| Cavalier Daily Associate Editor |
One of 12 siblings, Jenkins grew up in an athletic family -- his older brother, Dee, played baseball in the San Diego Padres organization -- and followed the local South Carolina Gamecocks. He is a native son of Columbia, S.C. who used to sell sodas at USC football games at nearby Williams-Brice Stadium.
Now he no longer is filling the airspace with shouts for ice-cold beverages, but with footballs aimed for the hands of his receivers. Jenkins has gone from hawking beverages to being the star attraction.
But Jenkins' route did not follow the immediate sequence of transitions from youth athletics to high school to USC football. Instead, he first pursued his own baseball dream right out of high school after the Boston Red Sox selected him with a first-round draft choice in 1995.
Jenkins already had signed with South Carolina to play football after being named the state's Offensive Player of the Year, passing for 3,400 yards and 45 touchdowns, and rushing for 2,800 yards and 36 touchdowns.
But instead of playing for USC, he took the opportunity to sign with the Red Sox and compete on a professional level.
After spending four seasons toiling for the Red Sox and eventually for White Sox minor league organizations, Jenkins abandoned his professional baseball dream and returned to school, hoping for another chance to play for the Gamecocks. What he found originally, however, was that the NCAA had modified its eligibility requirements, restructuring the mandatory core courses and leaving Jenkins initially ineligible.
Jenkins sought an intermediary stop at Garden City Junior College in Kansas, where he was named twice to the Junior College All-America team. In his final season at Garden City, he ran for 816 yards and eight touchdowns and threw for 936 yards and 10 touchdowns, leading his team to an undefeated 10-0 record and a No. 1 ranking in the junior college football circuit.
Jenkins' junior season was spent backing up senior Phil Petty. In that role, Jenkins still contributed, accumulating 497 yards of all-purpose offense and rushing for three touchdowns.
In spring practice, however, Jenkins rapidly emerged as a team leader and the team's starting quarterback. He was impressive enough to earn the Joe Morrison Memorial Award, given to the South Carolina offensive and defensive MVPs of spring practice.
At 26 years of age and sitting at the helm of a division one college football offense, Jenkins can easily be likened to former Florida State signal-caller Chris Weinke. Both played a few years of minor league baseball before returning to school.
Jenkins' obvious athletic tools -- speed, strong arm, and a 6-foot-2, 220-pound frame -- led to hype and pressure surrounding his senior season. He did not disappoint in his season opener, defeating New Mexico State 34-24 behind his team-leading 113 yard rushing performance and 166 passing yards and one touchdown.
"I thought Corey Jenkins played excellent, particularly in the second half," South Carolina Coach Lou Holtz said. "In the first half he ran well, second half he played like a quarterback."
The Cavaliers will have their hands full of Jenkins this Saturday night, particularly after current Florida State quarterback Chris Rix led the Seminoles to a rousing victory last Saturday. Rix created plays and spread the Virginia defense with his speed.
The South Carolina offense has the same tools at its disposal but employs a different strategy than Florida State, preventing Virginia from using the same strategy.
"This is a very different scheme we're playing against," Coach Al Groh said. The Gamecock offensive scheme features "a lot of single-wing in it, it has a little run-and-shoot in it," he added.
The young Cavalier team will be playing with added confidence following its strong fourth quarter performance against the Seminoles, so Jenkins will have a tough match when he visits Scott Stadium at 7:45 p.m. Saturday night.
NCAA eye drawn to S. Carolina
An investigator has been asking questions about possible rules
violations involving the Gamecocks' football program.
Mark Schlabach -
Staff
Thursday, September 5, 2002
Williamston, S.C. --- Derek Watson was driving a $60,000 Cadillac Escalade just months after signing to play football for the University of South Carolina in 1999.
That fact and a number of possible improprieties within the Gamecocks football program have drawn the interest of an NCAA investigator. NCAA enforcement representative Jeff Higgins interviewed at least three South Carolina men last month about their knowledge of potential NCAA rules violations.
Higgins flew into Greenville-Spartanburg International Airport on Aug. 6 and interviewed at least two men about possible discrepancies on a former player's high school transcript. Higgins talked to another man about other potential violations, including:
> Whether the parents of players were given jobs because their sons signed to play for the Gamecocks.
> Whether an auto repair shop in Lancaster, S.C., provided improper benefits to the mother of a Gamecocks player.
> Whether the mother of a Gamecocks player cashed thousands of dollars in checks after her son signed to play for Carolina.
South Carolina spokesman Kerry Tharp said the school self-reported Watson's use of the sport utility vehicle, which was owned by a South Carolina graduate who lives near the campus in Columbia. Tharp said he had no knowledge that the NCAA was looking into anything concerning the school's football program.
"Our administration, from the president on down, have heard nothing from the NCAA," Tharp said.
Higgins, who was unavailable for comment, also is investigating potential violations within Mississippi State's football program. Seven of the 12 SEC schools are either on probation (Alabama and Kentucky) or under NCAA scrutiny (Arkansas, LSU, Mississippi State, South Carolina and Tennessee).
On June 27, 1999, Watson reported stolen a 1999 Cadillac Escalade, with an estimated value of $62,000, according to an Anderson (S.C.) Police Department incident report. Watson told police that the sport utility vehicle was stolen from the Ramada Inn in Anderson, which is about 15 miles from his hometown. The vehicle was owned by South Carolina alumnus Pierce Cauthen, the police report said.
Watson told police that "unknown suspects did take his 1999 Cadillac Escalade, champaine [sic] in color, valued at $62,000. . . . The tag is a USC tag and no other information was available," the police report said. The vehicle was recovered in North Carolina, and a suspect was arrested.
"This was self-reported to the NCAA during that time," Tharp said. "Watson was declared ineligible. It was looked into by the university, and he made restitution for his use of the vehicle. We appealed for and received restoration of his eligibility, and the NCAA accepted the actions taken by the university."
When reached on a cellphone on Wednesday, Cauthen declined to talk about the incident or explain why Watson was driving his car.
"I think that case may still be pending," Cauthen said. "I don't think I should discuss it."
Watson, 21, is enrolled at South Carolina State after Gamecocks coach Lou Holtz dismissed him from the team following Watson's Jan. 12 arrest for marijuana possession. Watson was convicted in March and sentenced to 240 hours of community service.
On Aug. 26, Greenville Municipal Court Judge Matt Hawley found Watson in contempt of court and sentenced him to 10 days in jail. Hawley complained that Watson hadn't completed any of the community service and said records he submitted were bogus.
"The last time you were in here, you were telling me that he did all of his community service in Anderson County and he was the greatest thing since sliced bread," Hawley told Watson's attorneys. "Then I go back and do my homework and you couldn't find a record with a microscope over there."
Watson's attorneys filed a motion of appeal, and he was released after spending the night in jail. He is scheduled to appear in court again next week. Watson played in South Carolina State's 26-20 win over Tennessee State on Saturday; he ran for 29 yards on seven carries. Bulldogs coach Buddy Pough declined comment on Wednesday.
Watson's community service was supervised by Forest Thomas, an executive committee member of the Gamecocks Club. Thomas said Watson washed ambulances and cleaned bays at the emergency medical center where Thomas is the director. Hawley also issued a bench warrant for Thomas' arrest on a contempt charge and ordered him to serve 10 days in jail and pay a $250 fine.
"[Watson] did the community service that we turned in," Thomas told the Journal-Constitution. "He completed 82 of the 240 hours. I saw him two or three times myself."
Watson rushed for 1,066 yards in 2000, leading the Gamecocks from an 0-11 record the previous year to a 7-4 mark and a berth in the Outback Bowl.
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Will Go With Schaub -- This Week By Jim Reedy Special to The Washington Post Thursday, September 5, 2002; Page D03 CHARLOTTESVILLE, Sept. 4 -- Virginia Coach Al Groh said today he has changed quarterbacks again, four days after junior Matt Schaub engineered three touchdown drives at Florida State in relief of redshirt freshman Marques Hagans. "We're going to start Matt Schaub at quarterback" Saturday against No. 22 South Carolina, Groh said. "That will continue to be the case. We will also continue to use Marques in the same fashion that we did in the first game." Schaub started the season opener, but lasted only one quarter before Groh began alternating him with Hagans, who ran and passed for 165 yards and nearly led Virginia (0-2) past Colorado State in the final minutes. That performance earned Hagans the start the next weekend against the Seminoles, but his struggles prompted Groh to switch back to Schaub midway through the second quarter. Though the Cavaliers lost 40-19, Schaub threw three touchdown passes in the fourth quarter and finished with 247 yards on 19-of-25 passing. "Matt did a very good job," Groh said. "He had a real good look in his eye, both during that whole second half and after the game. . . . He made most of the throws a guy's got to make and he made them very accurately." Groh said he expects Hagans to remain an important part of the Virginia offense. Seven inches shorter than the 6-foot-5 Schaub, Hagans used his quickness and speed against Colorado State. Last weekend, his inexperience showed against the more athletic Seminoles. He accounted for just 18 yards{ndash}the offense as a whole managed only 34{ndash}in his six possessions. "He brings some very specific skills to our team," Groh said, "but in all fairness to him, he needs a chance to learn the entire offense and to learn defenses and to be comfortable with a progressively larger part of the playbook." |
Virginia coach Al Groh on Wednesday named Matt Schaub the Cavaliers' starting quarterback, likely eliciting some sighs of relief in the South Carolina locker room.
The Cavaliers have been rotating Schaub, a prototypical dropback passer, with Marques Hagans, a 5-10, 202-pound freshman who is more of a running threat.
New Mexico State quarterback Buck Pierce hurt the Gamecocks last week with several scrambles in USC's 34-24 victory, and the Gamecock defenders were not relishing the idea of facing another elusive quarterback.
"(Pierce) was a very good running quarterback and he could pass the ball also, so I think the running quarterback will give us a little bit of trouble," spur Jonathan Martin said.
Added nosetackle Langston Moore: "The scrambler, Donovan McNabb-type quarterback, whenever he gets a chance, he can just throw it up to the tall receiver (6-4 Billy McMullen). Any time we have a breakdown in the defensive backfield or we let them scramble out of the pocket, he can throw it up there and make something big happen."
Hagans started last week in a 40-19 loss at Florida State. But after an ineffective first half, Groh benched Hagans and sent in Schaub, who completed 19 of 25 passes for 247 yards and three touchdowns. The second-year Virginia coach said both quarterbacks would play Saturday.
"We're going to start Matt Schaub. We'll also continue to use Marcus in the same fashion we did in the first game," Groh said. "He brings some very specific skills to our team. In all fairness to him, he needs a chance to learn the whole offense and learn defenses."
• More moves. Add George Gause's name to the list of USC defenders who have been playing musical chairs this week. Besides the moves of running back Gonzie Gray and receiver Andrea Gause to cornerback, George Gause has been taking snaps at outside linebacker in addition to his normal work at defensive end.
Gause, a 6-5, 255-pound sophomore, made the SEC's all-freshman team last year and had three tackles last weekend in a start against New Mexico State.
A defensive end and tight end in high school in Conway, Gause said he doesn't mind the switch.
"I don't know for sure where they're going to play me," he said. "It's all right. I'll play wherever they need me."
Gamecocks coach Lou Holtz said if Gause plays linebacker, the likely candidates to replace him at end are Jason Capers, Moe Thompson or Randy Jackson.
"When you look at it, our best 11 right now would be to put (Gause) down (at defensive end)," Holtz said
• Corner conundrum. Holtz has returned to his roots this week. The former secondary coach has been working with the cornerbacks, with defensive backfield coach John Gutekunst taking the safeties.
The corners are hoping Holtz soon will resume his normal duties. "They're anxious for me to get away from them," Holtz said. "It's just to get more focus and more attention. This is the only week I'm doing it."
No fewer than seven corners have been rotating this week: last week's starters Dunta Robinson and Taqiy Muhammad, along with Gray, Andrea Gause, Brian Elam, Rachiem Monroe and Ted Crawford. Elam missed part of the preseason because of to academic problems but might play this season.
Holtz is uncertain who will start at Virginia. "I can't tell you who'd be ahead or anything else," he said. "That's the sad thing."