The Charlotte Observer from Charlotte, North Carolina • 95

THE CHARLOTTE OBSERVER Sunday October 1 1995 College Football (the Charlotte (Dbserrer Sunday October TOP 25 Tie fits Gamecocks better all season and the Gamecocks had recorded only five sacks of their own Saturday they dumped Howard six times And although South Carolina had been surrendering an average of 470 yards a game the Tigers managed just 304 The groundwork for the turnaround was laid in several rugged practices and team meeting when a number of players stood up and took the blame for their disastrous start was putting us defensive end Maynard Caldwell said say their grandmothers can run on us and everything But we know a good defense All we had to do was come together and we came together South Carolina defensive coordinator Wally Burnham who had been sharply critical of his early-season efforts said he could see it coming look was Burham said can tell when a got the fire in his eyes and has set his jaw and ready to play some football and we finally got Still the Gamecocks were unhappy at having to settle for 20-20 vision instead of victory They took a 20-13 lead into the final four minutes but stop a 62-yard desperation LSU drive that culminated in a 19-yard Howard-to-Eric Smith touchdown pass with 1:06 remaining Then LSU coach Gerry DiNardo decided to go for the tie instead of the win kicking the extra point instead of going for two was an easy decision I DiNardo said adding that he thought perhaps wishfully that his team would get another crack at a field goal figured a tie was better than a loss in the The Tigers remain undefeated in the league at 2-0-1 and are 3-1-1 overall But it was South Carolina that got that last field goal try When the Gamecocks stalled at the LSU 35 with 25 seconds left Scott sent freshman Steve Florio in to try a 52-yard field goal His line drive was well short assuring no one of winning or losing Victory or no the Gamecocks players kept talking about how finally pulling together as a family after a rocky start us against the world" quarterback Steve Taneyhill said 85 guys and 15 coaches against everyone in the And linebacker Hank Campbell got in the last word for the defense taken heat all year long" he said finally shown what we can do when we decide to Soaring high: Lee Wiggins (27) just misses blocking a field goal attempt by LSU Saturday at Williams-Brice Stadium The teams finished tied 20-20 Pirates lose a Mg lead tout grab win i Rounduppage 10G 1 Florida State (4-0-0) Did not play Next vs Miami (Sat) 2 Nebraska (4-0-0) Played Washington State Next vs Missouri (Oct 14) 3 Florida (4-0-0) Beat Mississippi 28-10 Next at LSU (Sat) 4 Colorado (4-0-0) Played at Oklahoma Next vs Kansas (Sat) 5 Southern California (3-0-0) Played Arizona State Next at California (Sat) 0 Penn State (3-1-0) Lost to Wisconsin 17-9 Next at Ohio State (Sat) 7 Ohio State (4-0-0) Beat Notre Dame 45-26 Next at Penn State (Sat) 0 Michigan (5-0-0) Beat Miami Ohio 38-19 Next vs Northwestern 0 Texas (2-1-0) Did not play Next: at Texas Tech (Sat) 10 Oklahoma (3-0-0) Played Colorado Next at Iowa State (Sat) 11 Virginia (5-1-0) Beat Wake Forest 35-17 Next at North Carolina (Sat) 12 Tennessee (4-1-0) Beat Oklahoma State 31-0 Next: at Arkansas (Sat) 13 Auburn (2-1-0) Played at Kentucky Next: vs Mississippi State 14 Louisiana Slate (3-1-1) Tied South Carolina 20-20 Next: vs Florida (Sat) 15 Notre Dame (3-2-0) Lost to Ohio State 45-26 Next: at Washington (Sat) 16 Kansas State (4-0-0) Beat Northern Illinois 44-0 Next: vs Missouri (Sat) 17 Maryland (4-0-0) Lost to Georgia Tech 31-3 (Thurs) Next: at Wake Forest (Sat) 10 Washington (3-1-0) Beat Oregon State 26-16 Next: vs Notre Dame (Sat) 19 Oregon (3-1-0) Did not play Next: vs Pacific (Sat) 20 Alabama (3-1-0) Beat Georgia 31-0 Next: vs NC State (Sat) 21 Texas (3-1-0) Beat Southern Methodist 35-10 Next: vs Rice (Sat) 22 Stanford (3-0-1) Did not play Next: at Arizona State (Sat) 23 Arkansas (3-1-0) Played at Vanderbilt Next: vs Tennessee (Sat) 24 Texas Tech (1-2-0) Lost to Baylor 9-7 Next: vs Texas (Sat) 25 Kansas (4-0-0) Did not play Next: at Colorado (Sat) HEISUIflN WATCH Leeland McElroy RB Texas and Warrick Dunn RB Florida State Did not play as their teams had the weekend off Eddie George RB Ohio State: Ran for 207 yards and a pair of touchdowns as at national television audience watched the Buckeyes beat Notre Dame Danny Wuerffel QB Florida: After vaulting into race with a big game against Tennessee he came back with three touchdown passes in a victory over Mississippi For the day he hit on 17 of 27 passes for 268 yards SAY WHAT? "They are supposed to be a top rushing defense and we were gaining big chunks of yardage I was just looking at them and shaking my head because I couldn't believe it Tommie Frazier Nebraska quarterback on the Washington State defense was putting us down They say their grandmothers can run on us and everything" Maynard Caldwell South Carolina defensive end after the Gamecocks fought to a 20-20 tie with 14th-ranked Louisiana State "I have a lot of discomfort but the greatest discomfort is losing" Lou Holtz Notre Dame coach was like a dog in a meat house chewing into us He was ferocious I haven't seen him that way in a long time But he had a right to be" Todd White Virginia defensive tackle on coach George locker room comments to his team after a lackluster 35-17 win over Wake Forest By STAN OLSON Staff Writer COLUMBIA Maybe someday when and if South Carolina football coach Brad Scott has a pocketful of bowl victories and even an SEC championship or two look back on 20-20 tie with Hth-ranked Louisiana State in Williams-Brice Stadium and tell people that was the turning point think we are a different football team from this day forward and a good sign for our Scott said hope able to look back on this ball game two or three years from now and say it happened on Sept 30 1995 that the Carolina Gamecocks turned the High praise for a tie especially when you consider that it left South Carolina with a 1-3-1 record (0-3-1 in the SEC) But it so much the result as the manner in which it was constructed The formerly dismal defense which allowed an average of almost 43 points in its first three SEC games was a different bunch Saturday breaking through the LSU line swarming after the ball and looking downright competent Two statistics are significant: LSU quarterback Jamie Howard had been sacked twice sweep before he was knocked out of bounds He got to rest for one play Then he got the bail two more times and bulled his way into the end zone As the Buckeyes wound down the clock George surpassed 200 rushing yards In a race that has no clear-cut favorite he is a legitimate Heisman candidate There was a time when Ohio State coach John Cooper had to think he was in for a long day He ran out on the field with his team stumbled to the ground and was nearly trampled The Buckeyes did well to get to halftime trailing by just a field goal They taken advantage when they moved into Notre Dame territory early in the game Then some sloppy special teams gave the Irish good field position later in the half Early on Notre Dame moved the ball There was the occasional Powlus pass down the wide-open middle of the field Most of the time the Irish just moved straight ahead pushing the Buckeyes back The Irish went 97 yards but had to settle for a field goal the first score of the game By LEONARD LAYE Sports Editor GREENVILLE This was supposed to be one of those road-map games one that coach Steve Logan believed would define the football season for East Pirates His players thought it could push them along the way to a status some are already claiming as the best team in the Carolinas Their Saturday afternoon date with West Virginia turned out to be more a game with no definition not until the closing minutes anyway when East Carolina got a 27-yard Chad Holcomb field goal for a 23-20 victory The Pirates went through a wardrobe of looks on the field not all of them pretty before finally dressing up their game with some tough defense to get the win in Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium The momentum changed hands about as often as the football in a game marred by seven turnovers five of them by East Carolina But after losing all of a 20-3 lead the Pirates tacked on field goal and shut out West Virginia on its last three possessions The victory was critical considering the split of four previous games (wins over Syracuse and Central Michigan losses to Tennessee and Illinois): Win and they would emerge from a wicked stretch of their schedule 3-2 lose and the impact could be felt through the final six games was very said linebacker Mark Libiano the program for the season for every Pirate fan there is said be 1-4 but we are 3-2 We wanted to show what kind of team we have on the team sort of thinks the best in the Carolinas right now That kind of speaks for itself We want to be the best in both East Carolina tucked away about 80 miles east of Raleigh out of the ACC glare as an NCAA Division I-A independent might be far from best in either state were it not for an increasing defensive emphasis that is paying off handsomely The big seasons have traditionally been build on quick-strike high-scoring offenses with rare exception Logan in his seventh season on the staff and fourth as head coach wanted something more been here about seven years on a Logan said I was an assistant I fussed about the defense which 1 had no right to do I want to hear that have the crap I want to hear Defensive coordinator Paul Jette said East last two recruiting classes been heavily toward the defensive side of the ball making great strides there been obvious recently the defense had allowed 13 points in its previous 10 quarters going back to the Sept 9 Syracuse game And it was obvious much of the time Saturday At the finish the defense denied the Mountaineers on three straight possessions to clinch the win a head coach we started off exactly 105 in the country in total defense my first year" Logan said playing big-time However the offense which struggled a week earlier in a 7-0 loss at Illinois was sporadic as well as error-prone against West Virginia Quarterback Marcus Crandell passed for 189 yards and two touchdowns but he completed only 14 of 34 and was twice intercepted Overall the Pirates gained a net 281 yards only 92 on the ground That will give Logan plenty to focus on this week as the Pirates get ready for their Cincinnati trip and plenty of reason to remind people that despite the 3-2 run through the tough early games more to be done over any humps" he said got another six games I want anybody to say an ice skate" Picked off: East Emmanuel McDaniel (right) skies pool (left) during the first half of ECU's upset victory over the to grab a pass intended for West Rahsaan Vanter- Mountaineers Saturday in Greenville Notre mistakes help Ohio State BRANT SANDERLINAssociated Press Oh yes: Ohio Dimitrious Stanley (3) celebrates his second-quarter touchdown against Notre Dame in the arms of Rickey Dudley (80) Saturday during the Buckeyes' victory over Notre Dame Buckeyes Continued from page 1 threw a perfect 56-yard strike to a tightly covered Derrick Mayes dropping the pass over right shoulder The next drive he fumbled the snap The second-half mistakes and there were others including a Powlus interception left Notre Dame with no chance at all On a day that saw the temperature get over 80 degrees before game time the Irish defense just wilted as Buckeyes quarterback Bobby Hoying passed for 272 yards and four touchdowns and tailback Eddie George ran for 207 yards and scored twice In moving ahead by 42-26 the Buckeyes took just four plays to travel 80 yards All four plays were good for first-down yardage George overpowered the Irish in the second half George have pure breakaway speed but on that 80-yard drive he had enough burst to go 61 yards on a Game summarypagr 1 I 1.