November 3, 2001

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) – Andrew Pinnock ran for 86 yards and scored three touchdowns as No. 17 South Carolina beat Wofford 38-14 on Saturday.

The Gamecocks (7-2) ran for 247 yards, using a methodical ground game and short passes to grind away its overmatched foe.

South Carolina scored on its first four drives to take a 24-0 lead. After that, coach Lou Holtz used the game to tune up his team for next week’s Southeastern Conference showdown with Florida.

Wofford, which was hastily scheduled to replace the Bowling Green game canceled after the terrorist attacks, got $250,000 for coming to Williams-Brice Stadium as well as a chance to play before 77,922 people – a larger crowd than the Terriers (3-5) have had for the last six games combined.

Wofford’s triple-option offense sputtered as Wilson missed his first start in 35 games with an ankle sprain and a slight leg fracture. While the senior did take over the offense in the second quarter, he struggled, rushing for 20 yards and going 6-for-9 for 70 yards. First-time starter Nick Haughey also had problems, going 2-for-5 for 10 yards, and killing the Terriers’ first drive by throwing into triple coverage on third-and-10.

The bright spot for the Terriers was a 17-play, 80-yard drive that ended with a 1-yard touchdown run by J.R. McNair that cut the Gamecocks’ lead to 31-14 in the fourth quarter.

Much of South Carolina’s rushing load fell to Pinnock, who had touchdown runs of 3, 4 and 5 yards, and Brewer, both bruising runners who would rather bowl over a tackler then run around them.

Brewer brought the crowd to its feet on the game’s first play, returning a kickoff 62 yards, running over and bouncing off a half-dozen tacklers. Brewer also ran for 11 yards on a screen pass in the five-play, 38-yard drive that ended with a 1-yard touchdown sneak from quarterback Phil Petty.

Petty and Corey Jenkins, who alternated playing quarterback for most of the game, had solid days. Petty was 15-for-20 for 160 yards and ran for two touchdowns. Jenkins, who Holtz said needs to improve his throwing touch, went 5-for-8 for 49 yards and had an interception. Jenkins also ran for 36 yards.

Wofford is 0-2 against the big boys in South Carolina. The Terriers also filled in a hole in Clemson’s schedule after Tulane pulled out of a game in Death Valley. Wofford led 14-7 at the end of the first quarter in that game before losing 38-14.