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Katie Kirkland/THE GAMECOCK Sophomore defensive end Jordin Lindsey reaches for Vanderbilt quarterback Jay Cutler in the second half of Saturday’s game. Newton, Lindseys, Rice make life worth living Solid play by key parts breeds pre-Tennessee optimism for USC fans I haven’t been this satisfied about a win against Vanderbilt since... well... ever. The defense finally stopped the run and made a stand when it mattered most. The offense, although slow at first, showed enough flashes of Jake potential to make Broom me the first Third_year person to ever political look forward to a science trip to Knoxville. stu^ent Sidney Rice once again showed why I am voting for him for student body president even though I’m pretty sure he isn’t running. Fans got to see Blake Mitchell line up as the most awkward wide receiver since my high schools offensive linemen used to play “walk football” in weightlifting class. Defensive linemen Chris Tucker and Stanley Doughty were throwing people around like they were being blocked by Spring Valley High School. It seemed like there were about 27 Lindsey twins instead or only two. And Syvelle Newton, whom my mom has officially fallen in love with, learned what it felt like to completely take over a major college football game. By now I’m sure you’ve learned about Newton’s season ending injury, but his performance Saturday really cannot be overestimated. He turned it on when his team desperately needed a spark on offense. Not only was he a threat to catch a pass or receive a handoff and take it to the end zone every play, but the guy was 3-of-4 with two touchdown passes. Even I didn’t fully understand Newton’s talent until I heard Steve Spurrier describe his halftime offensive adjustment as “let’s let Syvelle run around a little bit and see what happens.” Just think about that. Spurrier is generally accepted as one of the greatest offensive minds in the history of college football, and the absolute best plan he can come up with is to give the ball to Syvelle and “see what happens.” And the best part was that he was right. Another thing I realized was that if Newton played defense, he’d be a Lindsey twin. Those guys are all over the place. They aren’t the biggest, the strongest or the fastest, but if you’re carrying a football and wearing a jersey that isn’t garnet and black, there is probably a Lindsey twin with bad intentions somewhere in your general area. Dustin Lindsey, in his first career start, tied for the team lead with 10 tackles. Jordin Lindsey had the second-highest total on the defensive line with four tackles, including one for a loss. uaMcaiiy, iu nivc lu uiiucc them honorary Ko Simpsons. Although they allowed 21 points (the offense gave up 7 with an interception returned for a touchdown), Carolina’s defense finally shut down an opponents running game and made the big stop at the end of the game. Not only did the offense march down the field when it mattered most and the defense made the critical stop to win the game, but even the fans stepped it up down the stretch. I was down on the field for the last 5 minutes, and it was easily as loud as it has been since the first touchdown of the Central Florida game. The game wasn’t packed, but even I can’t say anything bad about the fens. And that’s really saying something. This week we’re playing another team from Tennessee. They’re bigger than Vandy, stronger than Vandy, faster than Vandy and they’re bringing about 105,000 of their moonshine-drinking, overall loving, Daniel-Boone-hat wearing, Spurrier-hating friends and relatives. Not only will I be there, but I can’t wait to play Tennessee — for the first time since ... well ... ever. * Home-winning streak ends Volleyball falls to UK despite early success dliquel Jacobs STAFF WRITER The end of game one was no mistake. After handling the Kentucky Wildcats early for a 22-9 lead, USC’s women’s volleyball team allowed the opposition to rally back and turn the game into a contest, pulling the score to a close 27 22. Two service errors and a kill by freshman outside hitter Marija Milosevic gave the Gamecocks the win, but momentum was clearly with the Wildcats, who went on to take the final three games for the 3-1 victory. “First contact kind of got us,” USC coach Nancy Somera said. “We did not win the pass and serve game. It really always comes down to that. Regardless of who you play and what the matchups are, you have to be able to run your offense. They ran theirs more than we did.” The loss ended the home undefeated streak for the Gamecocks (10-9; 3-6 SEC), who were 3-0 at the Volleyball Competition Facility before Sunday. The Wildcats (13-7; 6-4 SEC) have won the past three meetings against Carolina. r' 1! _ I v/aiwmia vr ao iv.u uj Milosevic and juniors Shonda Cole and Iris Santos. Milosevic tied her career high with 13 kills, marking her third consecutive game in double-figure kills. Cole ended her hitting drought in collecting a game-high 18 kills. Last weekend, she failed to record double figures in that category in back-to-back games for the first time since her freshman season. Santos came one dig shy of her third triple-double, registering 13 kills, 22 assists and nine digs. The team overall held the edge in blocks and digs, registering 10 team blocks and 59 digs. However, after hitting 0.314 in game one, Carolina only managed to hit about 0.200 again in the final game. “Defensively, I thought we were fine,” Somera said. “We out-dug them, and they’re a good defensive team. I don’t really have a problem with how we defended today. We weren’t able to run a diversified offense out there. Everybody played hard though. I’m proud of the competitive effort we gave.” The two teams alternated points for the greater part of game two before attack errors allowed Carolina to pull ahead for modest 16-12 cushion. The Wildcats used a timeout Juan fi/WTIlK GAMECOCK Junior outside hitter Iris Santos sets a ball during the Gamecocks’ loss to Kentucky on Sunday. to regroup and quickly gain momentum, tying the game at 28 and rallying for three consecutive points and the win after trailing 29-28. Kentucky continued the hot streak after the break, going ahead early and never trailing in the third game. Carolina could not manage to get a run going in the game, never scoring more than two consecutive points. USC dropped the game 20-30. “I thought we sort of let it slip a little bit there in game three after letting game two go,” Somera said. “After being up 28-26 and they came back and won that game 31-29, we let that deflate us a little bit, and we need to work on that. We need to work on controlling the things we can control and letting things go that are out of our control.” Carolina came out quick in game four before allowing a few errors to turn into a 14-3 Kentucky run. The Gamecocks never trailed by more than 8 but couldn’t make up for the large deficit, dropping the game 24-30. The Gamecocks continue their home stand Wednesday when they take on the Tennessee Lady Vols. The match begins at 7 p-m. against the reigning SEC regular season and Tournament champions. Comments on this story? E-mail gamecocksports@gwm. sc. edu mmmmrm Binge Drinking Is... '■I ~ If you are a woman, Wy consuming 4 or more drinks an hour Ml ~ If you are a man, H! consuming 5 or more drinks an hour r\ What's the Problem? K High blood alcohol levels increase risk for: Ew 1. Alcohol Poisoning Rft ! 2. Alcohol related injuries or death M 3. Acquaintance rape, etc... Bjfl ^^^^Tfasnsmitting STD's.indu^^^W^^^^^ defefise • conuntiCD FROm 10 sending both schools in at the half with a 7-7 tie, putting the Gamecocks in the same situation they were in against Kentucky. With Vanderbilt receiving the ball to start the second half, the defense looked a bit shaky at the start. Three pass plays covering more than 15 yards and a “roughing the passer” call on Mike West allowed Vanderbilt to take its first lead of the game on a Cassen Jackson-Garrison 2-yard touchdown run. Behind the multidimensional play of Syvelle Newton, the Gamecock offense gave the defense some support, as the next three possessions would result in three consecutive touchdown drives, sending USC into the 11:07 mark of the fourth quarter up 28-14. the Gamecocks’ favor for long, as Cutler and wide receiver Earl Bennett took control of the aerial attack, rallying the Commodores to back-to-back touchdown drives that would tie the game 28-28 with 3:55 left. “They came out and made some big plays,” USC defensive coordinator Tyrone Nix said. “I think we didn’t make as many big plays. I guess that shows a little bit about this team that we can win close ball games. That’s two weeks in a row we’ve been tied at halftime and have had the chance for the game to come out either way and we’ve been successful.” After Mitchell led USC on a go-ahead touchdown drive, Vanderbilt was left with 1:41 of time to attempt and tie the game. The career-high days of Earl Bennett and Cutler continued to grow as the Commodore offense passed for lfl crroiahr nlavc hcilf inrpnrUrl for Bennett. “(Earl Bennett’s) a good ball player,” Nix said. “I was fortunate to see him in recruiting. He’s a kid from Alabama that we recruited at Southern Miss, and I wish he would’ve went there.” Starting at his own 25-yard line, Cutler led the offense to the USC 30 before stalling out behind heady play by the secondary. “We played a lot of zone, a lot of cover-two,” senior cornerback Jonathan Joseph said. “They had a lot of open spots, and we just weren’t giving up the big play. They were throwing it in front of us, and we were coming up and making the tackles.” After three straight incomplete passes, Vanderbilt called its final time-out with 9 seconds remaining in the game. Cutler’s final pass would be intended for Bryant Anderson at rhe gnal linp bur wnnld he broken up by Ko Simpson. “We knew going in that we needed this game to try and stay bowl eligible,” Simpson said. “We just kept fighting and came up with the win. I think we did a good job containing (Cutler). He’s one of the best quarterbacks in the conference now.” Cutler topped his previous career high, which came against USC in 2003, by passing for 339 yards. Earl Bennett also set a career mark with 204 yards receiving in only his freshman season. But even with giving up the yards, USC still managed not to give up the big play. “Our defense held on at the end there to preserve it,” Spurrier said. “I’m really happy to win, really proud of our guys and happy to be on the top side of 4-3.” Comments on this story: E-mail vamecocksoorts@nvm.sc.edu Katie Kirkland/HIE GAMECOCK Junior cornerback Johndthan Joseph returns an interception in the second half of USC’s win against the Vanderbilt Commodores.