Can Gamecocks hold on to the football

By

Posted 7:14AM on Friday, September 20, 2002

COLUMBIA, S.C. - One after another, they keep occurring. On the goal line, in the open field, on punts and special teams. ``We've got to stop this turnover binge,'' said South Carolina offensive coordinator Skip Holtz, whose team has committed 11 turnovers the past two weeks in losses to Virginia and No. 8 Georgia. ``It's the main reason we are 1-2,'' Holtz said. ``We are going to play the people who aren't going to turn the ball over.'' That's a decreasing list for South Carolina (1-2), which plays Temple (1-2) at Williams-Brice Stadium on Saturday night. Quarterback Corey Jenkins, a 26-year-old starter, had four miscues against the Cavaliers. Senior receiver Ryan Brewer botched a punt in the same game. Fullback Andrew Pinnock, also a senior, had two fumbles near the goal line against Georgia, both which could have easily been the Gamecocks' winning score in the 13-7 defeat. Coach Lou Holtz would throw his South Carolina cap at some mistakes. Often TV cameras would catch him staring ahead in stunned disbelief. Nothing is more frustrating, he says, than correctible mistakes like turnovers. One famous Holtz story has him telling Notre Dame quarterback Steve Beuerlein in 1986 he would reduce his interceptions from 21 the year before to only six that season. '``That's great coach,''' Holtz recalled Beuerlein saying, '``Are we going to have a new offense?' No, I told him, when you get to six, you're not playing.''' Indeed, Beuerlein was yanked in Holtz's first spring game there for throwing two interceptions. Flash forward to this summer. Pinnock, the Gamecocks senior fullback, fumbles a ball early in the scrimmage and is sent to the locker room to dress. That lesson hasn't taken so far. Pinnock says he's been through a lot of athletic heartache through the years, but never felt so low as last week, when he fumbled a pitch on a fourth-and-1 from the Georgia 2 in the closing moments of last week's game. He did not come out to speak with the media, instead issuing a quick statement, as teammates hugged him at his locker and told him to stay ready. ``It's something I've got to find a way to bounce back from,'' Pinnock said this week. ``Even though it hurts so bad, I've got to make me stronger.'' Even if Pinnock comes out ferociously, it will be hard to convince the Owls they'll face any greater challenge than a week ago when they lost to No. 1 Miami 44-21. ``I think this is the best team we've had since I've been here,'' said Temple's fifth-year coach, Bobby Wallace, who was an assistant for Auburn's Pat Dye. There are 20 starters who are seniors or juniors and have battled Big East Conference powers like the Hurricanes, Virginia Tech and Syracuse. ``I've never been to an Southeastern Conference school before,'' said Temple senior defensive lineman Danny Klecko, son of former NFL All-Pro Joe Klecko. ``But we've played in front of big crowds. It should be exciting.'' Lou Holtz hopes his team can hang on to the football. His weekend film sessions so far this year make him ill - especially following Georgia's win. ``After the game, I was devastated,'' Holtz said. ``After watching the film, I was really sick.'' The Gamecocks are just a play or two from the same 3-0 start they enjoyed in 2000 and 2001. If they can eliminate the mistakes, Holtz says, they can still find success in 2002. ``I've never had a football team that was a decimated after a football game as that one,'' Holtz said. ``We know we're going to have to bounce back and play well.'' The Holtzes expect Pinnock, the team's second-leading rusher, to recover. After all Beuerlein had only seven interceptions, 14 fewer than 1985, after Holtz's talk. ``Andrew will play, don't get me wrong,'' Skip Holtz said. ``But we are going to look at some other people as well.