The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, October 03, 2005, Page 9, Image 9
Wake haults late Clemson rally
Keith Parsons
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. —
Given another chance at
quarterback, Cory Randolph
made the most of it.
The Wake Forest senior
threw a 6-yard touchdown pass
to Kevin Marion with 33
seconds left and the Demon
Deacons rallied to hand
Clemson another heartbreaking
loss, 31-27 Saturday night.
“We were going to take a
shot at it,” Randolph said. “I
just put it in a spot where only
Kevin could get it.”
The comeback wasn’t sealed
until the final play, when Tigers
wide receiver Curt Baham was
stopped at the 3-yard line after
a 27-yard gain just as time
expired. The referees huddled
briefly before agreeing that it
was over, setting off a raucous
celebration by the Demon
Deacons (2-3, 1-1 Atlantic
Coast Conference).
They drove 66 yards in
slightly less than 2 minutes for
the winning score after
Clemson coach Tommy
Bowden called for a fake field
goal instead of letting Jad Dean
attempt a 44-yarder that would
have put the Tigers up by six.
The poorly executed play was
stopped easily, and Wake Forest
took over on its 34.
“We probably should have
called it off,” Bowden said.
“But I was trying to make
something happen to win the
game.”
Randolph was 5-for-6 on the
final drive and finished 20-for
25 for 222 yards, and he threw
for a total of three TDs in his
first action at quarterback this
season. Ht started 20
consecutive games there earlier
in his career, but he was moved
to wide receiver in the
preseason when Ben Mauk won
the starting job.
After a 1-3 start, coach Jim
Grobe decided to make some
changes, and Randolph played
every snap against the Tigers.
“It was a great game by 10
other guys on the field,”
Randolph said. “Those guys
really came together and got a
good victory when we needed a
victory.”
The loss was the third in a
row for Clemson (2-3, 1-3),
but at least this one didn’t go
into overtime. After winning
their opening two games by a
total of five points, the Tigers
lost in triple overtime to Miami
and. in one extra period to
Boston College.
Charlie Whitehurst bounced
back from a rough start to go
28-for-42 for 304 yards for the
Tigers, and James Davis ran for
his first two touchdowns of the
season. They rallied from a 21
7 deficit to take a 27-21 lead on
Dean’s 47-yard field goal late in
the third quarter.
Nick Esarcs/t\W. GAMECOCK
Auburn tailback Kenny Irons scored two touchdowns against USC, his former team, in Saturday’s game at Jordan Hare Stadium.
pnvBncK • conunuED prod) to
people wrong about my size
and my abilities.”
“Travis was all over the
field,” Auburn coach Tommy
Tuberville said. “He’s getting
better.”
Williams getting better
might be a scary thought for the
rest of the SEC. In Saturday’s
game, he made 11 tackles,
forced a fumble and recorded
half a sack against the school
that said he was “too small.”
After the game, Irons and
Williams were all smiles, as
Auburn moved to 4-1 and the
Gamecocks dropped to 2-3.
“We was thinking, we’ve only
got one chance or one
opportunity to prove something
and just to say ‘I told you so,’”
Williams said. “I think we made
that statement today.”
DEFENSIVE
STRUGGLES
CONTINUE
As for Carolina’s defense,
stopping not only Irons but
anyone on the Auburn offense
proved to be a task that it
simply wasn’t able to do.
When all was said and done,
Auburn ran for 123 yards, and
Tiger quarterback Brandon
Cox completed 19-of-29 passes
for 245 yards and a touchdown.
Irons was credited for 67 of
those yards, 40 receiving and
27 rushing.
The first half saw Auburn
finish five of its seven drives
with points, including a 5-for-5
conversion rate inside the red
zone, allowing Auburn to take a
31-0 lead at halftime. The lack
of huge yardage was deceptive,
however, as four of the first-half
drives started at the 50-yard
line or in USC territory.
Cox didn’t look like a first
year starter in the win,
spreading the ball around to
eight receivers in the first half
alone, completing 15 of his 20
first-half passes. He didn’t
throw an interception and
hasn’t since his four-pick day in
Auburn’s season-opening loss to
Georgia Tech.
A bevy of Tigers contributed
on the receiving end, but Irons
led the Tigers with four
receptions for 40 yards.
The second half brought
nothing but more of the same
in what seemed like a
meaningless half of football.
Granted, Auburn did score an
additional 17 points.
The 41-point loss replaced
USC’s loss to Alabama as the
worst of the season and marked
the first time Spurrier has lost
three consecutive SEC contests
in his career. The loss was
Spurrier’s worst since a 42
point loss to Tennessee in his
first season at Florida.
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gamecocksports@gwm.sc.edu
I PLflTUIlC • COflTIflUED PR0IT110
in the number, but the
quarterback called the wrong
formation,” Spurrier said. “The
second one, Kenny McKinley,
didn’t go in. We gave a three
wide receiver set, and he just
didn’t go in.”
The rest of the night was
sheer confusion for the
Gamecocks, as the offense had
only five drives with more than
five plays.
Many offensive woes came
from poor starting field
position, as the average start of
a USC drive was its own 21. In
fact, the team never started a
drive in Auburn territory and
had only one drive that landed
them past midfield.
After an improved
performance from the rushing
game a week ago, USC’s
running backs were back to
their . old ways, managing a
meager 28 yards on 70 rushes.
“I don’t know if there was
anything they were doing to
slow down the run game,”
fullback Daccus Turman said.
“You know football1 games go
Nick Barrs/THE GAMECOCK
Quarterback Antonio Heffner gets ready to snap the ball Saturday.
Heffner struggled, leading USC to only one touchdown.
back and forth just like a
heavyweight fight. It seemed
like they had the upper hand on
us tonight.”
USC’s longest drive of the
night came with the game well
out of reach, as Heffner
engineered a seven-play drive
covering 81 yards. It also
featured the longest play of the
night, a 45-yard touchdown
pass to Sidney Rice. The
freshman wide receiver from
Gaffney has scored a
touchdown in every game he
has played this year, totaling
four scores in four games. Rice
finished the night with three
catches for 63 yards.
“We were ready to play. They
just had a good game,” Heffner
said. “Things didn’t go our way
today. It comes back on me as
the quarterback, but we will
move on.”
USC’s offensive showing was
its worst under Spurrier, as the
team totaled 199 yards on 52
plays for an average of 3.8 yards
per play.
“It was a combination of a
little bit of everything,” tackle
Na’Shan Goddard said. “We
were just missing things here
and there, and the next thing
you know, we’re back on the
10-yard line, and that put the
defense in a bad position.”
All that, coupled with a
defense that couldn’t shut down
the Auburn offensive
onslaught, made it a long ride
home for the Gamecocks.
“We were overmatched all
the way around in this game,”
Spurrier said. “It wasn’t much
of a ballgame, but that’s the way
it happened.”
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gamecocksports@gum. sc. eau
f
Volleyball remains
unbeaten at home
Carolina sweeps
Ole Miss, MSU
in weekend set
IDiquel Jacobs
STAFF WRITER
Having played its last eight
matches and 11 of its first 12
matches on the road, USC’s
volleyball team returned to
the Volleyball Competition
Facility for the first time in 24
days. The result was a
weekend sweep against
Mississippi State and Ole
Miss that* kept the
Gamecocks (9-5) undefeated
at home this season and
evened Carolina’s SEC record
to 2-2.
“It was great to be back in
our own gym and see our own
fans,” junior Shonda Cole
said. “It was awesome. I loved
it.”
With almost 400 fans
welcoming the team back to
Columbia, Carolina took
Friday’s match against the
Bulldogs in four games (30
19, 23-30, 30-27, 30-20)
before returning Sunday to
sweep the Rebels (30-26, 30
22, 30-26).
Alter dropping last seasons
conference home opener to
Mississippi State in straight
games, the Gamecocks
managed to control the
majority of the match this
time, paced by junior Iris
Santos’ double-double with
13 kills and 27 assists. Cole
continued to play well for
Carolina, hitting a 0.367 clip
with 11 kills and.zero errors.
“It was good (for the first
SEC home game),” USC
coach Nancy Somera said.
“It’s always good to get that
win. I’m more pleased with
the fact that we did some
things better in this match
than we did last weekend.”
The Gamecocks claimed
game one, mostly because of
a quick start, with the
Bulldogs not recording a kill
until they were well behind,
13-5. Carolina would stretch
the lead as much as 12 points
before claiming the game,
30-19. It was in the second
game that Mississippi State
(9-3) finally settled down.
Carolina led 16-15 before a
6-point run helped the
Bulldogs put the game away,
23-30.
“Volleyball is such a game
of momentum,” Somera said.
“We’re the home crowd and
they’re the visitors, and we
played a really flawless game
one. They made a lot of errors
though, so . really they just
settled down (after game one)
and settled into their game a
little bit.”
Both teams relied on
scoring rallies to keep the
third and fourth games close,
but the Gamecocks ended the
third game (30-27) with a 9-2
rally before gaining the match
with a 30-20 win in the final
game.
Ole Miss (6-10, 0-4 SEC)
gave the Gamecocks a try
Sunday, but the Rebels’ losing
streak remained, as they have
not defeated USC since 1992.
Carolina excelled on the
defensive front, recording 10
team blocks and 51 digs to
Mississippi’s 30.
“I thought it was one of our
best offensive and defensive
afternoons,” Somera said.
“Defense really was the
difference maker. We dug 21
more balls than they did. It
wasn’t like we were digging
balls and giving them free
balls. We were dig, set and
attacking them. Our
transition game was really
nice this afternoon.”
Cole touted the team’s
defense.
“We’ve been working on
our defense a lot,” Cole said.
“It’s helping us in games. We
want to be a ball control,
defense-oriented (team).
Tonight it really showed,
because we had a lot more
digs than we have been in the
past.
# i^TVl^UUV W11L& 11/ UkVVI
against the Rebels, from the
30 combined digs of Sarah
Morgan and Dinelia
Concepcion to the balanced
offensive attack between Cole
(17 kills), Morgan (7 kills)
and freshman Marija
Milosevic (8 kills). Senior
Lauren Ford turned in
another solid performance,
finishing the weekend with 20
kills while hitting 0.485.
“We definitely have several
options out there,” Somera
said. “It’s nice for the setters to
be able to base the
distribution on what the
opposing team is doing with
their blocks and still have
somebody put the ball away
for you. It’s nice having
offensive weapons, but it’s a
combination of the ball
control, the setting and the
attackers that really makes up
your offense.”
wnue sweeping tne rceDeis
and with Carolina at 2-2 in
the conference heading into
Friday’s match at Georgia,
Somera is more concerned
about the overall development
of her team rather than what
goes in the win-loss columns.
Clearly the first-year coach is
looking forward to returning
the Gamecocks back to the
SEC elite, where they were
perennial NCAA Tournament
participants until only three
years ago.
“Our plan as a staff was to
not worry so much about the
outcome and focus more on
becoming a better team so
that by midseason, we’re kind
of hitting our stride and doing
some really good things out
there. I think we’re on track;
we’re starting to do some
things better. We’re starting to
play this game at a higher
level.”
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BRoom • connnucD PRom io
fan to do?
It became apparent to me
this morning that the
Gamecocks are, in fact, going
to play the remainder of the
games left on the schedule.
No matter how much the
fans and students whine about
coaching, complain about
players and sit around feeling
sorry for themselves, at least
six more games have yet to be
played.
USC’s chances of making it
to a bowl are in serious
doubt. Right now it looks
like they can’t score and they
can’t stop anybody from
scoring. So, I’d say things
aren’t looking up.
The choice is pretty clear.
Things might not go as well as
some people expected this
year. Saturday might not have
been the last time USC gets
blown out this year. I will
probably go to at least one
more game I wish I never saw.
But what am I supposed to
do? Stop going? Stop
watching? Stop caring? As
unfortunate as it might seem,
that isn’t an optipn for me.
But USC still has plenty of
games to play and, obviously,
plenty of room for
improvement.
Maybe being a Carolina fan
was my first bad football
decision, but it’s a decision
I’ve made. And I’m sticking to
it.