The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, April 10, 2006, Page 13, Image 13
_ Game schedule
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Baseball @ Clemson, 7 p.m.
“■ 'V ^ ™ Men's tennis @ Clemson, 7 p.m.
Monday, April 10,2006 —I— — l_ ... B Page 13
April showers show fall powers
After near washout, offensive output
rules in Garnet and Black game
Tom Benning
STAFF WRITER
A Gamecock quarterback
put on a show at Saturday’s
Garnet and Black spring
game, but to the surprise of
a crowd of 10,210, it wasn’t
returning starter Blake
Mitchell.
Instead, redshirt freshman
Cade Thompson overcame
the soggy conditions to go
10-of-13 for 136 yards and
two touchdowns, leading the
Garnet team to a dominating
35-7 victory. USC head
coach Steve Spurrier had
high praise for his young
• signal caller.
“Cade Thompson was 10
of-13 in these conditions,”
he said. “That’s very
encouraging. Certainly, he
put himself into a position
(of), ‘Hey Coach, if you
need me, put me in there.
I’ll be ready to play.’”
From the beginning, the
game seemed set to be an
offensive showdown, as
the defenses were limited
in their alignments and
blitzing abilities. On the
Garnet team’s first play,
Thompson hit tight end
• Robert Pavlovic for a 20
yard gain. The passing game
allowed the Garnet team to
quickly march down the
field, as Thompson showed
vast improvement from
earlier scrimmages, hitting
five different receivers on
the drive.
“Overall, I think I got
better,” Thompson said.
“That’s what I was looking
to do. I wasn’t trying
to become the starting
quarterback overnight. I
really don’t know what
(Spurrier) thinks in terms of
playing me right now. I just
have to go out there and do
the best I can.”
The Garnet team capped
the drive with receiver
Freddie Brown playing the
role of injured Sidney Rice.
Lined up on the right side,
Brown caught a six-yard
touchdown on a quick slant
route against starting corner
Fred Bennett.
“Freddie played better
than we thought,” Spurrier
said. “He beat Fred Bennett
on the first touchdown.
You’d think with a freshman
wide receiver and a guy
who started about three
years, Fred would eat him
up. But he gave him a little
stick step, and Cade threw
it in there.” The Black team
SPRIR6 • 14
Juan Bias / THE GAMECOCK
USC running back Cory Boyd makes a cut-off block during Saturday’s spring game. Boyd, who sat out last season with
off-the-field issues, rushed for a 71-yard touchdown, the longest play from scrimmage during the game.
Back in the box:
My day at the
spring scrimmage
Free food, wet weather,
idiotic jokes permeate
air in football press box
• Since most of you
probably weren’t at the 2006
Garnet and Black game, I’ll
share my day with you.
Pre-game: It’s been
raining for the past five
hours. I’m not
sure if there
is going to be
food in the
press box, so
I’m eating the
last scrap of
food I have JRREBRBOR)
— a Totino’s Third-year
pizza and a political
Juicy Juice tcience
box of apple student
juice. Let’s go watch some
• football. I’m psyched.
Kickoff: Turns out there
was food in the press box:
a hotdog, two boxes of
popcorn, a bag of M&Ms,
and a bag of Skittles. It’s
game time. I feel like John
Popper from Blues Traveler,
circa 1997.
Somehow, we at The
Gamecock, ended up
with six people sitting in
the press box. We are all
choosing which team we
think will win the game and
who the MVP will be. I pick
the Black team to win, and
•Mike Davis to be the MVP.
Sports Editor Stephen
Fastenau picks the Garnet
team to win, but picks Blake
Mitchell, the quarterback of
the Black team, to be the
MVP. I am confused. Staff
Writer A.J. Bembry picks
Gurminder Thind to not
only be the MVP, but to win
the game even though he is
playing for both teams. His
final score prediction: Thind
— 30. These are the people
6 BROOID • K
Lacking defense not a problem say coaches
B.J. Bembry
.STAFF WRITER
For the 10,210 announced
fans at Williams-Brice
Stadium on a rainy Saturday
afternoon for the Garnet
and Black spring game, it
was unclear if the offenses
were really that good, or
if the defenses were really
that bad.
While the Garnet team
won the game 35-7, both
defenses were the true
losers, as the two offensive
squads combined for 638
total yards, 42 points and 31
first downs. The defenses
were, however, hampered
by what they were able to
do, as only a few coverage
formations were utilized
and blitzing was not
allowed. Still, despite the
offensive production during
the game, head coach
Steve Spurrier remained
realistic about the defensive
outlook.
“The defense did a lot
of good things this spring
and some not so good
things,” he said. “We’ve
got a long ways to go,
there’s no question about
it. We haven’t been overly
Juan Bias / THE GAMECOCK
Defensive back Fred Bennett makes a tackle on wide receiver Freddie Brown during
Saturday’s Garnet and Black game at Williams-Brice Stadium. Garnet won, 35-7.
impressive on defense, and
I think our guys know that.
We need to get stronger,
faster and play harder.”
Noticeably' absent
were Ko Simpson and
Johnathan Joseph, the
stalwart defensive back
tandem that anchored the
Carolina defense during
the 2005 season. Both
players declared early for
the NFL Draft in early
January, and the Garnet
and Black defenses missed
their presence, as their
offensive counterparts both
averaged close to 15 yards
per completion. While that
might be cause for concern
for some, for others,
it’s just another golden
opportunity.
“The guys we’ve got
replacing them (Simpson
and Joseph), I think they’re
ready for the challenge,”
said senior comer back Fred
Bennett. “I think this far
through the spring they’ve
showed that they can play.
I felt they’ve done a great
job. Losing those guys was
a lot, but I think we’ve got
some great replacements.”
According to defensive
coordinator Tyrone Nix it’s
going to be Bennett who
will have to fill the void left
by Simpson and Joseph.
“Fred’s going to have to
take on a leadership role
from a standpoint of being
consistent and being the
guy that can make plays
back there,” Nix said. “He’s
going into his senior year
and we expect for him to
be one of our best cover
guys and also be one of our
smartest guys, so he’s going
to have to take on a big role
in helping bring along some
of the young guys.”
Bennett said it’s going to
be exciting.
GARRET • N
Tide roll to series win with sweep in Sunday double-header
Illichael Rguilar
THE GAMECOCK
Coming into the
weekend, the USC baseball
team was ranked No. 1 in
the nation. Aside from a
tough loss to Clemson, the
Gamecocks hadn’t lost since
March 19. That included a
convincing sweep of SEC
powers LSU and Florida.
Alabama came into the
game, as the lead team in
the SEC West, and when
thev left, not much had
changed. The Crimson
Tide took the Gamecocks
into 11 innings for a heart
stopping contest, which
they lost 7-6, then won the
second two games by a total
run count of 14-7.
Carolina’s pitching had
been performing well prior
to this weekend’s series.
Allowing only 8 runs in
their last four wins, the
pitching staff looked like it
was what the team would
be counting on against the
Crimson Tide. However,
Alabama began to hit the
ball well, and when the dust
settled, the USC bullpen
had allowed 21 runs in
three games.
The first game lasted 11
innings and a packed Sarge
Frye crowd got a show
from two of the nation’s
best baseball teams. The
game was scoreless until
the fourth inning, when
freshman infielder Reese
Havens struck first on a
single.
It did not take long for
Alabama’s bats to start
talking back. They quickly
took the lead in tne top of
the fifth. Junior outfielder
Emeel Salem, junior
outfielder Brandon Belcher,
and junior infielder Greg
Paiml all singled for RBPs.
The Gamecocks fought
back with single runs in the
fifth and sixth innings. The
score remained tied until
the top of the eighth when
Alabama took the lead off
of a controversial line drive
up the left field foul line.
Carolina fought back in the
bottom of the same inning
to take a one-run lead off
a pinch-hit double from
junior Drew Martin.
The teams battled back
and forth-to leave the
game tied at the end of the
ninth inning. No runs were
scored until the bottom of
the eleventh. Just as he had
started the game off with an
RBI, Havens finished it in
the same fashion, knocking
double down the left field
line to score the winning
run.
In the second game of
the series, the Gamecocks
BASEBALL • N