Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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Senior Orus Lambert blocks a Tiger field goal. Freshman Mike Davis rushed for 111 yards. Clemson's Jamaal Fudge intercepts a pass. Clemson s James Davis runs for a touchdown. —--- - ~ - Spurrier and Bowden chat before the game. Charlie Whitehurst went 4-0 against Carolina. CHoncGS • conunucD froiti io half, the Gamecocks were only able to post 6 points to the Tigers’ 3. A balanced USC attack seemingly moved the ball at will against the Clemson defense in the first half, rushing for 103 yards and passing for 148. The freshman tandem of Mike Davis and Bobby Wallace thrived in the first half, as they ran for 49 and 51 yards respectively. Davis finished the day with 111 yards on the ground, becoming the Gamecocks’ only 100-yard rusher on the season. “It was a relief but it doesn’t feel as good if you don’t win the game,” Davis said. After a Fred Bennett interception in the first quarter, the Gamecock offense looked poised to go on the board first, driving 56 yards in seven plays to the Clemson 32-yard line. The first of USC’s miscues came when quarterback Blake Mitchell was stripped on second down by Clemson defensive end Baines Adams, leaving Carolina with nothing to show for the drive. It appeared as though USC might get away with the mistake, as the defense held Clemson and the Gamecock offense again marched to the Tiger 6-yard line. But Carolina again came up without a touchdown despite a first-and-goal and had to settle for a Josh Brown field goal. After another Clemson punt, the Gamecocks again marched down the field, but again failed to score a touchdown. After first-and-10 from the Tiger 24-yard line, USC went three and out and again settled for a field goal. After more than doubling Clemson’s offensive production in the first half, a 3-point lead was hardly 4 comfortable for Carolina. But in the Gamecocks’ five-game winning streak, they were either tied or trailing at the half, a stat that comforted USC’s offense during the break. “We knew that we were a second-half team, and we have either been losing or close at halftime every game we won,” senior offensive lineman Na’Shan Goddard said. “We were gonna come out and do like we have been the last couple of games.” But USC’s inability to score touchdown’s immediately worked against them in the second half, as Clemson used nearly half the third quarter on its opening drive. As the second half wore on, it seemed the 80,000-plus in Williams Brice were watching the exact opposite of what happened in the first half. Clemson dominated the second half in statistics, outgaining USC by 167 yards in the second half, the exact total the Gamecocks outgained tne 1 lgers by in the first half. More than half of Carolina’s 96 yards in the second half came on their first drive. The tandem of Mitchell, Davis and receiver Sidney Rice again clicked, going 60 yards in six plays and again penetrating to the Clemson 25-yard line. Just when it appeared that the Gamecocks would go back on top, a Mitchell pass was dropped at the 3-yard line by Rice, and two plays later Mitchell was picked off by Clemson safety Jamaal Fudge. The Gamecock offense seemed never to recover. But a Clemson turnover inside the Clemson 10-yard line led to another USC field goal (the Gamecock offense netted -1 yard after the turnover), and despite a Clemson touchdown drive, Mitchell and USC’s offense found itself in a familiar position. With 5:48 to play the Gamecock offense took over down by only 4 points. Having already come from behind for wins against Kentucky, Vanderbilt, Tennessee and Arkansas, the offense was confident in the situation. “I thought we was gonna win,” Goddard said. “I thought this was gonna be one of the best comeback wins of the year.” Saturday produced another one of those plays that just seemed to go Carolina’s way, as a Mitchell interception was negated when Rice stripped the ball from the Clemson defender, allowing the Gamecocks not only to retain possession, but also gain a first down. But USC’s offense ran out of magic. After four Davis runs put Carolina at the Clemson 46-yard line, the final straw dropped on the comeback attempt, as a Mitchell pass was tipped at the line of scrimmage and intercepted by Clemson defensive end Charles Bennett. While the miscues proved costly, USC’s offense actually posted a number of firsts on Saturday. Davis became USC’s first 100-yard rusher since Spurrier became coach at USC. Rice caught seven passes for 122 yards and tied yet another school record. This time, he matched Sterling Sharpe’s record for most 100 yard receiving games in a season with five. Rice finishes the regular season with 952 yards, despite not playing in the first game of the season. He, Davis and Mitchell will return after this season, again leaving Gamecock fans saying, “wait till next year.” Comments on this story? E-mail gamecocksports@gum.sc. edu I defense •cormnueo mom to buckle down.” “We did something right to get them in that long yardage situation,” Nix said. “It was third down, third-and-12 I think, and they converted. I’ve got to give those guys credit. They made plays when they needed to offensively.” Trailing by four late in the fourth, the Gamecock offense went on the move, but a Mitchell interception looked like it might kill the drive. That was until USC receiver Sidney Rice made the best t defensive play of the night, forcing a fumble on Clemson cornerback CJ Gaddis, while USC senior receiver Kris Clark recovered, keeping the drive alive. Mitchell would end the drive six plays later, as Clemson defensive end Charles Bennett picked him off. A defensive stand might have given USC one final offensive series, as 2:26 remained on the clock, but a gap on third-and-9 allowed Whitehurst to run for a first down and run out any hope Carolina had of a comeback. After giving up only 57 yards in the st half, Clemson finished h 347 yards of total offense ; converted 9-of-l4 third-do attempts. “The ference tonight is we didi convert on third downs,” Nix said. “I need to coach better. I need to get them in the right position.” “They made the touchdown and we didn’t” Spurrier said. “That’s how they won the game. It’s as simple as that. I guess they made one more play than we did.” Comments on this story? E-mail gamecockfports@gwrn.sc.edu Juan Bias/THE GAMECOCK Clemson quarterback Charlie Whitehurst hands off to freshman running back James Davis on Saturday.