The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, November 10, 2004, Page 13, Image 13
Spurrier
would be
post-Holtz
wonderboy
■ If Lou steps down,
evil genius would get
Gamecocks winning
Have you heard the rumors?
They started a couple months back
as murmurs, barely audible over the
talk of conference championships
and bowl games and quarterback
controversies. Now that the dreams
of a conference championship have
vanished, a bowl game is a virtual
lock, and injuries, not talent, have
,-, decided who
will run the
offense, the
speculation
surrounding
the Gamecock
football team
focuses on one
issue: Who
L_ _i_
JOEL head coach at
WALLACE USC next
season?
nFrH-TCAR Everyone
PRINT 7
JOURNALISM seems to dnnk
STUDENT the elder
Holtz will step
down after the season, and with
good reason. His comments over
the year do nothing to quell that
conjecture, and what better way for
the legendary coach to ride off into
the sunset after it appears he has
finally finished what he set out to
accomplish when he took the job in
1999: He has made USC a
respectable program.
One would expect fans to be a
bit reluctant to let Lou go, but that
doesn’t appear to be the case. The
reason why? Steve Spurrier.
There isn’t a single person out
there better suited to continue what
Lou started. Everything to this
point has fallen into place just the
way it needs to if the Superior One
ends up being the next head coach.
Everyone thought he would go
back to Florida, but he didn’t. Then
they figured he’d take the head job
with the Dolphins after Dave
Wannstedt’s departure, but the
Dolphins have said they have no
intentions of even talking to
Spurrier.
The only legitimate contender
for the Of Ball Coach’s services is
North Carolina. But after the Tar
Heels upset Miami, it looks like
Bunting’s job is safe for another
year.
That leaves us as a leading
candidate for the man with the
visor. I hope we hire Spurrier. I
hope we get him into Augusta
National, and I hope we throw so
much money at him he can’t say no.
It has been my opinion that in
Lou’s tenure here at USC, we have
improved dramatically in terms of
our talent pool. I just don’t think
our players always have the
confidence necessary to contend
week in and week out with the big
boys in the SEC.
So if it’s confidence we need,
who better than Spurrier? Look up
“arrogant” in the dictionary, and
Spurrier’s picture should be there.
His coaching style is completely
different from Holtz’s.
While Holtz is busy talking up
his opponents week in and week
out, Spurrier is either still gloating
over last week’s game or he’s
thinking of new ways to run up the
score in the next one.
That’s exactly the type of man
we need to bring us to the next
level, where we expect to beat
Georgia and Tennessee and Florida
every year instead of just being
happy that we kept up with them
for the first half.
Bring on Spurrier. Bring on the
visor. Bring on the temper
tantrums. Most importantly, bring
on some championships.
IS-MTSF-:-n-1
If you are
interested in
writing for the
Gamecock
Sports section,
please e-mail
gamecocksports
@gwm.sc.edu
■ NEWTON
Continued from page 12
looked less than stellar this season.
Georgia quarterback David Greene
threw for three touchdowns against
Florida, and Mississippi State rolled
up 38 points in its win over the
Gators.
Other than the 80,000 screaming
Gator fans and a tender ankle, Newton
will have to guard against thinking
ahead to next week’s showdown at
Clemson.
“I don’t particularly like playing on
Saturday night,” Holtz said. “You get
■
■ MOMENTUM
Continued from page 12
Florida’s passing game has always
been enough to stress out any opposing
team’s defensive coordinator. This year,
however, the Gamecock defensive staff
will have much more to worry about.
Gator running back Ciatrick Fason
leads the SEC in rushing and all
purpose yards.
“He is a great back, a tremendous
back,” Holtz said.
■ BASKETBALL
Continued from page 12
including a 1-7 stretch midway through
the half.
But Rocky Trice showed a flash of
brilliance and ended the shooting
drought as he elevated for a long-armed
dunk that seemed to be the exclamation
point of the night.
“Obviously, we’ve got a lot of work
to do,” USC head coach Dave Odom
said. “The good news is we have plenty
of time to do it, and we will get it
done.”
USC managed to shoot a respectable
50 percent from the floor (26-52) and
went 5-12 from three-point range. But
the most impressive stats were Carolina’s
24-29 from the free-throw line, 37 total
rebounds and five blocks on the night.
The downside was Carolina’s 23
home about three in the morning and
have a lot of preparation to do the
following week (for Clemson). I don’t
need to elaborate on that.”
Holtz’s main goal is to make sure the
crowd does not affect the team’s play,
especially his quarterback.
“Florida really feeds off the Swamp,”
Holtz said. “I’ve never seen a place
where the momentum shifts so much.
When they get the momentum,
somebody’s got to step up and make a
play for us.”
Comments on this story? E-mail
gamecocksports@gwm.sc. edu
USC quarterback Dondrial Pinkins
will again be sidelined due to injury,
and sophomore quarterback Syvelle
Newton will be called upon to captain
the Gamecock offense.
USC would appear to have the
momentum heading into the match-up
at the Swamp, but Florida does have a
bit of momentum in the head-to-head
series: the Gamecocks have not defeated
the Gators since 1939.
Comments on this stoiy? E-mail
gamecocksports@gwm.sc. edu
turnovers.
“Not a real impressive
performance,” Odom said. “We will
build upon it for sure. We’ve got to
work on executing our plays a little
better. We came out so pumped up that
we forgot our basics.”
“We have a lot of things to improve
on,” Powell said. “We’ve got to pick it
up and play with more intensity.”
Powell, the most vocal leader on the
squad, led the USC offensive charge
with 21 points on 7-13 shooting and a
perfect 6-6 on the free-throw line.
Kinsey followed Powell with 18 points,
while Gonner added 15.
The Gamecocks will take nearly two
weeks off before hosting Western
Carolina in the season opener, Nov.
21.
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gamecockspoits@gwm.se. edu
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