The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, October 24, 2005, Page 9, Image 9
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.
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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.
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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
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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
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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
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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.