GAMECOCKS HOLD OFF RAGIN'
CAJUNS 28-14
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) -- Cory Boyd ran
for two touchdowns and Steve Spurrier won his 15th straight college opener,
28-14 over Louisiana-Lafayette on Saturday night.
Along with Boyd's scoring runs of 2 and 4
yards, quarterbacks Chris Smelley and Tommy Beecher each threw a TD pass for
Gamecocks (1-0), who played without suspended starter Blake Mitchell.
The Ragin' Cajuns (0-1) fought back to tie
it after South Carolina took a 14-0 lead less than 6 minutes into the
season.
But it's usually a mistake to bet against
Spurrier - especially in opening games.
He came into this one 16-1 alltime in
college. The lone loss? To the Gamecocks at Williams-Brice Stadium in 1989
in his s final season at Duke.
Even Spurrier's nightmare NFL career - he
was 12-20 in two season in Washington - always began strongly with the
Redskins winning in Week 1 both his years.
Louisiana-Lafayette lost its fifth opener
of the last six years - two to South Carolina, one each to Texas A&M,
Texas and LSU.
Despite the win, Spurrier couldn't have
liked what he saw out of his offense for most of this one.
Smelley threw a 2-yard scoring pass to
tight end Andy Boyd. Beecher, normally a third stringer, followed on the
next series with a 19-yard TD strike to Kenny McKinley. To many in the
announced crowd of 78,234, the rout looked on no matter who got took the
snaps.
That's when Louisiana-Lafayette got back
into it.
Quarterback Michael Desormeaux finished off
an 80-yard drive with a 14-yard TD run.
One series later, Desormeaux moved the
Ragin' Cajuns 89 yards to the end zone. Chancellor Robertson got the tying
touchdown from 3 yards out.
Boyd answered with a go-ahead touchdown,
diving in to end his 2-yard run with 24 seconds left before halftime.
Boyd added the second half's only score on
a 4-yard run that put South Carolina up two touchdowns.
Louisiana-Lafayette tried to get back into
it, but was twice stopped on fourth down inside South Carolina's 5.
Desormeaux ran for 116 of the Ragin' Cajuns
252 yards rushing. He also completed 12 of 19 for 63 yards.
Smelley and Beecher, both likely to go back
to the bench when the Gamecocks go to Georgia next week, combined to go 21
of 21 for 238 yards passing.
Mitchell, a fifth-year senior, was given a
one-game suspension by the athletic department for missing too many summer
school classes. The Gamecocks also played without two others who started
games a year ago.
Safety Emanuel Cook was out recovering from
an appendectomy performed last weekend. He was also arrested on a weapons
charge Aug. 24. Defensive end Jordin Lindsey was ineligible because of
academic concerns.
Right guard James Thompson, expected to
make his first start, was held out for undisclosed reasons.
THE GOOD
The Gamecocks won the game
despite being inconsistent on offense, defense, and special teams.
THE BAD
The bad is that if the
Gamecocks have a similar performance at Georgia this Saturday, the game will
be over by half-time in the Bulldogs favor.
THE UGLY
With two timeouts left, Coach
Spurrier elected not to call a timeout with Nathan Pepper running onto the
field late a field goal attempt. Ryan Succop missed badly as the ball
was snapped with the play clock expiring. The three points would have been
crucial in a close game.
