Sept. 22, 2002
Columbia, SC – ? Update on injuries coming out of South Carolina’s 42-21 victory over Temple on Saturday night: DS Kevin Saylor (knee sprain); WR Andrea Gause (sore knee). Both will be re-evaluated on Monday.
? USC head coach Lou Holtz said that wide receiver Chavez Donnings is expected to be redshirted. Donnings has been slowed with a wrist injury the past couple of weeks and he reaggravated the injury against Georgia. Donning had to undergo wrist surgery last season which caused him to miss five games during the course of the year.
? Coach Holtz said that the play of USC’s young receivers was impressive against Temple. Troy Williamson of Aiken had an impressive debut with four catches for 75 yards and one touchdown, while Kris Clark of Lexington had two receptions for 36 yards. Both are true freshmen.
? Coach Holtz said he felt better about the defense’s performance after reviewing the film. “I thought we played pretty well on defense in the second and third quarters,” said Holtz. “The players played hard. I didn’t think that was necessarily the case while I was watching the game on the sidelines. We still have some major concerns on defense. We had way too many penalities on defense (eight). You should never have that many penalties on defense.”
? When asked about Andrew Pinnock’s role, Holtz stated: “Andrew Pinnock is an excellent player and is an integral part of this team and will be an integral part of this week’s game.” Pinnock played sparingly against Temple and did not carry the football.
? Quarterback Dondrial Pinkins was not quite at 100 percent Saturday, thus he wound up playing just one snap — the last one of the first half. Said Skip Holtz on Sunday: “I had planned to play Dondrial on the last series of the first half, but we got the ball back with only about 30 seconds left,” said Skip. “He told me at the half that if we needed him to play, he would, but that his ankle was still not 100 percent. That’s when we made the decision to hold him in the second half. Hopefully, he will be ready to go this week.”
? Coach Holtz said he was wary of this week’s opponent — the Vanderbilt Commodores — and believes they are a much better football team than advertised at the beginning of the season. “Vanderbilt has an excellent team,” said Holtz. “They rolled up a lot of yardage against Ole Miss. They had a couple of missed assignments in the secondary, but that was about it. Ole Miss could not run the ball effectively against them. I think Vanderbilt and Kentucky are the surprise teams in the SEC so far this season.”
? Saturday’s game in Nashville will be televised on a pay-per-view basis back to the state of South Carolina. Subscribers should contact their local cable systems about ordering the telecast. Former Gamecock standouts Todd Ellis (play-by-play), George Rogers (color), and Brad Edwards (color) will call the action. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. (eastern) at Dudley Field in Nashville.
