Joy and Pain

USC rallies to beat Vandy, but loses Newton for year

By Joseph Person
The State
Published: October 23, 2005

He might have looked like Superman, but it turns out Syvelle Newton is human.

After doing everything but operate the scoreboard for USC through three quarters on Saturday against Vanderbilt, Newton turned in what was at once the most exciting and devastating play of the game for the Gamecocks.

Taking a handoff at tailback - one of three positions he played - Newton cut to his left, spun out of a tackle, and made one more move before diving into the end zone for a 10-yard touchdown with 11:01 remaining.

While most of the 76,427 fans at Williams-Brice Stadium rose to their feet, Newton stayed on the ground. USC went on to win 35-28, but lost the equivalent of three players when X-rays revealed that Newton had torn his left Achilles' tendon on the touchdown run. The junior will have season-ending surgery in about a week.

"A receiver, a running back, a quarterback - you really can't replace a guy like that," Gamecocks quarterback Blake Mitchell said.

But USC (4-3, 2-3 in SEC) did not fold when Newton was carted to the locker room. Mitchell led the Gamecocks on a game-winning drive, Sidney Rice caught another touchdown pass, and the defense finally covered Vanderbilt freshman receiver Earl Bennett.

The result was a victory in a game that might have been ESPN Instant Classic material if the teams had been ranked or the stakes greater. The teams combined for 334 yards and 28 points in a wild fourth quarter.

"We found a way to keep the fans here for the duration," USC coach Steve Spurrier said. "That was a fun game."

Spurrier improved to 13-0 all-time against Vanderbilt while claiming his 100th SEC victory. While USC kept its bowl hopes alive, the Commodores (4-4, 2-3) must win two of their final three games to end a 22-year bowl drought.

After Newton's touchdown put USC up 28-14, Vanderbilt fifth-year quarterback Jay Cutler started ripping through the Gamecocks' secondary. Cutler, who saves his best games for the Gamecocks, led touchdown drives of 61 and 87 yards to bring the 'Dores even at 28-28 with 3:55 remaining.

Cutler played catch with Bennett, who had eight receptions for 140 yards in the fourth quarter, including a 41-yard touchdown catch.

But the Gamecocks had their own precocious receiver in Rice, a redshirt freshman who broke a school record by catching a touchdown pass in his sixth consecutive game. In fact, Rice caught three touchdowns to tie USC's single-game mark.

With the game tied with 3:47 left, USC took over at its 23-yard line and Mitchell went to work. The redshirt freshman looked shaky in the first half, shot-putting a pass that Cheron Thompson picked off and returned for a 13-yard touchdown.

But Mitchell found a groove on the decisive series, connecting with senior Kris Clark for 32- and 14-yard receptions to move into Vanderbilt territory. An 18-yard strike to Rice took the Gamecocks to the Commodores' 5.

Two plays later, Mitchell saw the Vandy defensive backs in man coverage on Clark and Rice on the left side of the field. Clark stayed near the line of scrimmage on a screen route, occupying his defender and giving Rice a lane to beat cornerback Josh Allen on a slant for a 3-yard touchdown with 1:41 left.

But Cutler had the Commodores on the move again with four more completions to Bennett, giving Vandy a first down on the Gamecocks' 30 with 31 seconds left.

"We had to throw it to Earl. We didn't have anybody else," Vanderbilt coach Bobby Johnson said. "Basically, Earl was it and were down to nothing in the wide receiver position."

USC had switched from a two-deep to a three-deep zone on the final series, and the switch paid off as Cutler took four shots downfield. Surprisingly, none of the passes were directed toward Bennett, whose 16 catches tied Florida State's Ron Sellers (1968) for the most by an opposing receiver against USC.

After three incompletions, Cutler (27-for-49 for a career-high 339) stepped up in the pocket and fired down the middle for Bryant Anderson. But USC rover Ko Simpson broke up the pass to seal it.

"We knew they had some pretty big plays," USC linebacker Lance Laury said. "We were just telling everybody to play hard and finish. Something good was going to happen."

USC players already had digested enough bad news when the word spread about Newton, who received a game ball in the locker room after accounting for 134 yards and three touchdowns. Losing would have made things worse.

"It was definitely exciting," said Mitchell, who was 15-of-27 for 221 yards and two touchdowns. "It shows we can win a close ballgame."

Reach Person at (803) 771-8496 or jperson@thestate.com

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