Oct. 27, 2003

Weekly Football Release in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader

Fresh off a homecoming victory over Vanderbilt, the South Carolina Gamecocks (5-3, 2-3) travel to Oxford, Miss., this week for a Saturday contest against the SEC West leading Ole Miss Rebels (6-2, 4-0). The game will be broadcast regionally on JP Sports at 12:30 p.m. EST. USC head coach Lou Holtz addressed the media during his weekly press conference and offered the following comments:

(on injuries)
“Yesterday we had a MRI done on the back of Marcus Lawrence and did not find anything serious. He has missed two of our eight games and has shown up the day of those games, had his back tighten up and is unable to play. It’s not like you know he is going to be out ahead of time. Jason Capers had a MRI on his back. He has a sprain and should be okay later in the week. Demetris Summers should be back and I expect Rodriques Wilson to be able to play this week, but we’ll have to see for sure. We are banged up a bit.”

(on Saturday night’s win over Vanderbilt)
“I thought our offensive line really played very well. We had at least eight people play 25 or more plays in that game that I thought played very well, especially Travelle Wharton and Chris White. White stepped in at center and played very well. He has adjusted quickly to that position and I expect him to start at center again this week. Na’Shan Goddard played well. I think Jabari Levey played his best game of the season by far as did Jonathan Alston. Stephen Sene at guard and Jeff Barnes at tackle both had good games also.”

(on Sunday’s junior varsity game)
“It was a good experience for our players. We hope to be able to play one JV game a year in late October. We won the game, 31-30, and Georgia Military scored on the final play of the game, but missed the extra point. They came into the game undefeated and have a good football team. The game was fun for our players and the crowd of about 1,600 people was enthusiastic.”

(on the offense Saturday night)
“Our tight ends played well. I thought Dondrial Pinkins played exceptionally well. He ran well and threw the ball well while providing good leadership. Our backs ran hard. I thought Troy Williamson really was involved in the game and made some fine catches in heavy traffic that were big plays. We played well in a lot of areas on offense.”

(on the defense)
“Moe Thompson made so many big plays. It was not his best game and he has a lot of areas to improve. He had a sack, caused a fumble, and recovered a fumble. That is a lot of big plays for a defensive lineman in a single game. Defensively, we did two things well. One was creating turnovers and the other was tackling well with very few missed tackles.”

(on Mississippi)
“Their team probably has more momentum in this conference than any other. They have an excellent football team. Winning a game at Florida like they did has given them so much momentum. They are playing very well in all areas. Defensively, they have made great improvement since the Florida game after struggling early in the season. On offense, Eli Manning has played well all year, but they really made a commitment to running the football beginning with the game at Florida. Right now, they are as hot a team as there is in the conference. I don’t think anybody wants to go to Oxford and play them right now.”

(on Eli Manning)
“He is the son of Archie and the brother of Peyton and looks just like them. Eli is a great ball handler, carries out his fakes well, and is very smart and accurate. He is completing 60 percent of his passes, but that is low and misleading because he has thrown the ball away on several occasions. He also has 18 touchdowns and only seven interceptions, so he really does a good job protecting the football.”