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November 6, 2013 • Volume 35 • Issue 32

basketball takes center stage

15 wins in a row at Williams-Brice!

2 • Spurs & Feathers November 6, 2013

by brian [email protected]

COLUMBIA, S.C. - The 14th-ranked Game-cocks utilized strong defensive play and a 17-point third quarter to pick up their school record-tying 15th straight win at Williams-Brice Stadium in a 34-16 victory over Missis-sippi State.

The victory came before a Homecoming crowd of 82,111 at Williams-Brice Stadium. South Carolina (7-2, 5-2 SEC) has now claimed seven straight wins over Mississippi State (4-4, 1-3 SEC).

The 15 straight wins inside the friendly con-fines of Williams-Brice Stadium ties the 15 consecutive wins complied by the Gamecocks from 1978-80.

“It was a very good win for our team,” noted South Carolina head coach Steve Spurrier, who is now 8-2 all-time against the Bulldogs. “To get 15 in a row at home … obviously our offense sputtered, it wasn’t a really good day for our offense. I think we need to get back and get a little more physical in practice. It seemed like we were a little too soft and we didn’t do too much. Fortunately our defense was there and we got some turnovers and we were able to capitalize and score some touchdowns and only have to kick a couple of field goals.”

South Carolina closed out the game with just 307 total yards of offense on 54 plays, while Mississippi State ended its loss to the Gamecocks with 385 yards of total offense on 78 plays.

The lack of yardage for the Gamecocks in the game proved to not be an issue as five turn-overs garnered by the Gamecock defense led to 20 of South Carolina’s 34 points.

“We’re a pretty good team and it was neat to see our defense rise up and do some very good playing here today,” Spurrier said.

After forcing the Gamecocks into a three and out on their first offensive possession of the game, Mississippi State then mounted a 9-play, 60-yard drive that took just over five minutes to take an early 7-0 lead. The culmination of the scoring drive by the Bulldogs came when quarterback Dak Prescott scored on a one-yard keeper on a speed option.

The Gamecocks would not let the Bulldogs hold on to the advantage for long as they pro-ceeded to go on a five-play, 71-yard drive to even the game at 7-all with 6:23 to play in the first quarter. Mike Davis rushed twice for 32 yards on the scoring drive, but the touchdown was picked up through the air with Connor Shaw finding a wide open Shaq Roland for a 14-yard touchdown reception.

A couple possessions later after an intercep-tion by Skai Moore garnered the Gamecocks great field position at their own 46-yard line, South Carolina would go ahead for the first

time in the game when Shaw once again connected with Roland, who on an out route deftly spun around his defender and then ran untouched for a 43-yard touchdown.

Shortly thereafter, Prescott would be in-tercepted by the Gamecocks again with T.J. Holloman utilizing the tip drill well to give the Gamecocks opportune field position at the Mississippi State 25-yard line. Elliott Fry would then give the Gamecocks a 10-point lead at 17-7 after a career-long 44-yard field goal.

Mississippi State would pull to within seven points at 17-10 with 4:15 left in the second quarter when Evan Sobiesk connected on a 38-yard field goal. The field goal was the first of Sobiesk’s career.

The two teams would enter halftime with the score still 17-10 in favor of the Gamecocks.

Mississippi State received the kick to start the second half, but the South Carolina defense would make sure that the Gamecock offense would get the ball anyway with Chaz Sutton forcing a fumble by Prescott and Golightly then picking up the loose football for 24 more yards to give the Gamecocks the football at the Bulldog 23-yard line.

Four plays later, Shaw found Damiere Byrd for a six-yard touchdown and a 24-10 Game-cock advantage.

South Carolina added to its lead on its next offensive possession. Davis was the star of the drive as he passed 1,000 yards rushing on the 2013 season on the drive. Davis’ 52 yards rushing on the Gamecock scoring drive in-cluded a 43-yard scamper on the second play of the drive.

Davis’ long run put the Gamecocks in posi-tion for Shaw to eventually find Jerell Adams for a four-yard touchdown and a 31-10 ad-vantage. After a Chaz Elder interception on Mississippi State’s next offensive possession, South Carolina utilized a Fry 37-yard field goal to pull ahead by 24 points at 34-10.

Mississippi State from there would add a

touchdown in the fourth quarter, but it would not nearly be enough as the Gamecocks easily held on for the 18-point victory.

Davis concluded South Carolina’s victory with 128 yards rushing on 15 carries. He also had 26 yards receiving on two receptions. Davis with his 128 yards rushing in the game became the eighth Gamecock in school his-tory to claim 1,000 or more yards in a single season. He now has 1,058 yards rushing on the

season. Davis with the 128 yards rushing against

Mississippi State now has seven 100-yard or more rushing games on the year. He has ac-counted for 115 or more all-purpose yards in every Gamecock game this season.

Shaw only completed 10 passes in the game, but four of his 10 completions went for touch-downs. The four touchdown passes for Shaw in the game tied his career high. Shaw in total was 10-for-20 with 147 yards passing.

Shaw’s four touchdown passes in the win over Mississippi State allowed him to move in-to second all-time in school history in passing touchdowns with 50. Shaw (23 wins; 14-0 at home) also now needs just one more win to tie Gamecock legend Todd Ellis (24) for the most wins as a Gamecock starting quarterback.

Victor Hampton led the Gamecocks in the win with eight tackles. He also had one fumble recovery.

Prescott finished the loss for Mississippi State with 78 yards rushing and 235 yards passing. He was 28-for-43 with three intercep-tions in total.

South Carolina will next try and secure its 16th consecutive home win in an SEC East showdown with Florida on Saturday, Nov. 16.

Return home sweet for Gamecocks in 34-16 win over Bulldogs

photo by allen sharpe

November 6, 2013 Spurs & Feathers • 3

Spurs & FeathersPublished by Aiken Communications, Inc.

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Postal Information:Spurs & Feathers (ISSN 074454368) is published weekly by Aiken Commu-nications, 326 Rutland Drive, Aiken, South Carolina 29801. Application to Mail at Periodicals Postage Prices is pending at Aiken, SC. POSTMASTER: please send address changes to Spurs & Feathers, 326 Rutland Drive, Aiken, SC 29801.

What’s Inside? - Table of ContentsMississippi State postgame notes/quotes ............6

Basketball exhibitions ...................................................8

Baseball fall wrap-up .....................................................9

Women’s golf closes strong fall ..............................11

All Sports Reunion reception ..................................12

Men’s tennis earns highest rankingafter fall competition under Goffi .........................14

Softball goes undefeated in fall .............................15

Recruiting roundup ....................................................16

Operations allows Gamecock fans toenjoy teams, experience ...........................................18

Women’s soccer completessuccessful regular sesason ..........................................5

Men’s soccer coach Mark Berson earnsmilestone 450th victory ............................................20

Swimming & diving hosts LSU ................................22

Sand volleyball gets their new home ...................23

“Inside the Chart” with Andy Demetra ................25

South Carolina-Florida rosters ......................... 26-27

Upcoming Events: Gamecock Club .......................28

Depth charts .................................................................29

Ed Girardeau column .................................................31

City Chapter Days announced for Gamecock basketball

The University of South Carolina Athletics Department, along with The Gamecock Club and My Carolina Alumni Association, have partnered in creating several City Chapter Days throughout the 2013-14 basketball season for both the Gamecock men’s and women’s teams.

The City Chapter Days will give Gamecock Club and Alumni Chapters a game at Colonial Life Arena that is dedicated specifically to their respective members and local business. During each game different chapter leaders and business owners will be recognized for their contributions and support of Gamecock Athletics.Below are the dates for this season:

Nov. 8, 2013 - Women’s Basketball vs. Charleston Southern 7 p.m.Charleston Night

Nov. 9, 2013 - Men’s Basketball vs. Longwood at 1 p.m.Florence & Myrtle Beach Day

Nov. 24, 2013 - Men’s Basketball vs. Florida International at 1 p.m.Atlanta, Augusta & Aiken Day

Jan. 11, 2014 - Men’s Basketball vs. LSU at 1:30 p.m.Charlotte, York & Rock Hill Day

Jan. 18, 2014 - Men’s Basketball vs. Ole Miss at 4:30 p.m.Greenville Day

Jan. 29, 2014 - Men’s Basketball vs. Texas A&M at 7 p.m.Irmo Night

Feb. 5, 2014 - Men’s Basketball vs. Auburn at 7 p.m.Richland County Night

Feb. 12, 2014 - Men’s Basketball vs. Vanderbilt at 8 p.m.Lexington Night

Feb. 15, 2014 - Men’s Basketball vs. Alabama at 8 p.m.Spartanburg Night

Feb. 22, 2014 - Men’s Basketball vs. Georgia at 1:30 p.m.Charleston Day

Feb. 27, 2014 - Women’s Basketball vs. Georgia 7 p.m.Gamecock Club and My Carolina Alumni Association Appreciation Night

March 4 2014 - Men’s Basketball vs. Florida at 7 p.m.Gamecock Club and My Carolina Alumni Association Appreciation Night

Discounted tickets are available for all groups (15 tickets or more) and start at only $4 each for women’s games and $10 each for men’s games. For more information please visit Gamecock-sOnline.com/Tickets or call the Basketball Group Sales Team at 803-777-8850.


The schedule affords an opportunity for a week of contemplation of the little things and what they mean to the Gamecocks, so let’s not squander the moment while considering the contingencies ahead.

For starters, a few things we should all be able to agree upon:

This may not the best team Steve Spurrier has coached at South Caro-lina, but if it is a group that wants to challenge that presumption, it surely has the opportunities to go where no Gamecocks team has gone, with a break or two along the way.

For as well as it has played at times, this team hasn’t yet played a complete football game in all three phases. That doesn’t mean we’re looking for perfection. It sug-gests that if the offense can click with both the passing and running games at the same time – often, it has been one or the other – and the defense and special teams can rise to the occasion on a more consistent basis, this is a season that can end a lot better than most would imagine.

The nagging injuries that have slowed Jadeveon Clowney, the inconsistency in the kicking game across the board – punting, punt returns, kickoff and kickoff returns – and the issues in the back end of a defense that went through a major personnel transi-tion, despite all that, the Gamecocks are not far off from what they hoped for.

Put it this way – would a Texas A&M vic-tory at Missouri on the last week of confer-ence play (Nov. 30), be considered a major upset by anyone? Not if they saw last year’s game at College Station when the Aggies scored on their first six possessions and took a 42-7 lead into halftime of an even-tual 59-29 win.

Carolina’s hopes to play for a champion-ship rely on numerous things, but most importantly one more defeat being handed to the Tigers at either Kentucky (this week) or Mississippi – remote but not impossible – on Nov. 23. If not, it comes down to the A&M game at the end of the season.

All that is dependent on a Carolina win in two weeks at home against Florida, a team the Gamecocks have beaten in two of their

last three meetings.This is not a desperate situation, but it is

one that demands the Gamecocks find a way to play their best at the end of the sea-son, when it counts most and that should be possible for a team like this that hasn’t been ravaged by as many injuries as has a lot of squads this time of year.

Clowney should be more than ready after a week off, quarterback Connor Shaw will have that much more time to recover from his bruises and Spurrier will spend time tweaking the offensive gadgets that make this team go.

We might see an assortment of person-nel packages that will give the Florida defense concerns. Mississippi State did a good job against Carolina’s offense most of the game the other day, but the Bulldogs seemed out of place in a few significant plays.

Coaching staffs coach against personnel packages more than individual players, so when they study game film they analyze which plays are most likely to be run out of certain groups of personnel.

So, with a 24-10 lead, when the Game-cocks lined up in 11 personnel – that’s one back (the first number) and one tight end (second number) – Mississippi State’s de-fense seemed surprised by the 43-yard run by Mike Davis that occurred on the play. Quickly, Carolina lined up in 12 personnel (one back, two tight ends) and appeared to catch the Bulldogs looking for something else when Shaw passed 30 yards to Davis out of the backfield.

Out of 22 personnel (two backs, two tight ends), which often indicates a run, Shaw threw a scoring pass to Damiere Byrd, it was 31-10 and the game was pretty much decided.

Point is, Spurrier is as good as it gets at knowing what you see on tape, develop-ing tendencies in those various personnel groupings and then destroying what you’ve learned with a little imagination here and there.

And that’s what the Gamecocks need for the final three games, a little imagination like they get from the coach and a little upswing in execution here and there. No-body’s asking for major upgrades, just a little more.

With a beneficial result along the way de-livered to Missouri, just a little more might be all they need.

Bart WrightContributing

Writer


Mike Davis hit the 1,000-yard threshold for the season against Mississippi State. He is just the eighth player in school history to eclipse the milestone. There have been 10 seasons in South Carolina history with a 1,000-yard rusher, as George Rogers did it three times in his career. In addition, Davis, who has rushed for over 100 yards in seven games this season, has surpassed 115 all-purpose yards in each game of the season.

Schedule affords opportunity for week of contemplation of little things


Mississippi State Head Coach Dan Mullen

Opening Statement“Obviously, it’s a very disappointing day

when we get 11 more first downs than them. We had a lot better pass completion, more yards and more plays. The difference was we turned the ball over five times and your percentage of winning after doing that on the road in the SEC is very low. Besides that, we did a lot of good things. We did a great job on third down against one of the best defenses in the league. Our defense came out and played very well, but we had a couple of critical breakdowns and were put in some tough situations. We did a lot of things to win, but give South Carolina credit. They didn’t make mistakes and they made the plays; and we made mistakes and didn’t make enough plays.”

On the turnover to start the second half …

“It was huge. It was a 17-10 game, we’ve got good field position and we feel good about ourselves. We have the opportunity to take the ball down and tie the game up. They made a mistake on the kickoff, but we came back and made another mistake and gave them the ball. Turnovers were the story of the game.”

On South Carolina’s program and the atmosphere during today’s game …

“You look at what they’ve done and what Coach Spurrier has been able to do here. It’s an early kickoff and it’s a sold-out stadium, not an empty seat in the house all the way through the fourth quarter. Their fans are making noise and cheering their team on. They’ve established and built a program here and it’s something that we’re trying to catch up to. It takes everyone to be involved to build a program and they’ve got everyone involved. We need to have the same atmo-sphere as they do right here, week-in and week-out, for all four quarters and create a hostile environment. It forces other teams into making mistakes and that’s how you win at home and become a contender in the SEC.”

On team’s preparation for the game and how turnovers changed the game …

“I thought we had a great week of practice and had great preparation. It’s an early kick-off and sometimes you’re worried as a coach if you’re going to have to get your team up and going. We had a 7 a.m. wake-up time, but our guys were ready to go. You look at the game and we did some really good things. I think if you flip the turnover ratio

and they have five turnovers and we have zero, we could’ve won this game.”

Mississippi State PlayersDak Prescott • Quarterback • Sopho-

moreOn identifying what went wrong today

and how to fix it … “Everybody doing their job. Everyone

making the block, everybody doing the right route, being big on a catch, just the little things we have to fix and it starts with me. We are going to get that right.”

On how momentum shifted from Mis-sissippi State early in the game to South Carolina …

“We went down there and scored and that’s how the game should have went the whole game. We didn’t execute. The first dive should have been like the rest of the game.”

On how he feels after taking numerous hits …

“The loss hurts more than all of it but I’m alright.”

Benardrick McKinney • Linebacker • Sophomore

On offense turnover putting the defense with their back against the walls …

“To be a great defense, no matter what situation you are in, you have to make big plays and stop them even if the offense turns it over and they are on the one-yard line. Defense has got to make a big play to get the offense back on the field.”

On Coach Mullen saying it was the coaches’ fault the sack being followed up by a long South Carolina play …

“I never blame anything on anybody. I feel like that the defense should have made the plays even if the coaches put us in a bad posi-tion.”

Cedric Jiles • Cornerback • Redshirt Freshman

On if he is frustrated seeing players break through the coverage …

“It isn’t frustrating really. It’s more of ‘let me get my stuff together and don’t get beat.’”

On quick turnaround due to the offense turnovers …

“You have got to be ready to play and stop the offense every down and make the changes. You’ve got to make a play and get the offense back on the field.”

(compiled by Mike Kucharski off South Carolina Athletics Media Relations reports)

What Mississippi State has to say



south carolina athletics media relations

General• No.14/16SouthCarolina’s34-16victory

overMississippiStateistheseventh-straightGamecockwinintheseries.Thelastsetbackcamein1999ina17-0de-featinStarkville,Miss.SouthCarolinaheadcoachSteveSpurrierisnow8-2all-timeagainsttheBulldogs.

• Today’sresultextendstheGamecocks’homewinningstreakto15,tyingtheschoolrecordsetfrom1978-80.Thewinisalsothe38thinafour-yearperiod,whichmatchestheschoolrecordsetbylastyear’sseniorclass.

• SeniorquarterbackConnorShawnowhas23careerwinsasstartingquarter-backfortheGamecocks,includinga14-0markathome.OnlyToddEllis(24)hasmoreinschoolhistory.Shawis23-5asastarterfortheGarnet&Black.

offense• Withaseven-yardruninthethirdquar-

ter,sophomoretailbackMikeDavishitthe1,000-yardthresholdfortheseason.Heisjusttheeighthplayerinschoolhis-torytoeclipsethemilestone.Therehavebeen10seasonsinSouthCarolinahis-torywitha1,000-yardrusher,asGeorgeRogersdiditthreetimesinhiscareer.

• Davisfinishedthedaywith128yards.Itishisseventh100-yardgameoftheyear,whichisthirdall-timeatSouthCarolina.Inaddition,Davishassurpassed115all-purposeyardsineachgameoftheseason.

• Shawmatchedacareer-highwithfourtouchdownpassesintoday’scontest.Theperformancemoveshimintosec-ondplaceall-timeatSouthCarolinainpassingtouchdownswith50.OnlySteveTaneyhill(62)isaheadofhim.

• Withapairoffirst-quartertouchdowns,sophomorewidereceiverShaqRolandpostedthefirstmulti-touchdowngameofhiscareer.Rolandenteredthegamewithjusttwocareerscores.

• JuniorwidereceiverDamiereByrdhasnowscoredatouchdowninfourgamesthisseasonandsevengamesinhisca-reer.

• Withhis24-yardreception,sophomoretailbackShonCarsonsetanewcareer-highinreceivingyards.

• FouroftheGamecocks’sixscoringdriveswereundertwominutes.

defense• FreshmanlinebackerSkaiMooreearned

hisfirst-careerstartandpostedhisfirst-careerinterceptioninthefirstquarter

• FreshmanlinebackerT.J.Holloman’ssecond-quarterinterceptionisthesecond

ofhiscareeraftercorrallingoneatUCFearlierthisseason

• SeniordefensiveendChazSuttonforcedafumbleforthethirdtimeinhiscareer.HislastforcedfumblecameagainstKentuckylastseason.

• FreshmansafetyChazEldercapturedhisfirst-careerinterceptioninthethirdquarter.

• JuniorcornerbackVictorHamptonsetanewcareer-highwiththreepassbreak-ups.

• ThefiveturnoversSouthCarolinacol-lectedarethemostsincegettingfouratUCFearlierthisyear.TheGamecocks’threeinterceptionstiesaseasonhigh,alsosetatUCF.

special teams• FreshmanElliottFryhitacareer-long

44-yardfieldgoal,bestinghisprevioustopmarkof41yardsagainstKentuckyearlierthisseason.Headdedasecondfieldgoal,thistimea36-yarder,inthethirdquarterforthe34-10lead.

head coach steve spurrier

opening statement“Itwasaverygoodwinforourteam.To

get15inarowathome,maybethebestinthecountry,wellMichiganbutIthinktheyplayOhioStatetherethisyear.Itwasagoodwin.Obviouslyouroffensesputtered,itwasn’tare-

allygooddayforouroffense.Ithinkweneedtogobackandgetalittlemorephysicalinprac-tice.Itseemedlikewewerealittletoosoftandwedidn’tdotoomuch.Fortunatelyourdefensewasthereandgotsometurnoversandwewereabletocapitalizeandscoresometouchdownsandonlyhavetokickacoupleoffieldgoals.ReallygoodplaybyElliottFry,hemadebothofhis[fieldgoals].Ourpunter,TylerHull,hecaughtthemandgotthemout.Ithinkweplayedwithzeroturnovers,that’sonethingouroffensedidwellwastakecareoftheball.Wecouldn’trunitverywellandwecouldn’tthrowitverywellattimes.Wehitafewtouchdownpassesfortunatelybutthirddownswewereprettysorryandoverallwewereverysorry.MississippiStatehadagoodplanandtheygotthebestofouroffensetodaybutitisateamsport.Ourspecialteamsplayedwellandourdefenseplayedverywellandgotallofthoseturnoversthatsortofsetup.Weonlyhad54playsand300yardsandtheystoppedus.Givethoseguyscredit,theywerealittlebitbetterthanusinthatareabutstillwewonthegameandsometimesyouneedtowinthatway.We’reaprettygoodteamanditwasneattoseeourdefenseriseupanddosomeverygoodplayingheretoday.”

on how big the turnovers were“Ithinkwescoredonallofthem,usually

touchdownsbutwedidhaveacouplefieldgoalsthatwehadtokick.Theywereverycru-

cial.Wedidhaveonegooddriveinthethirdquarterabout85yardswhenMike[Davis]hadhisonelongrun.IthinkMikewentover1,000yardstodaywiththatlongrun.Pharaoh[Coo-per]hadafewrunsinthere.TurnoverswerecrucialandMikeDavisdidhaveanotherexcel-lentgame.WegavePresidentPastidesagameball.He’sbeenhereforall15ofthosewinsathomeandhe’soneofthebestpresidentsinthenationandwe’reluckytohavehimhere.Itwasneattohavehiminthelockerroomtogivehimagameball.”

Lorenzo Ward • Defensive Coordinator

on mississippi state’s turnovers“Wedidn’thavealotofturnoversthisseason.

Ithinkasyougetbetterondefenseandguysunderstandwhattheyaredoing,weplayfasterandwhenyouplayfasteryoucanbemorephysical.”

Connor Shaw • QB • Senior

on playing at home“Ourplayerslovetoplayathome,there’sno

placelikeit.Ourfanbaseisthebestinthecoun-tryandIthinkwe’veproventhatwith15winsathome.”

Shaq Roland • WR • Sophomore

On his first of two touchdown catches“Thefirsttouchdownwasamancoverage

anditwasanoptionrouteforme.Ididn’tseeanyoneinsidesoIbrokeitoffinsideandmadethecatch.Itwasagreatpass.”

Jadeveon Clowney • DE • Junior

on seeing the defense grow throughout the season“Wealldependoneachother.Everybody’s

gotanassignmentouttheretodo,regardlessofwhomakesplaysornot.I’mnotgoingtomakealotofplays,theymightnotmakealotofplays,buteverybodyaroundtheballgetstotheballandwejuststicktogether.”

on what it means to win 15 straight at home“It’sbig.Wetied[therecord]andintwo

weekswearecominginheretobreakit.We’relookingforwardtothat,havingthemostwinsinSouthCarolinahistoryathome.Wewon’tletthisstreakendagainstFlorida.”

Mike Davis • TB • Sophomore

on reaching 1000 yards“Goingoverathousandyards,itmeansalot.

I’mproudofmyselfandIamgladIwasabletobetheeighthperson(todothat).It’sagreatfeeling.”

South Carolina-Mississippi State postgame notes/quotes

photo by jenny dilworth


08/29/13..... vs. North Carolina ...........Columbia, S.C. ...........W, 27-10

09/07/13 .... at #11 Georgia .................Athens, Ga. .................L, 41-30

09/14/13 .... vs. Vanderbilt ...................Columbia, S.C. ...........W, 35-25

09/28/13 .... at UCF .............................Orlando, Fla. ...............W, 28-25

10/05/13 .... vs. Kentucky ....................Columbia, S.C. ...........W, 35-28

10/12/13 .... at Arkansas ......................Fayetteville, Ark. ...........W, 52-7

10/19/13 .... at Tennessee ...................Knoxville, Tenn. ...........L, 23-21

10/26/13 .... at #5 Missouri ..................Columbia, Mo. . W, 27-24 (2OT)

11/02/13 .... vs. Mississippi State ........Columbia, S.C. ...........W, 34-16

11/16/13 .... vs. Florida ........................Columbia, S.C. .................. TBA

11/23/13 .... vs. Coastal Carolina .........Columbia, S.C. ............... 1 p.m.

11/30/13 .... vs. Clemson .....................Columbia, S.C. .................. TBA

South Carolina Gamecocks2013

football SCheduleTeam SEC Pct. Overall Pct. Home Away Neutral StreakEastErnMissouri 4 - 1 .800 8 - 1 .889 5-1 3-0 0-0 W1

South Carolina 5 - 2 .714 7 - 2 .778 4-0 3-2 0-0 W2Georgia 4 - 2 .667 5 - 3 .625 3-1 1-2 1-0 W1

Florida 3 - 3 .500 4 - 4 .500 3-0 1-3 0-1 L3

Tennessee 1 - 4 .200 4 - 5 .444 4-1 0-4 0-0 L2

Vanderbilt 1 - 4 .200 4 - 4 .500 3-2 1-2 0-0 L1

Kentucky 0 - 4 .000 2 - 6 .250 2-3 0-2 0-1 W1

WEstErnAlabama 5 - 0 1.000 8 - 0 1.000 5-0 2-0 1-0 W8

Auburn 4 - 1 .800 8 - 1 .889 6-0 2-1 0-0 W5

LSU 3 - 2 .600 7 - 2 .778 5-0 1-2 1-0 W1

Texas A&M 3 - 2 .600 7 - 2 .778 5-2 2-0 0-0 W2

Ole Miss 2 - 3 .400 5 - 3 .625 3-1 2-2 0-0 W2

Mississippi St. 1 - 3 .250 4 - 4 .500 4-1 0-2 0-1 L1

Arkansas 0 - 5 .000 3 - 6 .333 3-3 0-3 0-0 L6

standings

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by mike [email protected]

The 21st-ranked South Carolina women’s basketball team was able to pull away with a 24-0 run in a little more than eight minutes in the first half to cruise to a 96-35 victory over North Greenville.

The Gamecocks had five players with double-digit scoring totals led by strong play in the post. Elem Ibiam and Alaina Coates each chipped in 20 points in a combined 18-for-24 performance from the floor.

South Carolina scored their first 32 points in the paint and went 13-for-20 from the floor to start the game. Head coach Dawn Staley said they made a concerted effort to get the ball inside to take advantage of their size.

The Gamecocks also held a 49-26 advantage on the glass and they scored 78 of their 96 points in the exhibition game in the paint.

“We have been working extremely hard at getting the ball inside. Elem has been doing great in practice, so just being able to create some space for her and take high percentage shots. Alaina has been doing the same,” Staley said. “We wanted to make sure that we made a conscious effort to get the ball inside.”

Aleighsa Welch chipped in with a near triple-double, tal-lying 15 points, nine rebounds and seven assists. Welch was 7-for-8 from the field and 1-for-1 from the free throw line.

“We’ve been trying to go with the big lineup and allowing her to play a little bit on the perimeter is good,” Staley said of Welch. “I think she looked good. I feel real comfortable

putting her out there and giving us a different look. We’ll definitely need her athleticism and speed.”

Tiffany Mitchell scored 19 points and Khadijah Sessions had 10 points and four assists to close out the Gamecocks in double figures.

Staley said the team needs to be more efficient and know where the shots are coming from which led to the Game-cocks shooting 60 percent (42-for-70) from the field for the game. She said that the percentage could have been even higher if they had not missed layups in the first half.

The Gamecocks went 11-for-15 (73.3 percent) from the foul line and the Crusaders were 7-for-13 (53.8 percent). From 3-point land, South Carolina was 1-for-5 (20 percent) to North Greenville’s 2-for-13 (15.4 percent) performance.

South Carolina has been known as a defensive team under Staley’s guidance and they showed that by holding North Greenville to 35 points on 24.1 percent (13-for-54) shooting. Staley still thought that they could have played better defen-sively and that they still have room to improve.

“I thought we gave up too many points - 25 points in the second half - against North Greenville. We’re not going to look the same; we’re going to be a lot different, but the effort has to be there. We have to make sure that we make people take tough shots,” Staley said.

The Gamecocks will move on from the exhibition victory and look to improve leading into the season opener as they next open the regular season by hosting Charleston Southern on Friday, Nov. 8 at 7 p.m. in the Colonial Life Arena.

Gamecocks obtain big exhibition win over North Greenville


Tiffany Mitchell finished with 19 points in the win over NGU.


A Brenton Williams 3-pointer with a little under seven minutes to play was the catalyst of a strong final stretch for South Carolina that saw the Gamecocks pull away for an 84-72 exhibition victory over USC Aiken at Colo-nial Life Arena.

The Williams trey snapped a 17-3 run by the Pacers that had pulled them to within three points.

South Carolina head coach Frank Mar-tin pointed out that a game that featured a 21-point lead for the Gamecocks as well as the Gamecocks having to hold off the Pacers down the stretch is exactly what they needed.

“That game doesn’t count on my record, our NCAA resumé or whatever, but we have to learn from that,” noted Martin. “I think we had Brenton and a bunch of freshmen running around out there … it was a great moment for them to take ownership and learn. We didn’t handle it real good, but then Brent jumps up and makes a shot. Sometimes you run great offense and you don’t score and sometimes the offense doesn’t go the way you plan it and you do score. That was one of those moments, but give Brent credit.”

Martin continued by saying that despite the run he never really considered calling a time-out due it being a learning moment.

“You have to understand how to manage a negative moment to figure out a way to make it a positive moment,” Martin remarked. “Basketball is a game of runs and if you can ever stay away from whatever we gave up … if you can ever stay away from those kind of runs, you will be okay. The whole idea is you want your runs to be 12-to-two or 12-to-three and you want their runs to be seven-to-four. If you can try to stop the bleeding whenever they’re on a run, you’re probably going to end up winning the game and we don’t understand that yet. That was good for our guys to have to go through that moment there.”

The two teams battled back and forth over the course of the first five minutes with USC Aiken clinging to a 9-7 advantage with 15:03 left in the opening half of action. The Game-cocks would then go on an 8-1 run to pull on top by five at 15-10 with a little over 10 min-utes to play in the first half.

Exerting their size and athleticism, South Carolina pushed their lead to double digits over the next five minutes, owning a 33-16 lead with right at five minutes until intermis-sion. The lead had been pushed to as many as 20 points at 38-18 with 3:14 remaining in the inaugural half of play. Carolina entered half-time with a 44-27 lead.

The first few minutes of the second half were all Gamecocks, but the 17-3 run by USC Aiken over a four-minute span from

11:49-7:46 pulled the Pacers to within three at 65-62.

A minute later with the Gamecocks still leading by three points, 67-64, Williams knocked down a 3-pointer from the left wing to give the Gamecocks the lead at 70-64 with 6:45 to play in the contest. The Gamecocks from there would not let the Pacers any closer, eventually emerging with the 12-point vic-tory.

Four Gamecocks finished in double figures with Michael Carrera leading the way with 14 points and five rebounds. Carrera shot 4-for-5 from the field in the game. He was 5-of-6 from the charity stripe.

Laimonas Chatkevicus obtained a double-double for the Gamecocks in the game with 11 rebounds and 10 points. He also had a block.

Sindarius Thornwell closed out his after-noon with 12 points (8-of-10 at free throw line), while Williams had 10 points. Williams was 7-for-8 from the free throw line in ad-dition to the dagger three. Duane Notice led South Carolina with six assists in the win over the Pacers. He also poured in eight points.

Two Pacers concluded their efforts in double figures with Paul Larsen claiming 15 points and nine boards and Ronald Zimmerman fin-ishing with 13 points.

South Carolina shot 49 percent (24-for-49) from the field as a team in the game. USC Ai-ken ended its loss to the Gamecocks shooting

30.3 percent from the floor as a team. USC Aiken head coach Vince Alexander

was happy with his team’s effort against the Gamecocks.

“I told them to stop fouling number one and two just keep competing because I felt like if we continue to compete - certainly we’re not a Carolina, we’re not at that level - but I think we’ve got some guys that can play and some guys that can compete. We’re not that bad of a team. I just told them to compete and take pride,” Alexander noted.

The Pacers, who played in the NCAA Divi-sion II Elite Eight in the 2012-13 season, lost in overtime to South Carolina’s SEC counter-part Ole Miss in overtime just two days before tangling with the Gamecocks. Alexander was quick to point out that the difference between the Gamecocks and the Rebels is South Caro-lina’s defensive tenacity.

Williams agreed with Alexander, pointing out “we definitely feel the same way because that’s Frank’s motive is defense. Thats what he feeds off of. He said we played pretty good defense until we started to lose a little bit of the lead. Losing guys and guys getting open shots. USC Aiken connected all of them to bring the lead back down so that’s what we’ve got to learn from.”

South Carolina will open its regular season at home against Longwood at 1 p.m. on Satur-day, Nov. 9.

Exhibition victory over USC Aiken shows resolve



The Gamecock baseball team wrapped up their fall practice sessions last weekend with the Garnet and Black World Series and head coach Chad Holbrook discussed what he learned about the team last Monday.

“We had a good fall. I don’t know if we answered all of the questions that we wanted to have answered … but we saw some really good play from some position players, our young pitchers were very, very impressive for the most part and I think some of the older guys have improved,” Holbrook said. “We feel good about where we are. We didn’t have any real major injuries which is always a con-cern in the fall.”

Of the older players, Holbrook said that Tanner English had a good fall and drew a lot of walks. Holbrook also said that it was good to see Max Schrock back out on the field and he played well in his limited time after a long layoff.

Holbrook said that the jobs of closer and third starter are yet to be determined, compe-tition will continue and they will be decided closer to the season. Holbrook did say that based off of the Garnet and Black World Se-ries, Cody Mincey was very impressive late in games and has an inside track on the closer role.

“He had a swing-and-miss slider and he competed. I think his velocity was up to about 92 miles per hour for the first time all fall and he’s an older guy. You like to have an older guy at the end of the game,” Holbrook noted. “I would say that Cody has a good chance to get some meaningful outs at the end of the game, but we can match you up too … so it might be a little bit of a bullpen-by-committee when we get cranked up.”

The top two starters’ fall sessions were both positive for Holbrook. He said that Jordan Montgomery has worked very hard, even though he has not been pitching and he thinks fans will see an improved Montgomery this spring. Jack Wynkoop has gotten stronger physically, raised his velocity and performed well against middle-of-the-lineup competition according to Holbrook.

“We feel very comfortable with Jack. We think he’s going to keep us in the game. We feel very comfortable with Jordan. We think Jordan is one of the best Friday night guys in the country, so we feel very good about those two guys,” Holbrook commented.

The injury to Joey Pankake’s elbow this fall makes it less likely that he will pitch this spring according to Holbrook. He said that Pankake is still a constant threat in the middle of the lineup as well.

“Joey is too important to us from a position player standpoint. I’ve still got to get him

comfortable in a position … I feel comfort-able putting him somewhere, but I’ve got to make sure that he is comfortable and we’re consistent in where we put him on a day-to-day basis,” Holbrook explained. “Barring Joey really begging me to pitch him, I don’t know if it’s going to be worth the risk based on what has happened this fall.”

Kyle Martin had a great fall and showed Holbrook that he is a legitimate middle-of-the-lineup presence. He said that he feels that Martin may have been the player of the fall in the field, on the mound and at the plate.

Holbrook is happy with the multitude of talented options that he has at many positions, including the middle infield spots. He said that he has four players that could play in the those spots and that he has told them all to be ready to play at second base, shortstop or third base this spring.

Another thing that pleased Holbrook this fall was that Grayson Greiner made it through the sessions healthy. He said that Greiner is the closest thing to an irreplaceable player on the team. Holbrook added that he feels that Greiner has a chance to be an All-American and he may be the best catcher in the country.

Holbrook said that he feels that it will be hard to cut down the roster with all the talent and effort that he has seen thus far from the team and this makes it less likely that any players from the football team will be on the spring roster.

“They’ve given me everything they can and it’s very hard for me to pass on one of those guys that have been here every single day in the fall and deserved a spot,” Holbrook said. “It’s hard to open this thing back up in Janu-ary and let someone come beat them out in a two week period.

“I’m going to have a very difficult time with that … I’m not going to close the door on them, but at the same time I’ve got to be fair to those guys that have been here this fall,” Holbrook explained.

Many newcomers have performed well this fall according to Holbrook and he said that the competition they have brought to the team has been good for everyone. Holbrook is pleased with the mix of youth and experience that he saw this fall with great effort and tal-ent shown from the whole roster.

Overall, Holbrook said that he likes the team, but there are still some questions that will need to be answered if the Gamecocks are going to make another trip to Omaha this summer.

“I think we have some questions that we have to answer and I don’t think we’re there yet … but I do like our team. We’re athletic and we’ve got some strength in there,” Hol-brook said. “We feel good about our team, but there are some important questions to be answered.”

Gamecock baseball wraps up fall practice sessions




The 14th-ranked South Carolina’s women’s golf team had a consistent and solid fall that they hope will provide a starting point for a successful spring competition season leading to another postseason run.

The Gamecocks were able to finish sixth, second, tied for fifth and fourth in their four events this fall. Each tournament saw at least one Gamecock finish in the top-10 individu-ally as well.

Head coach Kalen Harris said that she felt this was the best fall the team has had since she has been at Carolina. She was pleased that they were able to contend in a couple events with top-tier competition.

“The depth of our team was extremely good. We basically had the rotation of the same six players in there … basically every-body out of those six contributed and did a very good job,” Harris said. “I think that we had a lot of positives, but we have a lot of things that we need to address this winter in order to get to the next level.”

Harris said that she was unsure of where the Gamecocks would end up being ranked fol-lowing the fall competition, but she thought that this would be the best ranking that they have had after the fall portion in her time at South Carolina.

“I saw a big jump from last year in where we are and our starting point this year is to-tally different than where we’ve been in years past … that’s a positive but we have some things that we can address in the offseason that can get us that one step higher to separate ourselves,” Harris continued.

Junior Justine Dreher echoed her coach and said that she feels the offseason is a good time

for them to improve and take the next step to compete on an elite level. Dreher put together a strong fall, positing two top-10 finishes in the four events.

“Offseason is the time when you actually get better because you can work on long-term things, core things in your swing, mentally or short game. You can work on things that you wouldn’t have time to do in the season be-cause you go from playing to qualifying and back around,” Dreher commented. “You don’t really have the time to do the work. I really think offseason is the time when you have to step up and make a difference.”

Harris has no doubt that they will be able to improve because the team has an excel-lent work ethic and a great amount of talent. Harris also said that the break will be good because the schedule has been rigorous for the team so far and they will be able to get some rest, get caught up on school work, spend time with friends and then be ready to really get things going when they get back after winter break.

The challenging schedule was a tool that Harris used to learn more about the team and help them to gain experience.

“That’s something that I do on purpose. I like to put us in the highest level of competi-tion possible to kind of see where we fall … there are some top-five teams out there that are on a little bit of a different level than everybody else and that shows us where we need to get to,” Harris explained. “It serves as a motivation for the offseason.

“It also breeds us confidence too; we tied Alabama at North Carolina. It lets them know that they’re right there … I think the competi-tion that we see week-in and week-out in the tournaments that we’re able to play is very important to our development in pushing us

forward and to our improvement,” Harris continued.

Senior Samantha Swinehart said that com-peting against the best teams in the nation helps them to become better and improve confidence as well. Swinehart was able to post two top-10 finishes as well, led by a tie for second place at the Mercedes-Benz Col-legiate.

“I think it’s really good that we play against the top teams in the country because we do get to see what is out there, especially at the last tournament. We see where they are and where we are,” Swinehart said. “It’s very encouraging. I think our team can be really strong this year and we have the potential to have a great spring.”

The team is a very-tight knit group that gets along well according to Harris, Dreher and Swinehart. Harris said that they work hard to bring each other up and give support while still competing for spots. She added that they handle the situation very maturely and contin-ue to put the team’s interests before their own.

“We have a good group of girls that really get along, so the team chemistry is great,” Swinehart confirmed.

The teams goals are still basically the same as they were before the season according to Harris. She said that they have process goals that will build toward the results that they would like to see in competition.

“We just want to keep competing for championships and if we keep achieving our process goals, the winning will take care of itself. Of course we want to win, but as long as we keep putting ourselves in contention we know that things will fall into place,” Harris said. “You’ve got to have a little luck on your side and keep putting yourself in position and good things are going to happen.”

Dreher echoed Harris saying that the team needs to focus on how they will compete rather than what they want to do.

“You say ‘how am I going to be great?’ rather than ‘what do I want to do?’ because you can’t really control what score your going to play, what scoring average you’re going to have or if you’re going to win or lose. It’s not just up to us, it’s also up to other teams,” Dre-her explained. “I think that it’s very important that we know how we’re going to practice and how we’re going to work.”

Overall, Harris said that she was pleased with the fall portion of the schedule and is looking forward to see how far this talented team can go.

“I just think we need to keep building onto that momentum moving into the spring and see what we can do. It’s a great starting point for us,” Harris concluded.

Gamecocks have strong starting position following solid fall schedule

photo by South carolina athleticS media relationS

The 14th-ranked South Carolina women’s golf team opens the spring portion of its 2013-14 schedule at the Florida State Match-Up, which will be held in Tallahassee, Fla. (2/14-16)



The South Carolina Athletics Department, Gamecock Club and Association of Let-termen combined to honor former student-athletes from all sports over Homecoming Weekend starting with a reception on Friday, Nov. 1.

The rainy weather moved the event indoors to the Dodie Anderson Academic Enrich-ment Center, but that did not dampen the evening as over 160 former Gamecocks and 300 total people with guests made for the largest showing in the event’s history.

South Carolina President Dr. Harris Pas-tides, Association of Lettermen current President Gary Gregor and Athletics Direc-tor Ray Tanner addressed the assembled group of diverse former South Carolina student-athletes.

Pastides asked the group if there were any Gamecocks in attendance and received a rousing cheer. He then called out sport-by- sport to see who was in attendance; he found former athletes from track and field, soccer, swimming and diving, volleyball, basket-ball, football, golf and baseball.

Tanner thanked the group for their com-mitment to South Carolina in helping take the Athletics Department to the level it is at now. He called them the foundation for their time and investment to get the program to where it is today.

“I’m a living example. I came here in the summer of 1996 … we didn’t have real nice facilities, but what we had was former ath-letes that had done a great job to build some history and tradition,” Tanner said. “They gave us the opportunity to come behind and roll out some great things. That is you, all of you have done great things for the program.”

Tanner honored a couple of former athletes who played in the 1940s. They were Pat Vella and Clarence Sanders, former football players from 1949 and 1940, respectively. He also made special mention of the members of the 1967-68 men’s tennis team that went undefeated.

Both Vella and Sanders noted how special it was to see the support of the group that came out for the reception. Vella added that it is great to be able to come to an event with so many former Gamecock athletes all together.

USC Association of Lettermen 2012 board member Courtney Leavitt (football, 1996-99) said this was by far the best turnout of any reunion that had been done.

“It’s great to see the turnout that we had here tonight. It’s nice to see so many come from sports outside of football, basketball and baseball as well,” Leavitt said. “The

Lettermen’s Association is about 90 percent of those three sports, so it’s nice to kind of bridge the gap and get everyone back to-gether here.”

University South Carolina Athletics Hall of Famer Shelia Foster (women’s basketball, 1979-82) said that it was great to see such a turnout at the event.

“It’s great to be back with the old Game-cock family. It’s always nice to get together with the old crowd and catch up. This turn-out is great and it’s great to see the support here tonight,” Foster commented.

Rick Sanford (football, 1975-78) credited the work of Tanner for bringing all the former athletes back to the South Carolina family.

“It’s great to be able to have everyone to-gether and celebrate. It has been a long time coming and it is special to see everyone be able to be here,” Sanford said.

All Sports Reunion reception draws large crowdphoto by allen sharpe

South Carolina Athletics Director Ray Tanner talks with the 160 former Gamecocks and 300 people in total in attendance at the All Sports Reunion reception on Friday, Nov. 1.



1. You played last year for st. thomas more school in oakdale, conn., but you are from Woodbridge, ontario, canada. What made coming down south to play for the Gamecocks so exciting? The re-cruitment. The staff saw me late in my final year at prep school and the commitment they showed to recruiting me and the vision they showed for the South Carolina program.

2. everybody kind of mentioned you as a combo guard with plenty of scoring abil-ity during your recruitment. how do you see your game? It is hard for me to gauge my game because I feel I am my biggest critic. I can’t really put myself into one posi-tion. I like to pass the ball and look for my teammates, play defense and I like to score when the pressure is on. It depends on the situation.

3. You averaged 17 points, eight re-bounds and five assists last year for St. thomas more. obviously you bring a great deal to the table, but what do you

think sets you apart from others on the court? My physicality; I like to play physi-cal during the game. I’m a team player and I like to do the little things to win and I like to listen to my coach.

4. What aspect of your game are you working on the most as you prepare for your freshman season to get underway? My point guard skills. At St. Thomas More I was playing at the two and I haven’t played point guard for several years. I’ve worked on making better reads and pushing the ball. It has been an adjustment because I played international basketball with Team Canada, so it is different playing in the United States with different rules and different philoso-phies of the game. I’ve also worked on my shot. It is more consistent. I’m just trying to get better everyday.

5. What player do you model your game after the most? I look up to Steve Nash; he is a great mentor to me. Guys like Cory Jo-seph in the NBA, Kevin Pangos at Gonzaga I like to model my game after. Just team-mates that I’ve had. I like to take something from every one I play against or see.

Starting Five with Duane Notice




The University of South Carolina men’s ten-nis team competed well against some of the best competition in the nation this fall and fin-ished their early season schedule ranked 18th in the nation.

“On paper it might seem a little bit odd be-cause the quantity of wins weren’t there, but I feel like the quality wins were. That’s part of the scheduling that we did this year,” head coach Josh Goffi said. “We weren’t going out and playing middle-tier tournaments like we have in the past in the fall to gain a little confi-dence; put some things we have been working on into play and have success at it.

“We’re far enough along in the development now in this team that it is important to see where they are against the toughest competi-tion. Some of the things stood up under the toughest competition and some of the things didn’t with each guy. That was the main goal in what we were looking for this fall,” Goffi continued.

The team competed maturely according to Goffi, which is something that he had not seen in past falls. He said that the team was technically sound for the most part, but the fall was able to reveal some of the things that the team needs to work on going forward into the spring portion of the schedule. Goffi said that he is happy with the team’s progression and is looking forward to continued training.

“Now we’re really tearing into it. We kind of just trained through the tournaments; we didn’t really peak or settle down. I don’t really care about the results in the fall. It’s more just a mirror test for our guys to see where they’re at in their progression. Let’s get back to work when we get back to the courts on Monday. So all-in-all everything is right where it needs to be,” Goffi said.

Goffi is confident in his doubles pairings af-ter seeing some strong performances from his team this fall. Chip Cox, Kyle Koch, Thiago Pinheiro and Tsevtan Mihov have shown that they will be strong anchors out of the first and second positions.

“Kyle and Chip are a great fit emotionally to-gether, but as far as their games go, we’re hav-ing to adjust a few things on the court when they play doubles,” Goffi commented. “That is something that is difficult for a lot of players because they typically just do what they do out there. They’ve made some great adjustments and they are a very good team.

“With Thiago and Tsvetan, they’re great ten-nis players and they’re good doubles players. They’re two of our best competitors, so you put those two guys on the court in a competi-tive environment and it’s going to be tough to beat them,” Goffi continued. “Our three spot

is going to be really tough. I think we’re go-ing to have two tough guys down there if all things work out … we’re going to be winning some doubles points for sure.”

The Gamecocks should be strong on the singles front as well; the team has experienced returning players and two freshmen that are making good progression in their transition to competing at the college level.

“We’ve kind of let Andrew Schaffer go ahead and just play for this first part. We want-ed to see what made him the 10th blue-chip in the country and really get into his game a little bit. I’ve known Sam (Swank) for a long time and know where he is in his progression a little bit more than Andrew,” Goffi said. “So with Sam we went immediately to the ground and got him on his progression as soon as pos-sible because his high end is huge. He is mak-

ing big strides. Day-by-day he is getting there and he has been really close with some of the best competitors in the country. He’s only a tenth of where he will be by the time his ca-reer is done here, so I’m very excited by him.

“Andrew has proven that he can win, but he’s also met his limit and that is what we needed to see … he has to cut some of that fat out of his game that he was able to get away with in juniors. He’s working on that and, most im-portantly, he believes it now,” Goffi continued.

Goffi said that the returners have all been progressing well and their talent levels will make the Gamecocks a very difficult matchup for other teams. Mihov, Pinheiro, Koch and Cox have all had strong falls and Goffi noted that Andrew Adams is coming back from hip surgery. Adams looks to be on track to com-pete this spring, which will only strengthen

the top of the lineup.With the skill level and expectations com-

ing out of the fall, Goffi said that this season will provide a different kind of challenge that a team has not faced in his time leading the Gamecocks.

“The key for us this year is not being com-fortable … we’re ranked at 18 going into the season and that’s new for us going into a sea-son. There’s a target now. We went into last season ranked 41st and that’s a big difference,” Goffi explained. “We went into last season with a chip on our shoulder and we needed to go out and prove that we were good and de-served to win. Now we need to prove that we are that good.

“It’s about not getting comfortable when we’re in the lead or having a good season. Our guys will always fight when they’re down, if we’re having a rough start to the year they will shine through. There is no doubt in that; that’s just who they are, that’s who we recruited and that’s how we run our program. This is a different scenario this year and I think we’re going to start off pretty well, but we need to go through that pressure. It’s taking care of the details … everything has to be done on a pro-fessional level. If we do that I think that we’ll have a good year,” Goffi commented.

Goffi said that his team has done what he wanted to see this year and the atmosphere and chemistry around the team is excellent, which he said sets up for a strong spring sea-son.

“We’ve really gotten to work a lot and there haven’t been any distractions getting into the team or any teammates causing those distrac-tions. The culture is set; we are in the culture that we want to be in and it’s proving that it’s working. We’re right where we want to be and I think that we’re going to catapult in the spring pretty well,” Goffi said.

Gamecocks serve up successful fall, hope to return a strong spring

photo by travis bell/sideline carolina

Thiago Pinheiro and the Gamecocks have positioned themselves well for a strong spring.



The Gamecock softball team was able to go undefeated in fall competition, but more im-portantly to the coaching staff was the prog-ress that the team made from the beginning of practices to where the team ended up.

“Certainly I’m pleased that we went unde-feated in the fall because that’s something that we haven’t done here, but they don’t hand out any rings in the fall, so I’m not con-cerned about our win-loss record in the fall. I was certainly pleased that our girls played well. We scored runs, we pitched well and we faced all different types of competition so I was glad that we finished up the fall so strong,” head coach Beverly Smith said.

Smith said that she was pleased with the way that the team was able to pick up wins in multiple ways. Some games they were able to score a lot of runs, some games were de-cided by pitching in one run games and they had multiple walk-off wins in extra innings. They were able to come back against North Carolina in their fall opener in a game that the Gamecocks did not lead until their final at-bat.

“The games were an opportunity for us to just put into play what we worked on. I al-ways say that playing in games makes plan-ning practice the next week so much easier for us,” Smith said. “It gave us an opportu-nity to see the girls in live situations against some opponents and I was really pleased with what we saw.

“I was glad that we did so well because everybody had an opportunity to play so we had a good chance to evaluate our team and see what we have. That was my main goal, just to test the team, let some of these young players play and see what we’ve got,” Smith continued.

Smith was pleased with the performance of the many new players - the roster has eight freshmen and a transfer - especially with their response in stressful situations. Freshman pitcher Nickie Blue was able to pitch her way out of a tie game against North Carolina and started the first game of the fall campaign.

Smith noted that Blue came in and per-formed well this fall, as did all of the pitch-ers. She noted that she has seen improve-ments from both of there returning pitchers.

“I think I’ve seen big improvements with Julie (Sarratt) as well,” Smith commented. “She really worked on developing the rise-ball this year and we threw it a lot this fall. I think she really developed some confidence with that.

“My biggest positive I think from the fall was the performance of Lakyn Shull. She didn’t get as much time on the mound last year, but she made some huge strides. She came in several situations this fall and re-ally performed well. She threw a good mix of pitches and she was in some tight, bases-loaded situations that she worked her way out of,” Smith explained.

Working to figure out the batting order was another aspect of the team that Smith was able to experiment with during the fall. She said that they must replace last year’s All-American leadoff hitter and shortstop Samie Garcia which is no easy task.

“We played with the lineup a bit. For some of those returners, they found themselves in different spots. We’re trying to get a little bit of a rhythm to see who flows together well, but I thought our returning players have done a super job,” Smith said.

Smith said that there are still some ques-tions to be answered about the team, but she feels that there is enough talent and team chemistry to make for an exciting team to watch this spring. She added that this has been a fantastic fall and she cannot remem-ber a better one in her time leading the Gamecocks.

“There is no question we’ve got a lot of work to do, but I think that we’re further along this fall than we have been since I’ve been here at South Carolina. I’m really proud of where we are right now. This team is fo-cused, determined and they thrive on getting better every day. So we certainly have plenty of work to do, but we’re really excited about where we are and where we’re headed,” Smith said.

Smith added that the teams’ determination will help as they dial back into individual practice sessions. It gives them a chance to step back and work on what they need to improve individually to help the team for the spring when the wins and losses do matter.

The team has talked about goals for the spring and with the squad that they have, the team is thinking about more than just competing in the SEC. They have already be-gun talking about the possibility of winning championships.

“The team has verbalized that. They have said ‘we want to be SEC champs, be in the SEC tournament and win it here in front of our fans.’ Obviously the ultimate goal is to win the National Championship. So they’re talking about it and that’s exciting to have that championship chatter going on here. It was a great fall and I think it showed a lot about our team. We’re going to be a fun team to watch this spring,” Smith concluded.

Softball completes successful fall session



South Carolina GamecocksReCRuitinG Roundup

by phil koRnblutFormer USC commitment DB Wesley

Green of Lithonia, GA is now looking at USC, Clemson, Tennessee, Ole Miss,

Georgia and Alabama accord-ing to his coach. Cortez Allen said Green will take official visits to USC, Georgia, Tennessee and Ole Miss. He also will visit Clemson and Alabama with one getting the final official visit. No dates have been set. Green’s last visit was to Georgia for

the LSU game. He’s also been to USC this season and plans to be at the Clemson-USC game. Green committed to USC in June and de-committed in September and his coach says he’s taking things much slower this time. “He’s going back and allowing the process to take its course,” Allen said. “There’s an interest in all those schools. He wants to get on campus and get around the guys and see what the feel is.”

Senior DE Dante Sawyer of Suwanee, GA will be at USC Saturday for the Mis-sissippi State game. He has been to Ten-nessee, Auburn and Georgia for games this season. Sawyer said he’s down to USC, Tennessee, Auburn and Missouri. He has all of his official visits remaining and he plans to take them before deciding. He does not claim a favorite right now but said USC is “up there.” Sawyer is not sure when he’ll make his decision.

OL Jordan Prestwood of Arizona West-ern JC made an official visit to Florida State over the weekend. He also plans to take official visits to USC, Ole Miss, Au-burn and Oklahoma.

JuniorsDE Arden Key of Lithonia, GA, a for-

mer USC commitment, was scheduled for an unofficial visit to LSU Saturday. Key continues to garner offers with Florida and Alabama two of the newest. Some of his

other offers are USC, Clemson, Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisville, Miami, Ole Miss, North Carolina, Stanford, Tennes-see, UCLA, Southern Cal, Virginia Tech, Washington and LSU. There will no rush to judgment this time for Key who com-mitted to USC in June and de-committed in September. “One thing I’ve talked to Arden about is playing football right now,” said his coach Cortez Allen. “He’s got so much time ahead of him. I’m trying to keep him grounded. It’s tough on these kids. Arden is a big, old baby and I don’t want him to get caught up in the pressure and the hype.” Allen says USC is still very much in play for Key and teammate Wesley Green. “They both are still excited about South Carolina but they are talking to guys and looking at different things,” he said. Key visited USC for a game earlier this season and could return for the Clemson-USC game.

DL Albert Huggins of Orangeburg-Wilkinson made his first game day visit of the season when he went up to Clemson for the Florida State game. Huggins plans to get to other games with USC, North Carolina and NC State three targets. Hug-gins has not added any new offers to his list which is comprised of USC, Clemson, Florida State, Florida, Alabama, Tennes-see, Louisville, Georgia, NC State, North Carolina, Auburn and SC State. He does not have favorites and doesn’t have a time-table for a decision.

DB Mark Fields Jr. of Cornelius, NC made his second visit this season to Clem-son for the Florida State game. “Of the of-fers I have right now my top two I’d have to say are Clemson and South Carolina,” said Fields who also has offers from Ohio State, Tennessee, North Carolina, NC State, SC State and Charlotte. He has also been to USC for a game and is going to the Ala-bama-LSU game noting that Alabama has been recruiting him hard. He plans to get to USC for the Mississippi State or Florida game and hopes to go back to Clemson for another game. Is there a favorite for Fields between the two rivals? “No sir, they are the same to me,” he said.

Junior WR Markeyvious Adams of Greenwood visited Clemson for the Florida

State game, his second visit to Clemson this season. He has also been to games at Appalachian State, Georgia and Georgia Tech and is planning to attend USC’s game Saturday. Showing interest in Adams are Clemson, North Carolina, NC State, Duke, Florida State and Tennessee.

Basketball News6-8 Dante Buford of Jacksonville, FL

made official visits to Miami and Okla-homa last week and will take his final official visit to USC this weekend. “He’s got his scores so he’s qualified and we’re just waiting to see what he does,” Buford’s coach Rex Morgan said. “They’re looking forward to having him on campus officially and I think he’ll have a better feel for it.” Buford, who is a Simpsonville native, has been unofficially to USC. He is expected to announce his decision soon after his visit to USC.

6-6 junior PJ Dozier of Spring Valley is one of the top players in the country in the junior class despite the fact he will miss the season while recovering from knee sur-gery. After offers from all over the country, Dozier has his list down to 13 schools ac-cording to his father Perry Dozier, a former USC player who is the coach at Spring Val-ley. That list is USC, Clemson, North Caro-lina, NC State, Louisville, Georgetown, Michigan, Kansas, Ohio State, Indiana, Baylor, Mississippi State and Florida. The Doziers visited North Carolina recently to watch practice. “Coach Williams has been down several times to see him,” Perry Dozier said. Dozier might take a visit to Georgetown as well. He has been to USC and Clemson and both are real players for him. “He likes both of them,” his father said. “He loves the guys over at Clemson as well as South Carolina. Of course, he’d like to be close to home but his selection will be more geared towards what will be the best fit for him.” Dozier will layout his five of-ficial visits in December. Coaches from all of the 13 have been in to see him. Dozier is doing extremely well in his rehab accord-ing to his father. “Roll the ball out there and he could do tremendously well.” Last season Dozier averaged 18 points, 7 assists

and 6 rebounds per game.The USC women gained a pair of com-

mitments for the 2014 class. 5-6 PG Bi-anca Cuevas of Brooklyn, NY is ESPN’s HoopGurlz #8 point guard in the class nationally and the #44 player overall. Here is there evaluation of Cuevas from July: Electrifying lead guard with court savvy; flourishes in uptempo game, relying on the flashy play vs. the fundamental decision; interior passer, tempo changer, reads pres-sure; flamboyant finisher with inconsistent results; playground creator.

6-0 Doniya Cliney of Newark, NJ, ac-cording to ProspectsNation.com, is the 13th ranked guard in the 2014 class and the 105th ranked prospect overall. In 30 games last season Cliney averaged 10 points, 3 rebounds and 2 assists per game. She shot 43% from the floor and 60% from the foul line. Dawn Staley now has three commit-ments for the 2014 class.

Baseball NewsBaseball America 2013 recruiting rankings:

1. Florida2. Texas3. South Carolina4. Oklahoma State5. Oregon State6. Miami7. Oregon8. Mississippi9. Mississippi State10. Oklahoma11. Nebraska12. Cal State Fullerton13. Auburn14. Virginia15. Tennessee16. Clemson17. Texas Christian18. Florida State19. Louisville20. Vanderbilt21. Georgia22. Loyola Marymount23. Tulane24. Southern California25. Kentucky

Phil KornblutContributing

Writer



The annual Junior Gamecock Club Hallow-een Party was held at Riverbanks Zoo & Gar-den on Monday, Oct. 28.

The event was free for Junior Gamecock Club members. Each Junior Gamecock Club mem-ber also received two adult tickets.

The special yearly event was held as part of Riverbanks Zoo & Garden’s “Boo at the Zoo Halloween Spooktacular.” The event lasted from 6-9 p.m. and over 900 people attended one of the perks of being a Junior Gamecock Club member.

Once inside Riverbanks Zoo & Garden, Ju-nior Gamecock Club members were able to see all the animals, while also obtaining candy and other surprises at different stations that were scattered throughout the zoo. South Carolina student-athletes, Cocky, the Carolina Girls and Gamecock cheerleaders were also there to help hand out candy and spend time with the Junior

Gamecock Club members. At the Ndoki Lodge, Junior Gamecock Club

members were treated to a special hot dog dinner. There was also a DJ inside the Ndoki Lodge spinning dance music for everyone to dance to and enjoy.

If all of that was not enough, there was also a mysterious maze, a magician, a haunted carou-sel and a place to make s’mores. In addition to the dance party at Ndoki Lodge there was also a large dance party for “Boo at the Zoo” attend-ees just inside the gates of Riverbanks Zoo & Garden. There was even an area called “Fran-kenstein’s Foam Zone” where foam rained down on anyone willing to get wet and soapy.

The annual Junior Gamecock Club Hallow-een Party is just one of the many perks avail-able for members. To learn more about joining the Junior Gamecock Club, please visit www.gamecocksonline.com/sports/c-gamecockclub/juniorgamecockclub.html.

Note: The Junior Gamecock Club is only for fans who are 13 years of age and younger.

Junior Gamecock Club Halloween Party a treat for all ages



Gamecock fans get the opportunity to cheer on their teams in great facilities and the work of the operations and facilities staffs helps to create the excellent environment.

Associate Athletics Director for Opera-tions and Facilities Jeff Davis coordinates the facility services, sports turf and landscap-ing and operations and event management divisions of South Carolina Athletics. These three groups collectively help to get every-thing ready for gamedays.

Davis said that he has outstanding staff in each of those three divisions which allows him to do his job. He added that it is a team effort between himself, his administrative assistant Nancy Wheeler who keeps him organized and the Assistant Athletics Direc-tors for each division. The three Assistant ADs who provide great leadership and work closely with Davis are Duane Grooms for facilities services, Clark Cox for sports turf and landscaping and Shawn Burke for opera-tions and event management.

“It’s a collective effort and they’ve got great staff working with those three people. Everybody pitches in and does a great job,” Davis explained. “I’ve always maintained the philosophy that you’re only as good as the people that work with you and work for you. I strongly believe that.”

These three groups are part of the founda-tion for the operations of the athletics staff because they must prepare everything for gamedays. If there is an issue on their end, then that can trickle down into other parts of the department. Davis said if something

is wrong it could affect anything from fun-draising to the teams they are preparing the facilities for or even causing calls to the Ath-letics Director’s office.

Davis said their responsibility is getting the games to their beginning and once the games start, they can manage what happens dur-ing the game. He added that the staffs put in monumental efforts just to get to the games’ beginning.

The capital projects, such as building Caro-lina Stadium or the work on the Athletics Village, are also challenges for Davis as he works closely with Chief Operating Officer Kevin O’Connell. Davis said that it has been great to see the work done through the de-partment to allow South Carolina to compete in the SEC on a facility level.

“It has really been very rewarding to be involved with the magnitude of projects we’ve had … that’s one of the things about our business is we see the end result and that is what drives us and keeps us going,” Davis commented.

Davis said that his main focus is on creat-ing a great experience for Gamecock fans when they attend an event. He noted that they understand that more calls and emails will pertain to an issue that needs to be taken care of than will be complimentary, but they understand that fact. He said they can use these to help improve the fan experience by minimizing those issues the best they can.

“The fans are the lifeblood to support the Athletics Department and the student-athletes and we want them to have a great fan experience. We want to make sure the venue is ready and the presentation is such that they notice what is going on in the game and not

necessarily the environment around them,” Davis said. “We want them to be absorbed in what is going on in the game.”

Once kickoff comes, Davis only gets to watch some of the game because he spends much of the game either in command or going around the stadium and observing dif-ferent facets of operations. He said that it is somewhat of a relief once the games actually start, but he and his team continue to work to deliver an excellent experience to Gamecock fans.

The most hectic time of the year for Davis and his team is leading up to the first home football game, but it is also very busy when seasons overlap, such as football and basket-ball. The month of November can be very taxing on Davis and his staff, but he said their commitment helps make these busy times run smoothly.

Davis previously worked at the University of Houston and East Carolina and he is now in his 30th year of working in college athlet-ics, 13 of those at South Carolina. He said that there are many similarities in the jobs, but working for South Carolina in the SEC is an incredible opportunity.

“Being here at South Carolina and in the SEC, there is no comparison in regards to the level of financial support and the competi-tiveness that you have,” Davis noted. “A lot of similarities, but it’s just on a grander scale in the SEC.”

The people he works with and the relation-ships they develop are the most rewarding parts of Davis’ job. He said that you cannot be successful unless everyone is on the same page and working as a team.

“I think probably the best part of the job

is building relationships with people, par-ticularly the people you work with … just developing those relationships and knowing that you can count on them to assist in your operation,” Davis said. “The second prong of that would be seeing the finished product. That’s a reward to see that things look great, we got it done and a win helps morale obvi-ously.

“You can’t do that without good, depend-able and committed people and that is what we have, not only in the three divisions that I oversee, but in the Athletics Department as a whole. Everybody is doing their job and doing it well. I am very fortunate to be here,” Davis added.

Gamecock fan experience is enhanced by facilities and operations staff


The work of Director of Baseball Opera-tions Tyson Lusk helps allow the Gamecock baseball team to focus on baseball alone and put a successful team on the diamond.

Lusk is intricately involved with the travel and logistics for the baseball team, but he also works with many other departments from South Carolina, whether that is athletics media relations, sports marketing and op-posing team’s directors of operations, just to name a few.

One of the main jobs that Lusk had to start on as soon as the 2014 schedule was released is to arrange all of the travel for the Game-cocks’ road trips.

“Dealing with the hotels, the bus, the char-ter flights, per diem and that kind of thing

falls under my job … you’re pretty much in constant contact with your bus companies, in constant contact with your hotels,” Lusk said. “I think the biggest fear for all operations folks is somehow something on the road doesn’t go well.

“Either the bus is late, or the bus isn’t there or the hotel rooms aren’t ready … so the big-gest thing is you have to stay on top of those things, anticipate and be flexible if some sort of situation does arise,” Lusk said.

Being on the road is difficult because there may not be as many courses of action that you can take to rectify a situation as you could at home, but he said there are plenty of responsibilities when playing at home as well.

“I think it’s a little easier at home, but you’re always going to have things come up which is part of the attraction of working in

college athletics. There’s no real dull mo-ment and every day is different … at home there are a lot more factors because you’re dealing with a lot more folks than just your team,” Lusk explained. “There’s a lot more responsibilities for the players and coaches at home than there is on the road, which is a good thing.

“As the home team we’re also trying to host the visitors, make sure they know where they’re supposed to go and assist with any needs they have. On the road it’s kind of re-versed where they’re responsible for you and try to make sure that you have everything that you need,” Lusk continued.

Lusk also coordinates with the equipment staff and grounds crew to prepare for prac-tices and games. He said that much of his

Getting the Gamecocks out on the diamond

South carolina athleticS media relationS

Tyson Lusk, Director of Baseball Operations.

South carolina athleticS media relationS

Jeff Davis, Associate Athletics Director for Operations and Facilities.

Please see lusk, Page 31



The 10th-ranked University of South Carolina women’s soccer team completed a stellar regular season with a comeback 2-1 victory over Kentucky at Stone Sta-dium on Senior Night on Oct. 31.

South Carolina was able to compile a perfect 10-0 record at home during the regular season and secured the program’s best regular season winning percentage at .842 by going 15-2-2 overall. Head coach Shelley Smith said that the season and the win are very rewarding for this year’s senior class.

“It’s quite an accomplishment. They’ve done a tremendous job all year and consis-tently performed on the road and at home, but especially at home,” Smith said. “It does mean a lot to the senior group and the entire team, but especially the seniors who took it upon themselves to lead the team coming into this year.

“They really committed to being their best and it took a lot of work starting right after the season ended last year. They made a commitment to come back and really work hard so it is gratifying to see that pay off with the results they’ve had,” Smith continued.

Smith said that they are thrilled with the body of work that the team has cre-ated this season, but they know there is still work to be done. She said they feel that they have set themselves up in a good position for postseason play, which is the goal of the regular season.

“That is something that you’re pushing toward and it is quite an accomplishment. The fortunate part is we have done tre-mendously well and we’re basically one goal away from being overall conference champions,” Smith noted. “That’s disap-pointing, but at the same time we have a chance of getting the championship next

week and put ourselves in good position seed-wise.

“It has also given us the chance to host (NCAA tournament games) at home. There is a lot more to play for and a lot that we’ve accomplished already. The fact that we’ve done that well at home has giv-en us the confidence to go into the NCAAs knowing that we have a chance to host more games this year,” Smith said.

The Gamecocks will be the third seed in the SEC tournament and open against the No. 6 seed Georgia. Florida and Texas A&M were SEC regular season co-cham-pions with 9-2-0 records, while South Carolina finished 8-2-1 in SEC play.

Georgia was one of the two teams to defeat the Gamecocks in conference play, but Smith said that they are a different team now then when they dropped their SEC opener in Athens, Ga., 2-0, on Sept. 20.

“We’ve played well against everyone in the conference and we’re facing a team that we’ve already faced this year … it’s actually even more motivating for our team to go in and play a team they are dis-appointed in their loss during the season,” Smith noted. “We get a second chance and that’s a great position to be in going into the tournament.

“We’ve learned a lot about ourselves since we played Georgia, so we’ll be an improved team facing them. If you get past that first round, I think we have a good shot at getting to the championship,” Smith said.

Smith said the SEC is so competitive this year that any team can beat another on any given day and she expects the same from the conference tournament. She added that they must bring their “A-game” to win and if they do, then there is a good chance for them to take home an SEC Championship.

Smith said that the team has been in so many different situations, including hav-

ing to come from behind to win multiple times, that they feel that they can handle anything that happens. They have man-aged to pick up the results needed to keep their special season going and Smith expects more of the same from the experi-enced squad.

“The players don’t give up. They believe they can win games and that’s half the battle … they play all 90 minutes. That’s been a theme all year and been a big part

of our success that we haven’t stopped playing,” Smith said. “You go through that kind of schedule, then you are battle tested and it does prepare you well for postsea-son play.

“We know we can play with anybody. We’re playing a great brand of soccer plus the intensity and physicality you need to play in the SEC. I think we can match up well with most teams in the country,” Smith concluded.

Women’s soccer regular season success builds confidence for postseasonphoto by allen sharpe

South Carolina women’s soccer closed out its 2013 regular season with a 15-2-2 record overall. The Gamecocks were 8-2-1 in league play and 10-0 at home during the regular season.



South Carolina men’s soccer head coach Mark Berson picked up his 450th victory at the helm of the Gamecocks on Saturday, Oct. 26.

The milestone victory for the coaching legend was the furthest thing from his mind that evening though as South Carolina most importantly procured a thrilling 1-0 over-time win over No. 25 New Mexico.

The eighth NCAA Division I coach to reach the 450-win plateau, the 36th-year Gamecock head coach is No. 1 among ac-tive head coaches for victories as an NCAA Division I head coach.

Berson is just a few wins away from mov-ing into the top-5 for all-time victories. He is also within striking distance of surpass-ing another college soccer coaching legend in Jerry Yeagley, who ended his tremen-dous run as the head coach of the Hoosiers with 544 career victories.

The coach that has taken South Carolina to 20 NCAA Tournament appearances and the NCAA Tournament finals in 1993, is quick to point out that all his wins are a tes-tament not just to him, but his players and assistant coaches over the years.

“Clearly that milestone (450 wins at Caro-lina) belongs to a lot of great players here at the University of South Carolina,” Berson

explained. “Guys that have played in World Cups, guys that have gone on to become doctors, guys that have gone on to become attorneys and dentists and great coaches. It belongs to a lot of players, a lot of good as-sistant coaches. It’s a shared milestone.”

Asked whether he plans to stick around long enough to try and surpass Yeagley, Berson was obviously more worried about the current Gamecocks than himself.

“You think about improving every year … I feel great. I’m anxious to keep coach-ing, but you don’t really think about those types of things. You just think about ‘hey, let’s improve, let’s get better, let’s recruit, let’s keep things moving forward as quick as we can and see where we can take this thing.’

“For us right now, our focus is on ‘hey, let’s get to the conference championship, let’s be in the top seven in our league, let’s see if we can get an NCAA at-large bid, let’s see where we can take this season’ … this team has still accomplished a great deal. Let’s see how far we can take it and that’s our main objective right now.”

The youthful Gamecocks have put to-gether a great year in the 2013 season and are getting more acclimated to the college game every time out on the pitch.

“A lot of freshmen have played a big role for us,” Berson said. “A lot of sophomores have played a big role for us. Almost every-

one on this team returns next year. They’re learning, but at this point they’re really not exactly freshmen anymore, particularly the ones that have played so many matches. They’re pretty seasoned right now.

“That’s good and I think they’ve all done a great job and they’ve had to grow up real fast and with the injuries that we’ve had some of them have had to move into dif-ferent positions. It’s not like they’ve been able to settle in some place. They’ve had to move around a little. All-in-all, it’s been a tremendous season as far as the develop-ment of these younger guys.”

Right now, South Carolina is in the top four in the league standings. As was known entering the current season, Conference USA has once again proven to be one of the top leagues in the country, which is some-thing Berson believes can only help the Gamecocks.

“The league this year has really again shown how strong that it is,” Berson point-ed out. “Old Dominion’s a very good team there at the top of the league (and) with us knocking off New Mexico, another team that’s been nationally-ranked. UAB’s been nationally-ranked, FIU, Tulsa is another team that beat us in overtime and they’ve been in and out of the national rankings. Charlotte is a team that came into this sea-son highly ranked.

“All those teams in the upper echelon

of the league have done great. You know that’s what we want. We want to be com-petitive in a highly competitive league. We’re fortunate to have that opportunity and we’re also fortunate to have these re-ally big games coming down the stretch here. That’s all you can ask for at this time of the year.”

South Carolina has just one regular-sea-son game left with No. 24 Old Dominion visiting Stone Stadium for a 7 p.m. contest on Saturday, Nov. 9.

Milestone victory testament to Berson, players and assistants


Mark Berson (standing) picked up his 450th win at the helm of the South Carolina men’s soccer program in a thrilling 1-0 overtime victory over No. 25 New Mexico on Saturday, Oct. 26.



The Gamecock swimming and diving teams are preparing to host their only home meet of the fall semester and their only SEC meet of the season on Nov. 9 when LSU comes to Columbia.

The men’s team comes into the competition ranked 25th in the nation and they are 2-1 on the season with the lone loss coming on the road against a top-10 Tennessee team. The women’s team is 1-2 on the season and head coach McGee Moody said that he feels they have done well with a very tough schedule.

Moody has been pleased with the way the men’s team has progressed this season. He noted that there were some sub-par perfor-mances at Tennessee, but they bounced back strong with a dominating couple of hours at East Carolina to pick up a one-sided victory.

Despite the fact that the women’s team has lost their past two meets, Moody feels that they have competed well against extremely tough teams. Tennessee was a top-10 team on the women’s side as well and Moody said that East Carolina had their best women’s team that he has seen them have in 20-something years. He thought that both teams swam well and it came down to the final relay before the meet was decided.

“I think that both teams are in a really good place. I think LSU matches up well with us. So basically what we’ve done and will continue to do is identify some places in the first three meets where we needed improve-ment. We’ve really been focusing on those in

our training this week and also in the weight room. We had last weekend off, which is kind of nice to have at this point and then we’ll come back with a big SEC meet here at home on Saturday,” Moody said.

Moody said that one of the biggest strengths for both the teams is the flexibility and skill of some of the swimmers.

“It is pretty nice to have people that are versatile and we can move around and kind of fill holes that need to be filled. We know that we can put them anywhere and they can win events wherever we put them. That is a luxu-ry that we have that honestly we haven’t had in the last couple years. We’ve got a lot more depth than we’ve had in the past and that’s a really good thing,” Moody explained.

On the men’s side, Moody said that Kevin Leithold, Michael Flach, Gerard Rodriguez and Matt Navata have provided that versa-tility for the team. Leithold and Flach each won three individual events in their last meet against East Carolina. He added that this gives options in how they will match up with other teams.

Victoria Mitchell has performed with that flexibility for the women’s team according to Moody. Mitchell, a transfer from Louisville, also claimed three individual wins against East Carolina and she has not lost an indi-vidual race yet this season.

“She posted one of the nation’s best times in the 200-meter backstroke and was extremely fast in the 500-meter freestyle which is a pretty tough double because the way it sets up in a dual meet lineup is that 200-meter backstroke is first. She was fast there, but she

has about seven minutes before she had to turn around and race the 500-meter freestyle and she ended up winning that one pretty significantly as well,” Moody said. “It was actually her idea to do that and not a whole lot of people will ask to be put in that situation, especially when you know you’ve only got seven minutes rest.”

Moody said that the divers for both teams can always be counted on to earn points for the team and that they are among the best in the nation. For the men, Cole Miller, Andrew Helmich and Jordan Gotro have all contrib-uted and have the chance to perform well at the SEC Championships later this season. Patricia Kranz and Lauren Lamendola have each earned big points for the team early this year. He said that he is always pleased to see his divers perform well and he knows that they can do that.

“It’s one of those things that if it’s not one, it’s the other. As long as it’s our girls and our guys, I don’t care which one wins as long as it’s one of them. The divers are as consistent as it comes,” Moody commented.

Some of the student-athletes have respond-ed extremely well in the early competitions which is impressive since it has been the first action against elite competitors for some of them. Moody said that you can never be sure how the newcomers will respond, but he has been pleased with what he has seen.

“It’s very individualized because everybody is different. Some guys handle that better than others and some don’t … it’s very indi-vidualized because everybody is different,” Moody said. “A lot of it depends on their

background.“You really have to be able to handle that

and that’s on our coaching staff. Each one of our coaches is tasked with developing the training, not only physically but also mentally preparing each group to go out and race. We have as big a task in front of us as our team does,” Moody explained.

Moody said that the goal for the men’s team is to become a top-15 team at the end of the first semester and he feels they are capable of doing that. He added that the LSU meet could be a stepping stone to that as the top lineup is placed in events where they can be their fast-est. He said the schedule is tough with only one home SEC meet, but the teams will fight through and be ready to compete.

“That schedule, being the only home meet that we get, you can sit there and kind of pout about it … but that’s not really how we oper-ate. We’re going to do the best we can in this meet against LSU at home and it (competing at home) makes a huge difference,” Moody said. “This is our one time against an SEC opponent where we are home this year. LSU matches up, both men and women, really well with us. I think it’s going a great meet on both sides. There are some areas where we’re stronger and there are some areas where they’re a little stronger, so it’s going to boil down to who wants to race the most and who wants to get to the wall first.

“I think we’re in a pretty good place right now. I think as we continue to fine tune things, we’ll really see over the next couple of weeks how we match up against the best teams in the country,” Moody commented.

Gamecocks preparing to host LSU in lone home SEC meet


Matt Navata and the University of South Carolina men’s swimming and diving team are currently ranked 25th nationally. The Gamecocks host LSU on Saturday, Nov. 9.


South Carolina GamecocksFootball Roster

# Name Pos. Hgt. Wgt. Cl. Hometown/High School/Last College1 Damiere Byrd WR 5-9 166 JR Sicklerville, N.J./Timber Creek1 Rico McWilliams CB 5-11 187 RS FR Hampton, Ga./Lovejoy3 Nick Jones WR 5-7 174 RS JR Moore, S.C./Byrnes3 Jamari Smith CB 5-10 183 FR Jacksonville, Fla./Fletcher4 Ahmad Christian CB 5-10 189 RS SO Jacksonville, Fla./Trinity Christian4 Shaq Roland WR 6-1 190 SO Lexington, S.C./Lexington5 Brendan Nosovitch QB 6-1 220 RS FR Allentown, Pa./Central Catholic5 Darius English DE 6-6 226 RS FR Powder Springs, Ga./McEachern6 Chris Moody FS 6-1 212 RS FR McDonough, Ga./Henry County6 Connor Mitch QB 6-3 227 FR Raleigh, N.C./Wakefield7 Jadeveon Clowney DE 6-6 274 JR Rock Hill, S.C./South Pointe7 Shon Carson TB 5-8 219 RS SO Scranton, S.C./Lake City8 Kaiwan Lewis LB 6-0 221 SO Mays Landing, N.J./St. Joseph8 Shamier Jeffery WR 6-1 207 RS SO St. Matthews, S.C./Calhoun County9 Sharrod Golightly SPR 5-10 195 RS JR Decatur, Ga./Southwest DeKalb10 Skai Moore LB 6-2 205 FR Cooper City, Fla./University10 Perry Orth QB 6-1 212 RS FR Ponde Verda, Fla./Ponte Verda/Fla. State College11 Pharoh Cooper WR 5-11 184 FR Havelock, NC./Havelock11 T.J. Holloman LB 6-2 228 RS FR Stone Mountain, Ga./St. Pius X12 Brison Williams SS 5-11 218 JR Warner Robins, Ga./Northside/Fork Union13 Grant Davitte QB 6-3 190 FR Columbia, S.C./Irmo13 Tyler Hull P 6-2 206 RS JR Mount Airy, N.C./Mount Airy/Guilford College14 Ali Groves CB 5-10 184 FR Stone Mountain, Ga./Stephenson14 Connor Shaw QB 6-1 209 SR Flowery Branch, Ga./Flowery Branch15 Austin Hails QB 6-2 214 RS SO Collinsville, Ill./Collinsville15 Jimmy Legree CB 6-0 187 RS SR Beaufort, S.C./Beaufort16 Kelvin Rainey TE 6-3 233 RS FR Yulee, Fla./Yulee16 Nick St. Germain PK 5-9 175 RS FR Powder Springs, Ga./McEachern17 Chaz Elder SS 6-2 199 RS FR Union City, Ga./Banneker17 Dylan Thompson QB 6-3 218 RS JR Boiling Springs, S.C./Boiling Springs18 Patrick Fish P 6-0 195 RS JR Shelby, N.C./Burns18 Cedrick Cooper LB 6-2 213 RS SO Lithonia, Ga./Lithonia19 Landon Ard PK 5-9 172 SO Rock Hill, S.C./South Pointe19 Jody Fuller WR 5-11 217 RS FR Charlotte, N.C./Sun Valley20 T.J. Gurley FS 5-10 196 SO Cairo, Ga./Cairo21 Marcquis Roberts LB 6-1 225 RS SO Powder Springs, Ga./McEachern21 Andrew Bunch WR 5-11 185 RS FR Mt. Pleasant, S.C./Bishop England/Presbyterian22 Brandon Wilds TB 6-2 223 SO Blythewood, S.C./Blythewood23 Bruce Ellington WR 5-9 196 JR Moncks Corner, S.C./Berkeley24 Ronnie Martin CB 5-11 179 JR Spartanburg, S.C./Spartanburg/Georgia Military24 Kendric Salley TB 5-9 183 RS FR Williston, S.C./Williston-Elko25 Kadetrix Marcus FS 6-1 195 JR Stone Mountain, Ga./Stephenson26 Jasper Sasser S 6-0 192 FR Jacksonville, Fla./Wolfson27 Victor Hampton CB 5-10 202 RS JR Darlington, S.C./Darlington28 Jonathan Walton LB 6-0 234 FR Daphne, Ala./Bayside Academy28 Mike Davis TB 5-9 215 SO Lithonia, Ga./Stephenson29 Elliott Fry P/K 6-0 150 FR Frisco, Tx./Prince of Peace Christian30 Sidney Rhodes CB 5-10 167 JR Easley, S.C./Wren/Western Carolina31 Jordan Diaz FB 6-1 233 RS JR Hamilton, N.J./Hamilton West31 Mohamed Camara SPR 6-1 181 FR Cumming, Ga./Forsyth32 Larenz Bryant LB 6-0 215 FR Charlotte, NC./Vance33 Gerald Turner DE 6-2 256 FR Goose Creek, S.C./Goose Creek33 David Williams TB 6-1 200 FR Philadelphia, Pa./Imhotep Charter34 Mason Harris DE 6-3 218 RS SO Fort Oglethorpe, Ga./Ridgeland

# Name Pos. Hgt. Wgt. Cl. Hometown/High School/Last College35 Jeff Homad TE 6-2 220 RS JR Hilton Head Island, S.C./Hilton Head/UNCP36 Kyle Fleetwood SS 5-11 216 RS FR Stone Mountain, Ga./Stephenson39 Max Huggins P/K 6-1 185 FR Myrtle Beach, S.C./Myrtle Beach40 Andrew Komornik P 6-5 225 FR Fort Mill, S.C./Nations Ford41 Kyle Morini LB 5-10 212 JR Lexington, S.C./White Knoll/Gray Military41 Connor McLaurin FB 6-0 237 RS JR Raleigh, N.C./Garner42 Jordan Diggs SPR 6-0 214 RS FR Fort Myers, Fla./Island Coast43 James King LB 6-0 235 SO Goose Creek, S.C./Goose Creek/Benedict43 Garrison Gist FB 5-10 255 RS SO Rock Hill, S.C./Northwesterm44 Gerald Dixon DE 6-2 268 RS SO Rock Hill, S.C./South Pointe45 Brandon Sturdivant FB 6-2 212 RS FR Fort Mill, S.C./Nation Ford/York Tech47 Drew Williams LS 6-2 190 FR Irmo, S.C/Dutch Fork48 Caleb Kelly PK 6-0 184 RS FR Cayce, S.C./Brookland-Cayce49 Garrett Shank S 6-0 171 FR Marietta, Ga./Lassiter49 Devin Potter TB 5-10 200 FR Granite Falls, N.C./South Caldwell50 A.J. Cann OG 6-4 314 RS JR Bamberg, S.C./Bamberg-Ehrhardt51 Cody Waldrop OC 6-2 319 RS FR Seffner, Fla./Armwood51 Devin Washington DE 6-3 225 FR Orlando, Fla./Jones52 Phillip Dukes DT 6-3 315 RS SO Manning, S.C./Manning52 Bryce King OG 6-3 281 FR Dillon, S.C./Dillon53 Corey Robinson OT 6-8 341 RS JR Havelock, N.C./Havelock54 Clayton Stadnik OC 6-3 281 RS FR Greensboro, N.C./Western Guilford55 Na'Ty Rodgers OT 6-5 296 FR Waldorf, Md./McDonough55 David Johnson LB 6-1 268 FR Lithonia, Ga./Lithonia57 Cedrick Malone SPR 6-0 201 RS FR Camden, S.C./Camden/Coastal Carolina58 Ryland Culbertson LS 6-4 265 RS JR Laurens, S.C./Laurens Academy59 Coleman Harley LS 6-1 264 RS SO Aiken, S.C./South Aiken65 Brock Stadnik OG 6-5 286 RS FR Greensboro, N.C./Western Guilford67 Ronald Patrick OG 6-2 315 SR Cocoa, Fla./Cocoa69 D.J. Park OT 6-4 334 FR Dillon, S.C./Dillon70 Alan Knott OC 6-4 272 FR Tyrone, Ga./Sandy Creek71 Brandon Shell OT 6-6 323 RS SO Goose Creek, S.C./Goose Creek73 J.P. Vonashek OT 6-6 283 FR Saint Marys, Ga./Camden County74 Mason Zandi OT 6-9 293 RS FR Irmo, S.C./Chapin75 Will Sport OG 6-5 294 RS SO Milton, Fla./Pace76 Mike Matulis OT 6-5 266 JR Boynton Beach, Fla./Park Vista78 Cody Gibson OT 6-7 286 RS JR Tallahassee, Fla./Lincoln80 K.J. Brent WR 6-4 188 RS SO Waxhaw, N.C./Marvin Ridge81 Rory Anderson TE 6-5 242 JR Powder Springs, Ga./McEachern82 Kwinton Smith WR 6-4 212 RS FR Hamer, S.C./Dillon83 Carlton Heard WR 6-0 178 SO Athens, Ga./Clarke Central/Garner-Webb84 Matthew Harvey WR 6-8 225 SO Rock Hill, S.C./Rock Hill85 Kane Whitehurst WR 5-11 179 RS SO Duluth, Ga./Chattahoochee/Arkansas86 David Wilkins WR 6-1 182 SR Cowpens, S.C./Broome87 Drake Thomason WR 6-1 205 RS JR Greenville, S.C./Eastside88 Drew Owens TE 6-6 244 RS SO Charlotte, N.C./Ardrey Kell89 Jerell Adams TE 6-6 237 SO Pinewood, S.C./Scott's Branch90 Chaz Sutton DE 6-5 263 SR Savannah, Ga./Jenkins/Fork Union Military92 Gerald Dixon, Jr. DT 6-3 318 RS SO Rock Hill, S.C./Northwestern93 Deon Green DT 6-4 287 RS SO Windermere, Fla./Olympia94 Kelsey Griffin DT 6-2 292 FR Buford, Ga./Mill Creek95 Michael Washington DE 6-3 243 SO Allendale, S.C./Allendale-Fairfax/S.C. State97 J.T. Surratt DT 6-2 307 RS JR Winston-Salem, N.C./Parkland99 Kelcy Quarles DT 6-4 298 JR Hodges, S.C./Greenwood/Fork Union

Coaches

Steve Spurrier - Head CoachDeke Adams - Defensive LineKirk Botkin - Linebackers/SpursGrady Brown - Secondary/Assistant Special Teams CoordinatorShawn Elliott - Co-Offensive Coordinator/Offensive LineG.A. Mangus - QuarterbacksJoe Robinson - Special Teams CoordinatorEverette Sands - Running BacksJamie Speronis - Associate AD/Football OperationsSteve Spurrier Jr. - Co-Offensive Coordinator/Wide Receivers/ Recruiting CoordinatorLorenzo Ward - Defensive CoordinatorRobbie Liles - Director - Recruiting OperationsPatrick Shine - Administrative Coordinator - Recruiting


Florida GatorsFootball Roster

# Name Pos. Hgt. Wgt. Cl. Hometown/High School/Last College1 Vernon Hargreaves, III DB 5’ 11” 192 FR Tampa/Wharton1 Quinton Dunbar WR 6’ 1” 194 RJR Miami/Booker T. Washington2 Dominique Easley DL 6’ 2” 285 SR Staten Island, N.Y./Curtis3 Tyler Murphy QB 6’ 2” 210 RJR Wethersfield, Conn./Wethersfield3 Antonio Morrison LB 6’ 1” 230 SO Bolingbrook, Ill./Bolingbrook4 Damien Jacobs DL 6’ 3” 300 SR Gibson, La./H.L. Boureois/East Miss. C.C.4 Kyle Christy P 6’ 3” 198 JR Brownsburg, Ind./Brownsburg4 Andre Debose WR 6’ 0” 187 RSR Sanford/Seminole5 Ahmad Fulwood WR 6’ 5” 196 FR Jacksonville/Bishop Kenny5 Marcus Roberson DB 6’ 0” 195 JR Ft. Lauderdale/St. Thomas Aquinas6 Dante Fowler, Jr. BUCK 6’ 3” 266 SO St. Petersburg/Lakewood Senior6 Jeff Driskel QB 6’ 4” 239 JR Oviedo/Hagerty7 Ronald Powell LB 6’ 4” 240 RJR Moreno Valley, Calif./Rancho Verde7 Alex Adler HS 6’ 2” 219 FR Melbourne/Rockledge8 Jeremy Brown DB 5’ 10” 185 RSR Orlando/Boone8 Trey Burton WR 6’ 2” 225 SR Venice/Venice Senior9 Latroy Pittman WR 6’ 0” 210 SO Citra/North Marion9 Matt Rolin LB 6’ 4” 227 FR Ashburn, Va./Briar Woods9 Jacob Guy QB 6’ 5” 210 RFR Dade City/Pasco10 Valdez Showers RB 5’ 11” 190 RSO Detroit, Mich./Madison11 Neiron Ball LB 6’ 3” 235 RJR Jackson, Ga./Jackson11 Demarcus Robinson WR 6’ 2” 201 FR Fort Valley, Ga./Peach County12 Max Staver QB 6’ 6” 238 FR Brentwood, Tenn./Brentwood Academy13 Daniel McMillian LB 6’ 1” 225 FR Jacksonville/First Coast13 Christian Provancha QB 6’ 6” 223 RJR Cocoa/Cocoa Beach14 Jaylen Watkins DB 6’ 0” 188 SR Cape Coral/Cape Coral14 Chris Wilkes QB 6’ 4” 230 FR Orlando/Dr. Phillips15 Ryan Parrish WR 6’ 1” 200 RJR Lakeland/Lakeland Christian15 Loucheiz Purifoy DB 6’ 0” 190 JR Pensacola/Pine Forest16 Austin Hardin K 5’ 10” 208 RFR Atlanta, Ga./Marist17 Jordan Sherit DL 6’ 4” 247 FR Tampa/Hillsborough17 Skyler Mornhinweg QB 6’ 2” 214 RFR Philadelphia, Pa./St. Joseph’s Prep18 Kent Taylor TE 6’ 5” 224 SO Land O’Lakes/Land O’Lakes19 Johnny Townsend P 6’ 1” 191 FR Orlando/Boone19 Ryan McGriff QB 6’ 0” 203 RSO Gainesville/Gainesville20 Marcus Maye DB 6’ 0” 206 RFR Melbourne/Holy Trinity Episcopal School21 Jabari Gorman DB 5’ 10” 184 JR Miami/Monsignor Pace21 Kelvin Taylor RB 5’ 10” 214 FR Belle Glade/Glades Day22 Adam Lane RB 5’ 7” 222 FR Winter Haven/Winter Haven22 Evan Schroeder DB 5’ 11” 183 RSO New Smyrna Beach/New Smyrna Beach22 Nick Washington DB 6’ 0” 191 FR Jacksonville/Trinity Christian Academy23 Danny Krysalka K 6’ 1” 191 FR Ocala/Forest24 Brian Poole DB 5’ 10” 205 SO Bradenton/Southeast24 Matt Jones RB 6’ 2” 226 SO Seffner/Armwood25 Garrett Stephens DB 5’ 8” 185 FR Louisville, Ky./Saint Xavier25 Gideon Ajagbe LB 6’ 2” 244 RJR Coconut Grove/Ransom Everglades26 Marcell Harris DB 6’ 2” 215 FR Orlando/Dr. Phillips27 Ben Peacock DB 5’ 8” 170 RSO Bradenton/Braden River28 Jeremi Powell LB 6’ 1” 210 RFR Largo/Pinellas Park29 Rhaheim Ledbetter DB 5’ 9” 219 RFR Shelby, N.C./Crest Senior30 Tim Clark DB 5’ 9” 197 RSR Wellborn/Branford30 Michael McNeely WR 5’ 8” 175 RJR Clearwater/Palm Harbor University31 Cody Riggs DB 5’ 9” 190 RJR Ft. Lauderdale/St. Thomas Aquinas32 D.L. Powell WR 6’ 1” 178 FR Alachua/Sante Fe33 Chris Maignan WR 5’ 11” 185 RSR Miami/Northwest Christian Academy33 Mack Brown RB 5’ 11” 215 RJR Lithonia, Ga./King34 Alex Anzalone LB 6’ 3” 239 FR Wyomissing, Pa./Wyomissing Area34 Case Harrison WR 6’ 0” 183 FR Gainesville/Gainesville35 Michael Iorio DB 5’ 10” 185 FR Nokomis/Venice

# Name Pos. Hgt. Wgt. Cl. Hometown/High School/Last College36 David Campbell LB 6’ 0” 221 RSR Live Oak/Suwannee/UCF/Sante Fe37 Mark Herndon RB 5’ 9” 198 SO Ocala/Forest38 Kerolin Francois DB 5’ 9” 180 FR Lake Worth/Forest Hill40 Justin Vogel P 6’ 4” 211 RFR Tampa/Berkeley Prep40 Jarrad Davis LB 6’ 2” 226 FR Kingsland, Ga./Camden County41 Hunter Joyer FB 5’ 11” 240 JR Wesley Chapel/Tampa Catholic42 Keanu Neal DB 6’ 1” 206 FR Bushnell/South Sumter43 Kyle Crofoot LS 6’ 4” 220 RSO Windemere/The First Academy44 Leon Orr DL 6’ 5” 302 RJR New Port Richey/Gulf45 Antonio Riles DL 6’ 4” 287 FR Lawrenceville, Ga./Archer46 Drew Ferris LS 6’ 0” 205 RJR Carlsbad, Calif./San Diego Jewish Academy46 LeAndre Rembert LB 5’ 8” 238 FR Alachua/Santa Fe48 William Few P 5’ 8” 164 FR Tampa/Plant49 Darrin Kitchens LB 6’ 2” 237 SR Homestead/Homestead50 Octavius Jackson OL 6’ 4” 304 FR Moultrie, Ga./Colquitt County51 Michael Taylor LB 6’ 0” 233 RJR Atlanta, Ga./Westlake52 Steven Stipe LB 5’ 11” 204 FR Waycross, Ga./Pierce County53 Cody Adams LB 6’ 0” 233 RSO Ocala/North Marion54 Cameron Dillard OL 6’ 4” 297 FR Canton, Mich./Plymouth Canton55 Darious Cummings DL 6’ 1” 305 JR Titusville/Astronaut/East Mississippi55 Roderick Johnson OL 6’ 5” 316 FR Delray Beach/American Heritage56 Andre Palmer LB 5’ 11” 213 FR Ocala/Lake Weir57 Caleb Brantley DL 6’ 2” 313 FR Crescent City/Crescent City57 Dakota Wilson DL 5’ 11” 260 RSO Bradenton/Braden River63 Trip Thurman OL 6’ 5” 315 RSO Dover, Del./Dover64 Kyle Koehne OL 6’ 5” 315 RSR Indianapolis, Ind./Cathedral67 Jon Halapio OL 6’ 3” 320 RSR St. Petersburg/St. Petersburg Catholic69 Nick Davis OL 6’ 3” 251 FR Salt Lake City, Utah/Buchholz (Gainesville)70 D.J. Humphries OL 6’ 5” 285 SO Union, N.C./Mallard Creek72 Jonotthan Harrison OL 6’ 3” 310 RSR Groveland/South Lake73 Tyler Moore OL 6’ 5” 320 RSO Clearwater/Countryside/St. Petersburg74 Trenton Brown OL 6’ 8” 361 JR Albany, Ga./Westover/Georgia Military75 Chaz Green OL 6’ 5” 300 RJR Tampa/Tampa Catholic76 Max Garcia OL 6’ 4” 311 RJR Norcross, Ga./Norcross/Maryland77 Ian Silberman OL 6’ 5” 306 RJR Orange Park/Fleming Island78 Trevon Young OL 6’ 4” 272 FR Bradenton/Braden River79 Quinteze Williams OL 6’ 4” 280 RFR Tyrone, Ga./Sandy Creek79 Matthew Fuchs OL 6’ 2” 246 RFR Gainesville/Buchholz81 Marqui Hawkins WR 6’ 1” 213 FR Columbus, Ga./Carver81 Darius Masline WR 5’ 8” 172 RFR Jacksonville/Raines82 Bair Diamond TE 6’ 4” 228 RFR Fort Myers/Bishop Verot83 Solomon Patton WR 5’ 9” 177 SR Mobile, Ala./Murphy84 Colin Thompson TE 6’ 4” 258 RFR Warminster, Pa./Archbishop Wood85 Chris Thompson WR 6’ 0” 167 FR Gainesville/Gainesville86 Raphael Andrades WR 6’ 0” 198 SO Tallahassee/Lincoln87 Tevin Westbrook TE 6’ 5” 255 JR Coconut Creek/North Broward Prep87 A.J. Mobley WR 5’ 11” 219 RJR Fayetteville, Ga./Starr’s Mill/Sante Fe88 Clay Burton TE 6’ 4” 257 JR Venice/Venice Senior89 Alvin Bailey WR 5’ 11” 185 FR Seffner/Armwood90 Jonathan Bullard DL 6’ 3” 270 SO Shelby, N.C./Crest Senior91 Joey Ivie DL 6’ 3” 270 FR Dade City/Pasco92 Connor Gilboy P 5’ 8” 180 FR Land O’Lakes/Sunlake93 Dallas Stubbs P 5’ 9” 151 RSO Gainesville/Gainesville/Santa Fe CC94 Bryan Cox, Jr. DL 6’ 3” 260 RFR Ft. Lauderdale/St. Thomas Aquinas95 Alex McCalister DL 6’ 6” 238 RFR Clemmons, N.C./West Forsyth95 Francisco Velez K 5’ 9” 182 RJR Ocala/Trinity Catholic96 Sterling Stanley DL 5’ 11” 172 FR West Palm Beach/Dwyer97 Brad Phillips K 5’ 10” 195 SR Gainesville/Buchholz99 Jay-nard Bostwick DL 6’ 3” 305 FR Port Saint Lucie/West Centennial

Coaches

Head Coach - Will MuschampSpecial Teams Coordinator/Outside Linebackers - Jeff ChoateOffensive Line - Tim DavisDefensive Coordinator/Linebackers - D.J. DurkinAssistant Head Coach/Defensive Line - Brad LawingTight Ends - Derek LewisOffensive Coordinator - Brent PeaseWide Receivers - Joker PhillipsDefensive Backs - Travaris RobinsonRunning Backs - Brian White


Reminder from Gamecock Club: Please remember that the Gamecock Club renewal deadline is January 31, 2014.

New York City Gamecock ClubWeekly Football Game-Watching EventSaturdays at The Mason Jar.The best place to watch Gamecock football if you can’t be at Williams-Brice!Located at 43 E 30th Street in Manhattan, with a Gamecock-inspired menu and discounts for Game-cock fans. Call them at: (212) 213-3587.For more information, check out the website at: www.nycgamecocks.com or email chapter presi-dent JR Buzzelli at [email protected].

Florence County Gamecock Club invites you to a Pre-Florida Rally Thursday, November 14, 2013 at Redbone Alley in Florence from 4:30-6:30 p.m. All Gamecock Club members and fans are invited to attend the Florence County Gamecock Club Pre-Florida Pep Rally on Thursday, November 14, from 4:30-6:30 p.m. at Redbone Alley in Florence. Ken Ard will be hosting his daily sports talk show from there which airs on 98.9 ESPN radio. Fans will have an opportunity to tell Ken about some of their favorite games, plays and stories on the radio. Redbone has graciously offered special prices on beer, liquor and appetizers. Be sure to bring your business cards as there will be some giveaways. No RSVPs are necessary. If you have any questions, please call Rod Jernigan at Jernigan Law Firm (843) 664-0540.

Savannah Gamecock Club SocialTuesday, Nov. 19 at 5:30 p.m.B&D Burgers - 209 W. Congress St. Savannah, Ga.Get to know other fellow Gamecocks, hear from some of the Gamecock Club staff members and talk about future events. Don’t forget to bring your business card for the raffle; prize is a signed Steve Spurrier football.RSVP by Nov. 13 to Reeves Skeen at [email protected].

Fairfield County Gamecock Club Meeting Tuesday, November 19th at 7:00 p.m.All Gamecock Club members and fans are invited

Upcoming South Carolina Athletics Events

z November 8

Women’s Basketball vs. Charleston Southern ........7 p.m.

Volleyball at Kentucky .................................................................7 p.m.

Women’s Tennis at Kitty Harrison Invitational ................. All Day

z November 9

Swimming & Diving vs. LSU ....................................10 a.m.

Men’s Basketball vs. Longwood ................................1 p.m.

Men’s Soccer vs. Old Dominion .................................7 p.m.

Sand volleyball vs. Georgia State/Florida State ............... All Day


Equestrian at Auburn ....................................................................... TBA

z November 10

Volleyball at Georgia .............................................................. 1:30 p.m.

Women’s Basketball vs. Louisiana Tech ...................2 p.m.


z November 12

Men’s Basketball at Baylor ..........................................................3 p.m.

Home events listed in Bold

Don’t forget to check the calendar on www.spursandfeathers.com for all upcoming events.

to the Fairfield Cove Restaurant (1418 Hwy 321 Bypass South, Winnsboro, S.C. 29180) for the Fairfield County Gamecock Club business meet-ing. The meal will be a Dutch treat and there will be great door prizes. Additionally, a 2012 Outback Bowl autographed Steve Spurrier football will be raffled. Tickets will only be sold at the meeting and you must be present to win. Guest speaker will be Jay Brown, Assistant Director of the Gamecock Club. A special thanks to Carolina Wings (Bly-thewood), Frank’s Carwash, Jewelry Warehouse Garnet and Black Traditions, and Scotties’ Café and Grill (Blythewood) for their generous dona-tions to the Fairfield County Gamecock Club.

Colleton County Gamecock Club - Pep RallyMonday, Nov. 25 from 6-8 p.m.Walterboro Elks Lodge at 236 Milestone Ln. in Walterboro, S.C. 29488.Fun for all ages! DJ and Cocky will be present with raffle tickets for awesome prizes.For more information contact Lori Beard at [email protected] or (843) 909-1919.

SuBMITTED pHoTo

Great picture of former Gamecock football player Ron Rabune (85-88) and his family after South Carolina’s thrilling win over Missouri. They came to the game in the other Columbia from Cedar Falls, Iowa.


OFFENSEWR: 1 Damiere Byrd 5-9, 166, Jr. Sicklerville, N.J. 4 Shaq Roland 6-1, 190, So. Lexington, S.C. 8 Shamier Jeffery 6-1, 207, So. St. Matthews, S.C.WR: 23 Bruce Ellington 5-9, 196, Jr. Moncks Corner, S.C. 11 Pharoh Cooper 5-11, 184, Fr. Havelock, N.C. 80 K.J. Brent 6-4, 188, So. Waxhaw, N.C.WR: 3 Nick Jones 5-7, 174, Jr. Moore, S.C. 85 Kane Whitehurst 5-11, 179, So. Duluth, Ga 82 Kwinton Smith 6-4, 212, RFr. Hamer, S.C.LT: 53 Corey Robinson 6-8, 341, Jr. Havelock, N.C. 74 Mason Zandi 6-9, 293, RFr. Irmo, S.C.LG: 50 A.J. Cann 6-4, 314, Jr. Bamberg, S.C. 65 Brock Stadnik 6-5, 286, RFr. Greensboro, N.C.C: 51 Cody Waldrop 6-2, 319, RFr, Seffner, Fla.-OR- 54 Clayton Stadnik 6-3, 281, RFr. Greensboro, N.C.RG: 67 Ronald Patrick 6-2, 315, Sr. Cocoa, Fla. 75 Will Sport 6-5, 294, So. Milton, Fla. 55 Na’ Ty Rodgers 6-5, 296, Fr. Waldorf, Md.RT: 71 Brandon Shell 6-6, 323, So. Goose Creek, S.C. 78 Cody Gibson 6-7, 286, Jr. Tallahassee, Fla.TE: 81 Rory Anderson 6-5, 242, Jr. Powder Springs, Ga. 89 Jerell Adams 6-6, 237, So. Pinewood, S.C. 83 Mason Zandi 6-9, 293, RFr. Irmo, S.C.QB: 14 Connor Shaw 6-1, 209, Sr. Flowery Branch, Ga. 17 Dylan Thompson 6-3, 218, Jr. Boiling Springs, S.C. 5 Brendan Nosovitch 6-1, 220, RFr. Allentown, Pa.FB: 41 Connor McLaurin 6-0, 237, Jr. Raleigh, N.C. 31 Jordan Diaz 6-1, 233, Jr. Hamilton, N.J.TB: 28 Mike Davis 5-9, 215, So. Lithonia, Ga. 7 Shon Carson 5-8, 219, So. Scranton, S.C. 26 Jamari Smith 5-10, 183, Fr. Jacksonville, Fla.

DEFENSEDE: 90 Chaz Sutton 6-5, 263, Sr. Savannah, Ga. 44 Gerald Dixon 6-2, 268, So. Rock Hill, S.C. 34 Mason Harris 6-3, 218, So. Fort Oglethorpe, Ga.DT: 97 J.T. Surratt 6-2, 307, Jr. Winston-Salem, N.C. 92 Gerald Dixon Jr. 6-3, 318, So. Rock Hill, S.C. 93 Deon Green 6-4, 287, So. Windermere, Fla.DT: 99 Kelcy Quarles 6-4, 298, Jr. Hodges, S.C. 52 Phillip Dukes 6-3, 315, So. Manning, S.C 94KelseyGriffin 6-2,292,Fr. Buford,Ga.DE: 7 Jadeveon Clowney 6-6, 274, Jr. Rock Hill, S.C. 5 Darius English 6-6, 226, RFr. Powder Springs, Ga.MLB: 11 T.J. Holloman 6-2, 228, RFr. Stone Mountain, Ga.-OR- 8 Kaiwan Lewis 6-0, 221, So. Mays Landing, N.J. 28 Jonathan Walton 6-0, 234, Fr. Daphne, Ala.WLB: 21 Marcquis Roberts 6-1, 225, So. Powder Springs, Ga. 10 Skai Moore 6-2, 205, Fr. Cooper City, Fla. 18 Cedrick Cooper 6-2, 213, So. Lithonia, Ga.SPR: 9 Sharrod Golightly 5-10, 195, Jr. Decatur, Ga. 42 Jordan Diggs 6-0, 214, RFr. Fort Myers, Fla. 32 Larenz Bryant 6-0, 215, Fr. Charlotte, N.C.CB: 27 Victor Hampton 5-10, 202, Jr. Darlington, S.C. 4 Ahmad Christian 5-10, 189, So. Jacksonville, Fla.SS: 12 Brison Williams 5-11, 218, Jr. Warner Robins, Ga. 25 Kadetrix Marcus 6-1, 195, Jr. Stone Mountain, Ga.FS: 17 Chaz Elder 6-2, 199, RFr. Union City, Ga. 20 T.J. Gurley 5-10, 196, So. Cairo, Ga.CB: 15 Jimmy Legree 6-0, 187, Sr. Beaufort, S.C. 1 Rico McWilliams 5-11, 187, RFr. Hampton, Ga.

SPECIALISTSKO: 19 Landon Ard 5-9, 172, So. Rock Hill, S.C. 29 Elliott Fry 6-0, 150, Fr. Frisco, TexasPK: 29 Elliott Fry 6-0, 150, Fr. Frisco, Texas 19 Landon Ard 5-9, 172, So. Rock Hill, S.C.P: 13 Tyler Hull 6-2, 206, Jr. Mount Airy, N.C. 18 Patrick Fish 6-0, 195, Jr. Shelby, N.C.KR: 11 Pharoh Cooper 5-11, 184, Fr. Havelock, N.C. 23 Bruce Ellington 5-9, 196, Jr. Moncks Corner, S.C.PR: 11 Pharoh Cooper 5-11, 184, Fr. Havelock, N.C. 27 Victor Hampton 5-10, 202, Jr. Darlington, S.C.SSN: 58 Ryland Culbertson 6-4, 265, Jr. Laurens, S.C.LSN: 47 Drew Williams 6-2, 190, Fr. Irmo, S.C.H: 18 Patrick Fish 6-0, 195, Jr. Shelby, N.C. 5 Brendan Nosovitch 6-1, 220, RFr. Allentown, Pa.

Depth Charts for November 16South Carolina

FloridaOFFENSELT: 70 D.J. Humphries 6-5, 285, So. Union, N.C. 76 Max Garcia 6-4, 311, Jr. Norcross, Ga.LG: 76 Max Garcia 6-4, 311, Jr. Norcross, Ga. 63 Trip Thurman 6-5, 315, So. Dover, Del.C: 72 Jonotthan Harrison 6-3, 310, Sr. Groveland, Fla. 64 Kyle Koehne 6-5, 315, Sr. Indianapolis, Ind.RG: 67 Jon Halapio 6-3, 320, Sr. St. Petersburg, Fla. 64 Kyle Koehne 6-5, 315, Sr. Indianapolis, Ind. 77 Ian Silberman 6-5, 306, Jr. Orange Park, Fla.RT: 73 Tyler Moore 6-5, 320, So. Clearwater, Fla. 74 Trenton Brown 6-8, 361, Jr. Albany, Ga.TE: 88 Clay Burton 6-4, 257, Jr. Venice, Fla. 87 Tevin Westbrook 6-5, 255, Jr. Coconut Creek, Fla.RB: 33 Mack Brown 5-11, 215, Jr. Lithonia, Ga. 21 Kelvin Taylor 5-10, 214, Fr. Belle Glade, Fla.QB: 3TylerMurphy 6-2,210,Jr. Wethersfield,Conn. 17 Skyler Mornhinweg 6-2, 214, RFr. Philadelphia, Pa.FB: 41 Hunter Joyer 5-11, 240, Jr. Wesley Chapel, Fla. 25 Gideon Ajagbe 6-2, 244, Jr. Coconut Grove, Fla.X: 1 Quinton Dunbar 6-2, 194, Jr. Miami, Fla. 11 Demarcus Robinson 6-2, 201, Fr. Fort Valley, Ga.Z: 83 Solomon Patton 5-9, 177, Sr. Mobile, Ala. 5 Ahmad Fulwood 6-5, 196, Fr. Jacksonville, Fla. 85 Chris Thompson 6-0, 167, Fr. Gainesville, Fla.F: 8 Trey Burton 6-2, 225, Sr. Venice, Fla. 9 Latroy Pittman 6-0, 210, So. Citra, Fla.

DEFENSEDE: 90 Jonathan Bullard 6-3, 270, So. Shelby, N.C. 94 Bryan Cox, Jr. 6-3, 260, RFr. Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.NT: 44 Leon Orr 6-5, 302, Jr. New Port Richey, Fla. 55 Darious Cummings 6-1, 305, Jr. Titusville, Fla.DT: 4 Damien Jacobs 6-3, 300, Sr. Gibson, La. 90 Jonathan Bullard 6-3, 270, So. Shelby, N.C.Buck: 6 Dante Fowler, Jr. 6-3, 266, So. St. Petersburg, Fla. 95 Alex McCalister 6-6, 238, RFr. Clemmons, N.C.SLB: 7 Ronald Powell 6-4, 240, Jr. Moreno Valley, Calif. 49 Darrin Kitchens 6-2, 237, Sr. Homestead, Fla.MLB: 3 Antonio Morrison 6-1, 230, So. Bolingbrook, Ill.-OR- 51 Michael Taylor 6-0, 233, Jr. Atlanta, Ga.WLB: 51 Michael Taylor 6-0, 233, Jr. Atlanta, Ga.-OR- 11 Neiron Ball 6-3, 235, Jr. Jackson, Ga.RCB: 15 Loucheiz Purifoy 6-0, 190, Jr. Pensacola, Fla. 1 Vernon Hargreaves, III 5-11, 192, Fr. Tampa, Fla.S: 14 Jaylen Watkins 6-0, 188, Sr. Cape Coral, Fla. 20 Marcus Maye 6-0, 206, RFr. Melbourne, Fla.S: 31 Cody Riggs 5-9, 190, Jr. Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. 21 Jabari Gorman 5-10, 184, Jr. Miami, Fla.LCB: 5 Marcus Roberson 6-0, 195, Jr. Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. 1 Vernon Hargreaves, III 5-11, 192, Fr. Tampa, Fla.Nickel: 24 Brian Poole 5-10, 205, So. Bradenton, Fla. 1 Vernon Hargreaves, III 5-11, 192, Fr. Tampa, Fla.Dime: 20 Marcus Maye 6-0, 206, RFr. Melbourne, Fla. 31 Cody Riggs 5-9, 190, Jr. Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.

SPECIALISTSKR: 83 Solomon Patton 5-9, 177, Sr. Mobile, Ala. 15 Loucheiz Purifoy 6-0, 190, Jr. Pensacola, Fla.K: 95 Frankie Velez 5-9, 182, Jr. Ocala, Fla. 16 Austin Hardin 5-10, 208, RFr. Atlanta, Ga.H: 43 Kyle Crofoot 6-4, 220, So. Windemere, Fla. 3TylerMurphy 6-2,210,Jr. Wethersfield,Conn.P: 19 Johnny Townsend 6-1, 191, Fr. Orlando, Fla. 4 Kyle Christy 6-3, 198, Jr. Brownsburg, Ind.PR: 5 Marcus Roberson 6-0, 195, Jr. Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. 1 Vernon Hargreaves, III 5-11, 192, Fr. Tampa, Fla.LS: 46 Drew Ferris 6-0, 205, Jr. Carlsbad, Calif. 43 Kyle Crofoot 6-4, 220, So. Windemere, Fla.

*These depth charts are taken from the listings from each team’s previ-ous game. Spurs & Feathers goes to print shortly after each football game. Please visit www.spursand-feathers.com over the course of the week for updated depth charts.


The team had to finish practice at 6 p.m., because the school cafeteria closed at 6:30. And of course, there was Ursinus’ threadbare football history.

None of that fazed him. “It depends on how you look at those jobs. Sometimes you look at those jobs as you can go somewhere, and do something for the first time. That’s kind of what happened,” Mangus said.

In his first season, Mangus made the Bears offense look like it had sprung whole cloth from the Swamp. In 1998, the year before he arrived, Ursinus finished 3-7 and averaged 12.4 points per game. The next year, with an offense comprised largely of upperclassmen,

Ursinus averaged 31 points, won a school-record 10 games and captured its first-ever Di-vision III playoff win. Mangus’ quarterback, Frank Vecchio, shattered the school records for completions, passing yards and touch-downs in a season. The Bears went 8-2 the fol-lowing year, marking their first back-to-back winning seasons since 1954.

“The student body really jumped on the bandwagon, so to speak. Those small colleges, they really enjoy it,” Mangus recalled. “Paul allowed me to have a lot more responsibility. I was the head coach of the offense and he was the head coach of the defense. I had a lot of re-sponsibility and ultimately that helped me be prepared and ready for my first head job.”

Mangus left after the 2000 season to take

over as head coach of Delaware Valley Col-lege in nearby Doylestown, Pa. The following year, on the strength of a recommendation from his former coordinator Brindise, Guen-ther joined Spurrier’s staff as an offensive quality control assistant with the Washington Redskins. And of course, Mullen hitched his star to Urban Meyer, following the coach to Bowling Green, Utah and Florida before tak-ing over at Mississippi State in 2009.

Last Tuesday, Mangus’ phone buzzed with a text message. It was from Vecchio, his former quarterback. He had just been selected to the Ursinus College Hall of Fame.

“He said ‘thanks, I owe you.’ I said, ‘No, you don’t,’” Mangus recalled.

A decade later, the Gamecocks’ quarter-

backs coach still has plenty of fondness for the Pennsylvania school. A younger cousin graduated from Ursinus and he still follows Division III football to this day.

“They just hadn’t won much. We kind of flipped it around and had some success. It was fun,” Mangus said with a smile.

And on Saturday, the former football light-weight once again took center stage in the SEC. Even the man who played with Mullen and coached with Mangus has a hard time believing it.

“I can’t explain it,” Guenther said of their un-likely rise from Ursinus. “I just know that we all loved football.”

Suddenly, Ursinus is known more for a coaching tree than a sycamore tree.

inside the Chart, cont. from page 25

work is done before the game or practice and once the players and coaches are on the field and are focusing solely on baseball he can relax a little, but he must still be available for needs that may arise.

“If everything went well up to that point, then we know that we have done our job well,” Lusk noted.

Lusk must get back to work near the end of the game in coordinating the team’s postgame meal and travel from the stadium. He said the postgame meal has to be ordered with his best judgement because you don’t want it to sit out and get cold, but it also should not be too late.

Overall, Lusk said that his job boils down to making sure that many of the little details are taken care of so that the team and coaches can

just concentrate on playing baseball.“There’s a lot of little things in this job that if

you’re not in it, you might not think about … so you think ‘okay, the team got to Athens.’ Well how did they get there? You’ve got to get the bus, you’ve got to send it out for bid and you’ve got to get the bids back. You have to make sure the hotels are all ready before you get there,” Lusk said. “Then you go practice and make sure that everything is taken care of, like where to park the bus.

“Sometimes that can be a challenge … a lot of logistical issues and timing things where some-times you just have to use your best judgement … it’s kind of an art with some of these things. It’s especially difficult with a sport that doesn’t have a game clock,” Lusk continued.

Lusk said that he is happy to worry about all these details so the team can only think about

baseball. Another one of his many jobs is to coordinate with compliance and help with re-cruiting as well. Lusk really is involved in pretty much anything that involves the Gamecock baseball program.

This year, Lusk is a new addition to the South Carolina baseball staff, but his relationship with head coach Chad Holbrook goes back to Lusk’s senior year of high school.

“We first met my senior year of high school when he was recruiting one of my friends … then I got the student-manager job for the base-ball team at North Carolina and my first three years were his last three there,” Lusk explained. “We kept in good touch and remained good friends, so it was a neat opportunity for me to join him down here. Our relationship had always been pretty strong even though he was here and I was at North Carolina.”

Lusk said that he is grateful for the opportu-nity to take this role at South Carolina and the best part about his job is when the team is suc-cessful on the field.

“You spend a lot of time and a lot of energy and seeing a team win is extremely rewarding,” Lusk said. “In other careers folks have victories in their job and other accomplishments, but to me, I don’t know what would compare to work-ing for a team and seeing your team win.

“I think that’s what’s great about college ath-letics is winning is a whole lot of fun. You spend a lot of time and energy here, you get to know the players and coaches extremely well and you get to see the hard work pay off with a victory at the highest level; (it) is extremely rewarding. At a place like this there is a whole lot of winning, so it was a great opportunity for me for a lot of reasons,” Lusk concluded.

lusk, cont. from page 18

On a simply beautiful day for any outdoor event, much less football, thoughts drift around about things aside from the job at hand. It is human nature, even for football players, who sometimes we forget are kids out doing what they do.

In this instance, we are talking about kids (young men) who get to play a sport. It is serious business and we all expect perfec-tion, but on days like this past Saturday it can be very easy to get distracted. That’s not to mention coming off as emotional a win as there has ever been over the No. 5 team in the nation on their home field and a week of recounting the story, over and over. And that was just for me. I cannot imagine what it must have been like for Connor Shaw, or Elliott Fry, or Bruce Ellington, or any one of the team that pulled off the improbable 27-24 victory in double overtime.

As we walked into the stadium the morn-

ing of the game, I mentioned that it just seemed all too relaxed. Mississippi State, not considered one of the juggernauts of the SEC but certainly capable, was in town and would love nothing more than to pull their own improbable upset over a ranked opponent. Following their opening drive, it appeared that the Bulldogs were ready to play, as they scored rather easily it seemed (a la UCF) and led 7-0.

Unlike UCF, the Gamecocks marched down the field and answered with a tying touchdown. Shaq Roland’s first since the North Carolina game, 14 yards and Shaw and Roland followed that up with a 43-yarder and USC never looked back in a 34-16 win.

Along the way there were five Bulldog turnovers which figured heavily into the victory. Otherwise, if you looked at the post-game box score and did not know the score or the turnovers, one might think Carolina could not have possibly won. Mississippi State had 11 more first downs, 88 more yards passing, 78 more total yards and three less punts. How could the Gamecocks have won by 18?

Well, turnovers do count and short fields result in those kind of stats; 14 points in the first quarter and another 17 in the third and a rather relaxing win for USC was the story of the day. Add on top of that a young defense that is coming of age. Freshmen and sopho-mores are now starting to look comfortable and learn what coaches mean by playing their assignments.

In the postgame press conference, as-signments and focus were the words of the day. The confidence level of the defense is coming around and the players are starting to play that way. Its not perfect. Far from it. Mistakes will still come, but the talent level of these young guys is starting to show.

And you could hear it in their voices at the press conference. This is not a cocky group, but they all speak well and they started to talk in a way that you can just feel it coming around. The group Saturday included Shaw, Shaq Roland, Jadeveon Clowney, Sharrod Golightly, Mike Davis and Skai Moore. All of them come across as humble but confident and they each have a genuine like for each other.

This was highlighted by a question from the audience which was from Davis, who asked Clowney and Golightly if they would address only giving up 16 points. The laugh-ter after the questions was loud and the an-swers were not earth-shattering, but you can tell there is an appreciation for each other that passes from offense to defense.

This team is coming together at the right time! Sure we would love to have the two losses back, but in turn we sure don’t want to give back the ones that almost got away. The football team has now won a team tying record of 15 games in a row at home, which ties a mark going back to the George Rogers’ years. Clowney spoke of the importance of getting the record against Florida and ex-tending it from there.

Somehow I don’t think the next game two weeks from now will have a “relaxed” atmo-sphere coming in. One SEC game remaining on the season. A chance to finish 6-2 in the SEC, win the East and break the home win record streak. As Golightly said, “it feels like we’re that much closer to Atlanta!” And the best part is, we can really believe it!

This team is coming together at the right time

Ed GirardeauContributing

Editor

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