Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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' •« ' • g^i A "1% /T LOU SAID IT m 1 / ^k I m / ■ “The one thing we could not do was give / m I ■ I I up the big play. We gave up more big H “■P“ /^^^k I ■ plays today then we have this entire Monday, November 1,2004 » X f M head foots™ .SS "^TENNESSEE (7-1) 43 — SOUTH CAROLINA (5-3) 29 fg Offensive boom can’t save USC STAT BOX GAME 8 567 Yards gained by USC offense -1 Rushing yards for UT in the first quarter 190 Yards for UT running back Cedric Houston —21 r J Unanswered points by UT in the third quarter ---- PUBLIC ENEMIES No. 1, No. 2 DAVID STAGG/THE GAMECOCK Freshman quarterback Erik Ainge, right, hands the ball to running back Gerald Riggs. Ainge had three touchdown passes on the day. % KATIE KIRKLAND/THE GAMECOCK Senior quarterback Dondrial Pinkins drops back to throw in Saturday’s loss to Tennessee. Pinkins was 30 of 42 on the day with two touchdowns and a career high 302 yards. Pinkins and sophomore quarterback Syvelle Newton combined for more than 340 yards. By JONATHAN HILLYARD SPORTS EDITOR The Tennessee defense had no answer for the USC offensive attack Saturday, yet the Volunteers still managed to defeat the Gamecocks by a score of43-29. Senior quarterback Dondrial Pinkins led Carolina to a total of 567 yards. Not only was the total the highest for USC in the past two seasons, it was the most Tennessee has allowed in over three season. This came against a UT defense that had previously given up an average of 318.6 yards per game this year. In games against Florida, Auburn and Georgia the Vols gave up 421, 400 and 265 yards respectively. Pinkins returned from a partially torn rotator cuff to complete 30 of 42 passes for a career-high 306 yards and two touchdowns. The 245-pound quarterback also ran the ball 10 times, gaining 63 yards. “I was excited about finally getting out there,” Pinkins said. “I just wanted to go out, execute the game plan and hopefully have a good day.” The fact that the Gamecocks gained 567 yards and lost by 14 points is indicative of what is now a 10-game losing streak with bowl eligibility on the line. The first drive of the game told the game story better than any compilation of words. On the first play from scrimmage, sophomore running back Cory Boyd broke through the UT line for a gain of 27 yards, finally being brought down at the Volunteer 40-yard line. The following three plays consisted of a two-yard run, a reverse that was stopped for a loss of 11 yards and an incomplete pass that left senior receiver Matthew Thomas implanted about 6 inches into the ground. The first quarter drew an eerie resemblance to USC’s last two meetings with the “upper echelon” of the SEC East. In last November’s loss to Florida and September’s loss to Georgia, Carolina took an early 2-0 lead. Pinkins and the offense were unable to capitalize on drives of 69, 55 and 61 yards in the first half, settling for six points on two field goals. “We could have been up 21-0,” junior offensive lineman Na’Shan Goddard said. “We had the momentum, we were doing some good things, but against Tennessee you have to capitalize.” The offense’s failure to put the ball in the endzone ended up being very cosdy, as the Volunteer’s finally broke a big play on an eight play, 80-yard drive at the end of the first half. The first of three Erik Ainge touchdown passes fell into the hands of a wide open David Holbert to even the score at eight. “The one thing we could not do was give up the big play,” head coach Lou Holtz said. “We gave up more big plays today then we have this entire year.” The third quarter proved to be the undoing of the Gamecocks as two interceptions and a punt allowed the Tennessee offense to catch fire. The Vols, who had a total of 159 yards at the end of the first half, entered the game’s final 15 minutes with 372 yards of total offense and a 14-point lead. The lead would be stretched to 19 with an early fourth-quarter Cedric Houston touchdown run. Houston ♦ Please see OFFENSE, page 8 Big plays haunt Gamecock defensive unit By STEPHEN FASTENAU STAFF WRITER Momentum. It was a word spoken often by USC coaches and players after their loss to Tennessee Saturday. The momentum of the USC defense, and the lack thereof, was a major difference in the game. The key swing came in a span of five minutes. USC held the Volunteers scoreless nearly the entire first half until Tennessee quarterback Erik Ainge found fullback David Holbert for a 21-yard touchdown with thirty seconds remaining. Tennessee then took the opening kickoff of the second half and scored in four plays to lead'16-8. “Coming out in the second half it’s tied up,” cornerback Fred Bennett said. “It’s a momentum swing. They got the momentum on that drive.” The momentum was solidly in the hands of the Volunteers at that point, as they scored touchdowns on five of their eight possessions in the second half. Head coach Lou Holtz echoed Bennett. “Momentum goes back and forth,” Holtz said. “I felt that we just needed to make a stop.” Making a stop was something the USC defense found hard to do in the second half after dominating the first two quarters. Tennessee managed only 17 yards of total offense in the first quarter and had 159 after the second, largely due to the eight-play, 80 yard drive to end the half. Tennessee freshman Brent Schaeffer entered the game due to Ainge’s ineffectiveness and gave the Gamecock defense a problem with his feet. “I thought (Schaeffer) came in and gave us a little bit of problems with his mobility,” Bennett said. “He was able to run and pass ... we just had some missed assignments here and there.” Safety Jamacia Jackson said he was following his assignment when Schaeffer connected with C.J. Fayton for a 55-yard completion that led to Tennessee tying the score at the half “We were rolling a cover three,” Jackson said. “(Schaeffer) was scrambling around and kind of just threw it and his receiver made a good catch.” The inability to stop the big play hurt the Gamecocks. Five of the six Tennessee touchdowns came on plays of 20 yards or more. Volunteer running back Cedric Houston had runs of 37, 54 and 65 yards on his way to rushing for a total of 190 yards on 15 carries. Overall the Volunteers rolled up 412 yards, 253 in the second half “That’s on thing we felt we could not do,” Holtz said. “We could not give up the big play. We gave up more big plays today than we have the entire year.” USC’s second half collapse could not all be blamed on the defense. Tennessee took over the ball at the USC 20-yard line after a 15-yard punt by Josh Brown and scored one play later. Another touchdown came off of a 44-yard onside kick return. Players and coaches felt it was Tennessee’s coaches that kept the team on its heels the second half. “I think Tennessee just found out some things,” Holtz said. Added Bennett: “I thought our defense played real good in the first quarter. Their coaches went in at halftime and made a lot of good adjustments.” Defensive coordinator Rick Minter was upset with how his unit reacted to the Volunteers’ adjustments after having two weeks to prepare. “I was disappointed in the way we succumbed to the new adjustments,” Minter said. “It caught us and it worked.” Tennessee not only scored often against the Gamecock defense, it scored quickly as well. The average time of possession of the Volunteers’ touchdown drives was just over two minutes. Overall, USC held the ball for 15 more minutes than Tennessee. It was deja vu all over again for the USC defense. The unit saw a 16-0 halftime lead against Georgia vanish as the Bulldogs scored ♦ Please see DEFENSE, page 8 DAVID STAGG/THE GAMECOCK USC junior linebacker Ricardo Hurley, center, hits UT running back Cedric Houston fora loss. Overall, the defense was unable to keep Tennessee from breaking big running plays. . © WTT□ JOG IJTCf I© 11— Make WWW.CCLpitCLloVLCbowLc07Tt your home page and vote everyday!!.___ Devastating losses to elite competition getting old If you didn’t attend Saturday’s game, don’t let the stats fool you. Even though on paper, it may look like we should have won, Tennessee came out on top on the most important statistic: the score. Although 14 points is no blowout, after Tennessee’s opening drive in the second half, the Gamecocks were never close again. For those of you who attended the game, I’m sure you feel the way I do now. Uver tne past three years, the Gamecocks have played the better teams close and have had many chances to win. However at some RYAN point, wc i an CLARY behind and never FOURTH-YEAR recover- Saturday electronic was no exception. SET" The first half * was very exciting and full of good play by the Gamecocks. We looked hungrier, more excited and better than Tennessee. We owned Eric Ainge and we made sure he knew we were there. Let me stop right here and tell you that I’ve been a lifelong Gamecock fan and my loyalty only grows. Therefore I feel I have the right to say what I’m about to say. Being up 8-0 was nice, but I’m really tired of never being able to punch it in. We are able to drive down field on anybody. In fact, we lined up in the T-formation and ran it right down Tennessee’s throat. However, once again we made mistakes inside the 30-yard line as we have done all year. Whether it was a 5-yard loss or a penalty, we just can’t finish off the drive. So 8-0 was good, but 16-0 would have been long overdue. 1 oward the end of the first half, I went into “just hold on” stage. It’s almost if we all knew Tennessee would do something to spoil this moment. I knew it was coming; I just wanted to keep this good feeling through halftime. It’s sad when you dominate a team for a half and you don’t have anything to show for it. This should have been a sign for things to come. OK, so we’re tied at halftime. No big deal? Not according to our past and the past became the present Saturday. Once again, when one thing went wrong, it all went wrong. ♦ Please see CLARY, page 8