mazza's scouting report of Gcocks

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South Carolina Concludes 2004 Spring Season with Annual Spring Game

Scrimmage ends in 13-13 tie

April 17, 2004

Columbia, S.C. - South Carolina concluded the 2004 spring practice session with its annual Spring Football Game Saturday afternoon at Williams-Brice Stadium. The scrimmage began with Team Carolina consisting of first-team offense and second-team defense, while Team Gamecock included first-team defense and second-team offense. Players switched sides at the coaching staff's discretion.

Syvelle Newton connected with Noah Whiteside on a 70-yard touchdown pass with 46 seconds left in the fourth quarter ending the game in a 13-13 tie. Newton finished the day with 277 passing yards, on 16-of-27 attempts, with two touchdowns to go along with 71 rushing yards.

"Hitting and tackling were good," commented Head Coach Lou Holtz. "Hard to tell in a game like this. We didn't stunt and didn't do much on offense."

Team Gamecock opened the scoring at the 7:22 mark of the first quarter. Syvelle Newton found walk-on fullback Jamie Peters wide-open in the endzone from three yards out on a play-action pass. The drive was highlighted by a 12-yard pass completion by Newton to Michael Flint, a 12-yard quarterback keeper by Newton and a 16-yard scamper by Gonzie Gray.

Gonzie Gray rushed for a pair of two-yard touchdowns.

 

Gray rushed for a pair of two-yard touchdowns and ended with 20 yards on six carries. South Carolina had a balanced running attack comprised of Daccus Turman (6-24), Demetris Summers (6-15) and Cory Boyd (5-15).

Dondrial Pinkins (4-14, 35 yards), Blake Mitchell (2-8, 23 yards), Mike Rathe (2-3, 5 yards) all saw action at quarterback during the scrimmage.

Noah Whiteside caught three passes for a total of 77 yards. Tight end David Laggis (3-41), running back Corey Boyd (3-2) and wide receiver Matthew Thomas (2-36) led the South Carolina in receptions.

George Gause sacked quarterback Dondrial Pinkins on the second play of the scrimmage and Freddy Saint-Preux sacked Blake Mitchell to end the first half.

Marcus Lawrence, Lance Laury, Andre Hemphill and Marc Williams all had one interception on the day. Laury's interception came off a Dondrial Pinkins pass in the endzone.

Linebacker Marcus Lawrence led all defensive players with five solo tackles. De'Adrian Coley and Andre Hemphill each had four solo stops.

USC will begin the 2004 season Sept. 4 against SEC foe Vanderbilt in Nashville, Tenn.

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2004 USC FOOTBALL SCHEDULE.  

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Sat. Sept. 4 Vanderbilt (A)

Sat. Sept. 11 Georgia (H)

Sat. Sept. 18 South Florida (H)

Sat. Sept. 25 Troy State (H)

Sat. Oct. 2  Alabama (A)

Sat. Oct. 9  Mississippi (H)

Sat. Oct. 16  Kentucky (A)

Sat. Oct. 30  Tennessee (H)

Sat. Nov. 6  Arkansas (H)

Sat. Nov. 13  Florida (A)

Sat. Nov. 20  Clemson (A)

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  When CBS officials plotted their SEC coverage for the coming season, they skipped over USC. Back-to-back losing seasons apparently have hurt the Gamecocks’ star power.

The network’s tentative 2004 broadcast schedule does not include USC, a CBS official confirmed Thursday.

“You can’t look right now as those guys being one of the premiere teams,†said Mike Aresco, CBS Sports’ vice president of programming.

The Gamecocks, coming off consecutive 5-7 finishes, have appeared on CBS five times during the past four years in what generally is considered the SEC’s best matchup of the week. CBS gets the first pick among the conference’s three TV partners, which includes ESPN and Jefferson-Pilot.

ESPN has not announced its tentative broadcast plans for 2004.

Jefferson-Pilot lists as many as four possible games for some weekends on its Web site.

CBS has televised the USC-Georgia game the past two seasons and likely would have again if not for its coverage of the U.S. Open tennis tournament during the weekend of Sept. 11, according to Aresco. The network will broadcast its first SEC games the following week with a doubleheader featuring LSU-Auburn and Florida-Tennessee.

That Sept. 18 doubleheader is one of the few Saturdays for which CBS has finalized its coverage plans. The SEC’s agreement gives its TV partners the option to wait until 12 days before a game before deciding which matchups they want to air.

For instance, Aresco said if the Gamecocks open the season with victories against Vanderbilt and Georgia, their Oct. 2 game at Alabama could be attractive to CBS.

“South Carolina could play their way in,†Aresco said. “Right now they don’t look like one of the teams we’d be focusing on, but who knows? By midseason, all bets are off.â€Â

USC has appeared on national TV 26 times in five seasons under Lou Holtz, including at least one CBS appearance each of the past four years.

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With spring football practice concluding last Saturday, four USC football players underwent surgery this week to clean up some nagging injuries.

Defensive end George Gause had his left knee scoped to clean up some loose cartilage. Safety Corey Peoples had surgery on his left thumb to repair a torn ligament. Cornerback Jonathan Joseph had surgery to repair a dislocated left shoulder. Running back Cory Boyd had his left knee scoped to repair a torn cartilage.

All of these players will undergo rehab and are expected to be fully recovered in time for preseason workouts.

 

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Sources: USC AD meets with NCAA

By JOSEPH PERSON

Staff Writer

USC athletics director Mike McGee and Southeastern Conference commissioner Mike Slive traveled to the NCAA’s Indianapolis headquarters Friday to present findings from the school’s internal investigation into possible recruiting and academic improprieties involving the Gamecocks’ athletics program, according to sources.

McGee, who was accompanied by USC general counsel Walter H. Parham, flew on the university plane to Birmingham, Ala. to pick up Slive on Friday morning before traveling to Indianapolis, the sources said.

McGee, who returned to Columbia later Friday, would not confirm the nature or destination of his trip, saying only he “was on university business.â€Â

Through a representative, Slive declined to comment. Since becoming commissioner, Slive has assisted conference schools in their dealings with the NCAA on several occasions.

USC spokesman Russ McKinney said the school has not received either a preliminary or official letter of inquiry from the NCAA, which began looking into the Gamecocks’ football program in August 2002.

Russ Pate, USC’s NCAA faculty athletics representative, could not confirm Friday’s meeting. But Pate said such a meeting would be consistent with the NCAA’s posture throughout the 21-month preliminary investigation.

“There’s been lots of communication throughout the process,†Pate said.

“So this is not atypical, just more communication.â€Â

McGee and other USC officials have refused to elaborate on the focus of the NCAA probe in recent months. Pate acknowledged last year that part of the NCAA’s investigation centered on the academic status of former tailback Derek Watson at the time of his transfer to S.C. State in 2002.

Watson, the first blue-chip recruit signed by USC coach Lou Holtz in February 1999, was dismissed from the team following a marijuana arrest in January 2002.

NCAA investigator Jeff Higgins has been in the state on numerous occasions to interview school officials, former USC players, Clemson players that were recruited by USC and people affiliated with Palmetto High, the Williamston school that Watson attended.

Former academic counselor Shane Olivett also spoke to an NCAA official.

Slive, who succeeded Roy Kramer as SEC commissioner in July 2002, has said his goal is to have no SEC schools on NCAA probation by 2007.

Seven of the league’s 12 schools are either on probation or under investigation.

Last weekend Slive appeared before the NCAA’s infraction committee along with Georgia president Michael Adams and athletics director Vince Dooley when they argued that the school should not be punished further for alleged violations in the men’s basketball programs.

Slive also assisted Arkansas, Alabama and Kentucky during their dealings with the NCAA, SEC media relations director Charles Bloom said.

“If asked, the commissioner has been on these trips to help our schools,†Bloom said. “He’s very hands-on in the compliance aspect and wants to do what he can to help our schools get through the issues dealing with these problems. If that means going to Indianapolis or coming to a campus to visit, he has done that.

“In cases like this, the conference wants to try to get the cases heard, eliminate penalties, have any penalties minimized and move forward.â€Â

NCAA spokesman Jeff Howard, who would not confirm whether Friday’s meeting between USC and NCAA officials took place, said it is standard practice for the NCAA’s enforcement staff to work in conjunction and share information with member schools during an investigation.

“Both a university and the national office enforcement staff are working in a collaborative way to make sure all the facts around any case will ultimately come to light,†Howard said.

Pate, who said last month that he believed the initial investigation was nearing a conclusion, is now reluctant to estimate what the timetable might be.

“I just can’t say that this is a final step or near-final step in any process because we don’t hold those cards,†he said. “The NCAA holds those cards.â€Â

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Newton still in the mix

Holtz says sophomore will see playing time this fall in support of starting QB Dondrial Pinkins

By JOSEPH PERSON

Staff Writer

USC’s quarterback stew will cook for at least another four months.

In his first comments since the after the annual spring game, Gamecocks coach Lou Holtz said Syvelle Newton will see playing time this fall.

As far as how much playing time he will see, Holtz will have all summer, plus a month of preseason practice, to decide.

Then again, maybe Holtz does not have a decision to make at all.

“What we have done many times is play two quarterbacks,” Holtz said Tuesday during an SEC teleconference. “You have a starting quarterback, and you play the second one also because it gives you a little change of pace.”

“Plus, if you have a pretty good football team — I’m not sure we will — but if something were to happen to your starting quarterback late in the year, they still have confidence in the (second-team) guy because he’s been there.”

Fifth-year senior Dondrial Pinkins, who has a 5-9 record as a starter, held the No. 1 spot for all of spring practice but turned in a forgettable performance in the spring game April 17. The 6-foot-2, 245-pounder from Georgia completed 4-of-14 passes for 35 yards and had a miscommunication with Holtz during the first series of the scrimmage when Pinkins called an audible at the line of scrimmage.

“There was a play call and he had the defense interpreted one way and coach wanted him to keep (the original play) on,” said quarterbacks coach Skip Holtz, adding that the miscue did not affect Pinkins’ playing time the rest of the game.

Instead, Lou Holtz went with the hot hand of sophomore Syvelle Newton, who accounted for 348 of the 515 total yards and led all four of the game’s scoring drives. Newton, who played receiver in 2003, completed 16-of-27 passes for 277 yards and two touchdowns and rushed for 71 yards on 11 carries.

“He’s young. He hasn’t had much experience, but boy is he exciting and thrilling,” the elder Holtz said. “I think his performance in the spring game, you definitely have to plug him into that quarterback race.”

Newton also threw two interceptions in the spring game and was chastised by Holtz for fumbling several times during the final week of spring practice.

Said Skip Holtz: “Syvelle has a huge upside because of his athleticism. He can make some things happen. The thing he does right now — like in the spring game, he threw those two interceptions. And that’s what he has to eliminate.”

Lou Holtz said after the spring game that Pinkins would begin preseason camp as the Gamecocks’ starter, followed by Newton and then redshirt freshman Blake Mitchell.

“Dondrial did not have a good spring game. He did have a very good spring practice,” Holtz said Tuesday. “You look at his record book, there’s not a single deficiency on him in four years — academically, discipline or anything else. You want to see your seniors have a good ending, and I certainly hope he can.

“But if Syvelle Newton gives us the best chance to win, then he’ll be the quarterback.”

In other words, check in with Holtz again the first week of September.

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Lou Holtz comments on USC's spring practice during SEC teleconference

April 27, 2004

Columbia, SC -

South Carolina head football coach Lou Holtz participated in the Southeastern Conference spring teleconference on Tuesday. Here are some excerpts from his comments:

* "I don't think you ever hear about anyone having a bad recruiting year or a bad spring practice. It's hard to evaluate how your spring practice went. You walk off the practice field and you're worried about the offense one day and the next day you're worried about the defense. We've got some concerns in the kicking game and in the return game. We probably had more concerns with the offense during the spring than we did with the defense. The defense was ahead of the offense throughout the spring. We need a good summer out of our players, that's for sure."

* (on changes in recruiting): "When I first started at Ohio State, you would recruit a player over a steak dinner. You took them out to dinner so much you almost felt like you needed to be a banquet speaker. There was unlimited visitation, no signing date, etc. Then the south had a signing day and you would take care of that and then go up north and recruit some more. Recruiting has changed tremendously. It is so well-organized now. You have so many camps and really start looking at players when they are in the ninth grade."

 

* (on Mississippi State's hiring of Sylvester Croom as head coach): "I've heard nothing but great things about Sylvester Croom. I think it's a great thing for the conference. He seems to be going about everything the right way. You look at the kind of obstacles he's had to overcome and he's handled everything with class. I think he'll do an excellent job there."

* (on the play of quarterback Syvelle Newton in the spring game): "Syvelle's performance in the spring game was outstanding. He threw for 277 yards and rushed for another 70 or so. Certainly, a performance like that and you plug him into the quarterback race. But, if you remember, a couple of days before that, I was talking about how he had done a good job of recovering his own fumbles in practice. Dondrial Pinkins did not have a good spring game but he had a good spring practice. He's an outstanding young man and does not have one deficiency against him pertaining to academics or anything of that nature. You like for your seniors to have success. But, if Syvelle Newton does a better job of moving the team, then he will have a chance to be the quarterback. Both he and Blake Mitchell are fine young quarterbacks. You like to have two quarterbacks who you can count on. You have one you start and then you have one you may need to put in at some point in time

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even i will get one of these

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