The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, October 11, 2004, Page 12, Image 12
§ \ \ LOU SAID IT
/ ‘You win close games when everybody does
H what they're supposed to do. It's not the
players' fault, don’t get me wrong. I made
Page 12 I enough mistakes to last me a lifetime."
Monday, October 11,2004 -U « J . „KOFoo,™Sic"
\ OLE MISS (3-3)31 — SOUTH CAROLINA (4-2) 28 g
USC can’t hold on to victory
STAT BOX
GAME 6
31
Points allowed
versus Ole Miss
39
Points allowed in
first five games
4th and 10
Situation for Ole
Miss’ game
winning
touchdown
4-for-4
Red zone
conversions by
Ole Miss
__ VM I
JASON STEELMAN/THE GAMECOCK
Sophomore receiver Noah Whiteside fumbles after a 16-yard reception in the first quarter forced by Ole Miss cornerback Travis Johnson.
Whiteside’s fumble was returned 18 yards and led to Ole Miss quarterback Robert Lane’s 5-yard touchdown run to make the score 14-0.
By STEPHEN FASTENAU
STAFF WRITER
The fair was in town Saturday
and it was Homecoming week, but
unfortunately for USC, the
festivities did not extend into
Williams-Brice Stadium.
Facing fourth down and 10,
Rebel quarterback Ethan Flatt
tossed a 29-yard touchdown pass to
Bill Flowers with 1:05 remaining in
the fourth quarter to give
Mississippi a 31-28 win.
Gamecock sophomore Syvelle
Newton threw for 291 yards and
one touchdown in his first SEC
stan at quanerback, and backup
Blake Mitchell came off the bench
to lead a 68-yard touchdown drive.
USC (4-2, 2-2 SEC), coming
off what head coach Lou Holtz
considered one of the best wins for
his program in his tenure last week
at Alabama, is still two wins from
bowl eligibility after dropping a
game in which the team was a 17
point favorite.
“Ole Miss did a nice job
attacking us, particularly in the first
half,” Holtz said.
Attack they did. The Rebels
rolled up 319 yards in the first half
on defense, allowing only 256
yards a game coming in and
jumping out to a 14-0 lead in the
first quarter.
After punting on its first
possession, Ole Miss drove 70
yards for a touchdown behind the
running of tailback Vashon
Pearson. Pearson’s backup,
Brandon Jacobs, capped the drive
with a 2-yard touchdown run to
give the Rebels a 7-0 lead.
Aided by a Noah Whiteside
fumble that was returned 18 yards
to the USC 7-yard line, Mississippi
made it 14-0 on a 5-yard
touchdown run by freshman
quarterback Robert Lane.
Mitchell entered the game with
14:55 remaining in the first half
after Newton led another stalled
drive. The redshirt freshman drove
USC 68 yards in five plays,
finishing the drive with a 17-yard
touchdown pass to tight end Andy
Boyd that cut the Ole Miss lead to
14-7. The touchdown pass was the
first of Mitchell’s career and was
the first catch of any kind for the
sophomore Boyd.
Any momentum USC had
gained was squelched by a clock
eating 76-yard drive by the Rebels
on their next possession. Pearson
rushed six times for 36 yards
during the drive, including a 17
yard touchdown run with 7:24 left
in the half that pushed the Ole
Miss lead back to 14 at 21-7.
Syvelle Newton brought the
Gamecocks back within seven after
a 38-yafd touchdown run up the
middle on the ensuing possession.
The key to the drive was not
Newton, however. With USC
looking at fourth down and 10
from the 20-yard line, punter Josh
Brown ran 11 yards down the
1 sideline to pick up a first down on
what appeared to be an option
punt.
“As I said last week,” Holtz said,
“sometimes you get behind and
you say ‘Hey, we better throw a
little caution to the wind.’”
USC had an opportunity to tie
the game before halftime. Holtz
called timeout after a 32-yard
completion from Newton to
Whiteside gave the Gamecocks the
ball at the Ole Miss 12-yard line
with seven seconds remaining in
the half. Holtz opted to attempt a
quick pass rather than kick a field
♦ Please see FOOTBALL, page 10
SO CLOSE
* —»r-wrrT™n I
f_;|
CHARLIE DAVENPORT/THE GAMECOCK
Running back Cory Boyd tries for a leaping touchdown catch on (JSC’s
final drive. The pass was broken up by Ole Miss’ Charles Clark.
Mississippi
loss hurts,
but season
isnt over yet
It’s not often you lose a game on
a fourth-and-10 with just over a
minute left. But on a day where
nothing seemed to go right for the
Gamecocks, what other ending
could we have expected?
I can’t say I didn’t feel really
disappointed after Saturday’s loss to
Ole Miss. In fact, like many of you,
I still don’t know what in the world
happened, but I do know this: We
can’t afford any
more perfor
mances like that.
No matter
who your team is,
you’re going to
have games that
are worse than
others. To be the
best, you’ve got to
be able to still win
those games. It
was very disa
ppointing because
I If nnw wp arp a
great team, but we didn’t do what
we had to do against Ole Miss.
For the first time all season, we
didn’t walk away from the game
praising our defense. But let’s get
realistic for a second — they’re the
number one reason we were 4-1
coming into this game, so a bad
game now and then will do.
The one thing that really got me
about our defense Saturday was the
number of missed tackles. I’ve
always talked about how our defense
swarms to the ball and leaves bruises
on opponents. There were times
Saturday where this happened, but
the missed tackles were very
noticeable. What I like about our
. players’ attitude is they will take the
bad performance out on Kentucky
next week.
I must say with four minutes to
go in the first quarter, I was
screaming for Demetris Summers to
get his first touch running the ball.
It just blew my mind that we didn't
make him a major part of our
offense. I think Newton is a great
runner, but Summers was recruited
here to be the man. I want Newton
to get his carries, but I just wish our
offense involved more Meat.
I do want to say that I thought
the individual performances by
Blake Mitchell and Travis Lee were
really something to watch. Mitchell
showed signs of the player we all
know he will be some day. Lee not
♦ Please see CLARY, page 10
RYAN
CLARY
FOURTH-YEAR
ELECTRONIC
JOURNALISM
STUDENT
Reliable defense can’t stop Rebel attack
_B_AH_ — ^ V
CHARLIE DAVENPORT/THE GAMECOCK
Ole Miss running back Vashon Pearson squeezes by a trailing USC defense on his way to a
17-yard touchdown run. Pearson ended the day with 92 of Ole Miss' 178 rushing yards.
DyjuHHiriHn niLLTHnu
SPORTS EDITOR
The USC defense shut down or at least
contained every offense it faced this season
until Ole Miss came to town Saturday.
Defensive coordinator Rick Minter’s unit
had only allowed 39 points in five previous
games. On Saturday, the unit allowed 31
points. Prior to Saturday, the USC defense
only allowed 7.8 points per game.
The Carolina defense was the top-ranked
unit in the SEC in rushing defense, allowing
just 102.4 yards per game. The Rebels racked
up 178 yards on the ground, 98 of them by
star tailback Vashon Pearson.
The secondary of USC was allowing an
average of 153.8 yards passing in the first five
games. The three-man tandem of Ethan
Flatt, Michael Spurlock and Robert Lane
recorded 236 yards through the air despite
overthrowing receivers on numerous
touchdown opportunities.
“We had a couple of missed assignments,”
cornerback Fred Bennett said. “We had a
whole handful of missed assignments, and we
just have to work hard and see if we can
correct them.”
The different quarterbacks seemed to
keep the USC defense off guard as each signal
caller brought different things to the table.
“We thought we were going to face more
of a passing type quarterback in number 19,”
Dennett said, iney orougnt 10 vopuriocK,
in and he did a lot of good things with hi:
feet, and I thought that gave us a little bit of 2
problem.”
Ole Miss’ 414 yards of total offense wa:
the most allowed by USC all season and ii
nearly 160 yards more than the Gamecocks
average of 256.2 yards allowed per game.
A telling statistic for the USC defense i:
the individual tackle tallies. The Gamecocks
leading tackier was safety Ko Simpson
usually a sign that the opposing offense ha:
gained a significant amount of yardage.
The Rebel offense took control of the
game early, scoring on drives of 70 and 7
yards in the first quarter. The 70-yard drive
was the first touchdown the USC defense hac:
allowed in seven quarters and was only the
second first quarter touchdowh allowed al
season.
“In the first half, Ole Miss just controlled
both lines of scrimmage,” USC head coach
Lou Holtz said. “They go right down anc
score, we come back and fumble and right
now you’re down 14-0 that quick.”
For the first time this season, the Carotins
defense did not record a sack, which coulc
explain Ole Miss’ success throwing the
football. The defense was only able to force
one turnover, a fumble by Ole Miss receive!
Taye Biddle at the end of the first half.
The game marked the first fime all seasor
that the USC defense did not intercept the
opposing quaireroacK. inis came as a
surprise to USC fans who expected the
conference’s lOth-rated quarterback in
passing efficiency to be picked apart by the
Gamecocks.
Maybe even more surprising than the lack
of effectiveness of the USC defense was the
effectiveness of the Ole Miss offense. The
414 yards of offense by the Rebels Saturday
towers over their 348.6 yards-per-game
average. Ole Miss gained 195 yards Saturday
while their net rushing total was 178 yards,
nearly 35 yards more than their average of
144.8 yards on the ground.
Not only did Ole Miss demolish the stats
it had put up in previous games, but the
Rebels did it against a USC defense that
appeared to be far superior to those of the
Rebels’ previous opponents. In their only two
previous SEC games, the Rebels faced
Alabama and Vanderbilt. Alabama, prior to
this week, led the conference in total offense,
but Vanderbilt ranked eighth in total defense
in the SEC. Other Ole Miss opponents
included Memphis, Wyoming and Arkansas
State.
Despite playing so far below its
established standards, the Gamecock defense
still had a chance to secure a win with just
one stop on a fourth down with 10 to go.
Linebacker Rodriques Wilson said he loved
♦ Please see DEFENSE, page 10