The Orlando Sentinel from Orlando, Florida • D1

Orlando Sentinel: PRODUCT: OS DESK: SPT DATE: 09-02-2005 EDITION: FLA ZONE: FLA PAGE: D1.0 DEADLINE: 22.15 COMPOSETIME: 23.45 CMYK Sports Orlando Sentinel OrlandoSentinel.com Friday, September 2, 2005 Section THE INSIDE PITCH INDEX Weekend Watchdog D2 The Morning Buzz D3 U.S.Open D5 Dolphins fall to Falcons Gus Frerotte and AJ. Feeley both struggled in their competition for Miami's starting QB spot as the Dolphins lost to the Falcons. D3 Bucs top Texans Tampa Bay intercepted Houston's David Carr twice in the first quarter on its way to a 38-14 rout in the Bucs' final preseason matchup. D3 Rush! D6 South Carolina 24, UCF 15 I Season Op ener THE STREAK GOES ON GARY GREENORLANDO SENTINEL UCF quarterback Steven Moffett is sacked for a 2-yard loss during the first half of the Knights game against South Carolina on Thursday night. The Gamecocks won 24-15 in Steve Spurrier's return to coaching.

UCF drops 16th in row as Spurrier, Gamecocks win OF ball coach deals with new reality at Columbia BUB WHAT'S INSIDE FOOTBALL ROAD TRIP 2005: In Part 5 of our road trip to find the true meaning of football, our Sentinel staffers survey the scene in Columbia, S.C, and the Spurrier mania that surrounds it. They also find a lot of UCF fans trying to perfect the art of partying. D11 UCF stats and recap. D11 It's been a long time since UCF has won a game, but this team is definitely different from last year's win less team. Look for three or four victories this year.

David Whitley, Back Page. Other college football results. D10 the way the throng of 82,753 dreamed that it might a long Gamecocks touchdown pass and an early 14-0 lead became a bit less comfortable by the time UCF cut matters to 24-15 and recovered a Gamecock fumbled deep in their territory. But UCF freshman running back Kevin Smith's dive on fourth-and-goal was stopped short with 2:09 to play. South Carolina took over, took a safety, stopped the Knights at the goal line again with no time left and walked home with the biggest target before a subdued 82,753 at Williams-Brice Stadium.

Spurrier is 1-0 with the Gamecocks. PLEASE SEE UCF, D1 2 COLUMBIA, S.C. Thank goodness, he's back. The frisky, freewheeling funovagun is back. Too bad his 1996 University of Florida team isn't.

This is where Steve Spurrier belongs. This is where he's always belonged. Back in college football. Back where he can be irreverent again instead of irrelevant. Back where we can love him and loath him.

Back where we can revere him and revile him. The ol' ball coach was just as we remembered him Thursday night and so, too, was the University of South Carolina. A great coach coaching a mediocre team. The TV cameras and the packed stadium looked basically the same. Spurrier's playbook By ALAN SCHMADTKE SENTINEL STAFF WRITER COLUMBIA, S.C.

UCF's signs flashed positively in spurts, but the ending message was both retrospective and familiar. Steve Spurrier raised the curtain on his college football act in just the way everybody remembered, and UCF added on to the country's longest losing streak. Mixing South Carolina's old traditions with his trademark visor and brash play calling, Spurrier's Gamecocks withstood a furious fourth-quarter rally by the Golden Knights Thursday for a 24-15 victory at Williams-Brice Stadium. An evening that started just Mike BIANCHI SENTINEL COLUMNIST looked basically the same. His visor looked basically the same.

But there was one difference. The undermanned opening opponent didn't go down quite so easily as they use to at Florida. In fact, after his South Caroli- PLEASESEE BIANCHI, D12 GARY GREENORLANDO SENTINEL South Carolina Coach Steve Spurrier makes a successful return to the college ranks as his Gamecocks beat UCF Thursday night. Fuel shortage creates dilemma for high school sports teams School districts scramble to travel RUNNING ON EMPTY its football team to Lake Mary tonight. But the school is not allowed to refuel on the OCPS tab and temporarily will not bring its band for road games.

"As long as our activity bus has fuel, we're OK," said Dr. Phillips Athletic Director John Magrino. "If there is no diesel fuel, we have no buses." Orange schools are relying on parents to get players to golf matches, swim meets and crosscountry meets. please see TRAVEL, D9 By BUDDY COLUNGS SENTINEL STAFF WRITER A diesel-fuel shortage caused by Hurricane Katrina's hit on the Gulf Coast struck high school sports hard Thursday in Central Florida. In Orange County, where all use of school buses for extracurricular activities has been suspended, freshman and junior-varsity football games scheduled for Thursday night were postponed until October.

And county varsity teams playing tonight How area public-school districts are handling a shortage of diesel fuel in relation to travel for athletic competition: ORANGE All use of school buses for extracurricular activities suspended. Schools may use smaller activity buses but will not be able to refuel using district diesel. SEMINOLE Suspended all after-school travel Thursday but will resume for football games today. Marching bands will be transported tonight only to games played within the county. OSCEOLA No changes.

LAKE No changes. VOLUSIA No bus rides home from practice allowed for athletes. Activities buses will not be refueled using district diesel. BREVARD No changes. must pay to travel by charter bus.

Seminole County schools also cut back on bus travel, and Volusia announced it would no longer provide bus rides home after practices for athletes until the fuel shortage subsides. Mike Brown, athletic director at Winter Park High, said his school is paying $1,500 to charter two commercial buses for tonight's football game at West Or ange in Winter Garden. The cost for the same trip using Orange County Public School buses would have been $360, he said. "Since it's a little bigger gate from ticket sales, we're able to incur a little bigger expense for football," Brown said. "But we can't afford to charter buses for everything.

Hopefully, this is a short-term situation." Dr. Phillips High School will use its two activity buses to take COLORSTRIP: I.