TheState.com: Sports

Gameday preview: Clemson vs. Virginia

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:25 EST

Over the hump

A Boston College loss in its final two games also would clinch the Atlantic Division title for Clemson. But the Tigers would clearly prefer to get there on their own terms.

Dabo Swinney has done his best to steer Clemson away from overlooking Virginia, even evoking Buster Douglas to hammer home the idea that champions come prepared to take care of business.

Over the hill

It will be the last pre-game run down "The Hill" for 19 seniors, nine of whom are starters.

Tigers' senior class pumped for last home game

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:25 EST

CLEMSON - The bitterness seethed from Clemson lineman Thomas Austin as he watched television that afternoon.

It was the first Saturday in December 2007, the day of the ACC championship.

Two weeks earlier, the Tigers had been on the brink of winning the Atlantic Division - only for Boston College quarterback Matt Ryan to throw a remarkable touchdown pass with 1:46 left to give the Eagles the lead. Clemson missed two chances to win or tie in the final minute, and Boston College punched its ticket to Jacksonville, Fla.

As Austin hung out withteammates the night before last week's victory against N.C. State, they struggled to come to grips with the opportunity at hand.

"To be honest, it was hard for us to chew on," Austin said.

Syracuse runs away from No. 6 North Carolina

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 08:03 EST

Jim Boeheim has always made a point of telling the media not to get too caught up in runs because basketball, especially on the college level, is a game of runs.

He could only smile as he was asked about Syracuse's 22-1 run to open the second half of an 87-71 victory over No. 6 North Carolina on Friday night in the championship game of the 2K Sports Classic.

"That's about as good as it gets," he said, "and it was against North Carolina and it was here."

The Orange (4-0) were the only unranked team in the semifinals of the tournament that benefits Coaches vs. Cancer but they left Madison Square Garden with blowout wins over No. 13 California and the Tar Heels (4-1).

North Carolina had a 39-37 halftime lead but that was gone in a hurry as Brandon Triche and Arinze Onuaku had field goals in the first 40 seconds. By the time the run ended 8 minutes into the second half Syracuse had a 59-40 lead.

11 in Colonial Cup makes for interesting mix

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:28 EST

With 11 horses ready to run in the 40th annual Marion DuPont Scott Colonial Cup - twice as many as the field in last year's race - trainer Jonathan Sheppard expects the final jump race of the steeplechase season to be hotly contested.

"To be honest I think it's a wide-open race," said Sheppard, who will bring three horses to the starting gate for the main event at the Springdale Race Course in Camden Saturday.

"I don't see any really great horses. There's a lot of good horses but not great horses, and it makes it, in a way, more exciting. There's no one horse like Good Night Shirt that everyone's expecting to win."

In last year's race, the 7-year-old gelding Good Night Shirt held off a fierce challenge from Preemptive Strike to win its second consecutive Colonial Cup by a nose. Neither Good Night Shirt - which was injured in midseason - nor Preemptive Strike returns to the 2 3/4-mile course Saturday, which promises $100,000 for the winner. The horses slated to run can put themselves in a strong position to win Steeplechase Horse of the Year honors.

"A lot of those horses in the race only have one win," Sheppard said. "If one of those horses can win again on Saturday, then that horse is going to be the steeplechase horse of the year. I'm hoping it will be mine."

NFL Guesspert: 1 is loneliest number for Lions, Browns

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:20 EST

WE'RE RUNNING OUT of teams in the NFL that still have only one win apiece.

Cleveland, Detroit, Tampa Bay and St. Louis are a fearsome foursome at a combined 4-32.

Looking at that list of 1-8 teams inspires one huge question:

How on earth have Kansas City and Oakland managed two wins apiece?

Meanwhile, things aren't looking up for our one-loss wonders this weekend.

Chris Fitzpatrick focuses on boxing to escape the 'bad stuff' in his life

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:28 EST

Chris Fitzpatrick knows he could be dead.

He knows how close he came in the six years he ran the streets of Cleveland, gang-banging, selling and smoking dope. He knows especially how close he came in the two weeks before he moved to Columbia in August 2008.

How close? As close as facing someone with a knife instead of fists in a street fight; as close as better aim by the person who took shots at him. As close as a nervous trigger finger on the men who robbed him at gunpoint - twice - before he fled Cleveland.

"Those last two weeks," the 22-year-old said quietly, "were the worst of my life."

These days, things are better.

SC State won't rest even with league title in hand

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:19 EST

South Carolina State may have already won the league title and a playoff berth. But coach Buddy Pough isn't about to let his Bulldogs let up Saturday in the regular season finale against North Carolina A&T.

"We don't know if we can turn it on and turn it off. We think we've got to keep the pedal to the metal," Pough said. "We've got to play very good this week and hope that momentum continues into the playoffs."

In other games Saturday involving the state's Football Championship Subdivision teams, Wofford is at Furman; The Citadel goes to Georgia Southern; Coastal Carolina travels to Charleston Southern; and Presbyterian hosts Gardner-Webb.

In Orangeburg, South Carolina State (9-1, 7-0 Mid-Eastern Athletic) won't sit back and relax against North Carolina A&T (5-5, 3-4), just because it has already clinched the MEAC title and FCS playoff bid.

For one thing, the Bulldogs are very proud of their record 18-game winning streak.

Booker leads Clemson past UNCG

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:26 EST

If this is what passes for a tight game for No. 22 Clemson, the Tigers will take it.

For the first time, a team kept it closer than 40 points against them - but it still wasn't enough to test them for 40 minutes.

As a result, Clemson routed North Carolina-Greensboro 89-67 on Friday night behind a season-high 17 points from Trevor Booker.

Milton Jennings added 14 points for the Tigers (3-0), Andre Young had 13 and David Potter finished with 11. Clemson shot 54.5 percent, forced 23 turnovers, broke it open by closing the first half with a huge run and extended its school-record winning streak in non-conference road games to 11.

Clemson won its 29th straight game in November since 2005. Their previous two have come by 43 points against Presbyterian and 40 at Liberty.

France: Johnson's reign is OK for NASCAR

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:21 EST

HOMESTEAD, Fla. - NASCAR chairman Brian France wants Jimmie Johnson to be commended for his four-year run atop NASCAR, and not used as an example of why the championship format might be flawed.

Johnson heads into Sunday's finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway poised to become the first driver in NASCAR history to win four consecutive titles, all under the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship format implemented in 2004. His dominance has made it easy for Chase critics to blast the system, which France called unfair.

"The only way fair to look at it is not to pick apart the format, but recognize excellence," France said Friday. "I don't think historians could have predicted how good they are. What I wouldn't want to do is take away from the accomplishment of Jimmie and his team. In this format, dominating four straight years is incredibly difficult to do."

The first year of the Chase was the most competitive, and five drivers entered the finale mathematically eligible to win the title. Kurt Busch beat Johnson by eight points for the championship.

The next season was won by Tony Stewart, and Johnson began his run in 2006. Although the 2007 Chase was a close fight between Johnson and Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jeff Gordon, Johnson has rolled into Homestead the past four seasons well in control.

One crazy college football season

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:10 EST

OK, I have been away from college football for a couple months. Let me make sure I have got this straight.

The best team in Texas plays in the Mountain West Conference?

Correct.

The best team in California isn't Southern California?

Like, totally far out, right?