficit to defeat Gardner
Webb 3-2 last Sunday afternoon. Junior
Josh Alcala scored two late goals to lead
the Gamecocks past the Bulldogs in
what was probably the most exciting
game of the year.
USC won’t leave the Carolinas for
the remainder of their scheduled games
as they are slated to take on Clemson,
Charlotte, Furman, Duke and Florida
International in Columbia. The
remaining away games are against North
Carolina in Chapel Hill, College of
Charleston in Charleston, and UNC
Wilmington in Wilmington. They will
then return to Charleston to take on
Coastal Carolina and Alabama A&M in
tournament play.
Sophomore forward Ayo Akinsete is
leading USC in goals for the season,
with Alcala not lar behind. Standout
goalkeeper Brad Guzan is turning in
another great year by allowing an
average of 1.08 goals per game.
The No. 15 Gamecocks are riding a
three-game winning streak into
Sunday’s showdown with Clemson. The
game begins at 2 p.m. at Eugene E.
Stone III Stadium.
Comments on this story? E-mail
gamecocksports@gwm.sc.edu
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