NEU » reduced to 126 for 5 in the pr

COLUMBIA, S.C. -- Mason Zandi was grateful his South Carolina teammates dug when it wouldve been easy to give in. The result has the Gamecocks back in the postseason after missing out last season.The Gamecocks (6-5) won for the fourth time in the past five games to become bowl eligible with a 44-31 victory over Western Carolina on Saturday night. Zandi always believed, even with his team at 2-4 and facing several big challenges, South Carolina would succeed.We came together as a team. Nobody points fingers at each other. Nobody says, `Oh, woe is me, Zandi, the left tackle, said. Im incredibly proud to play next to these people.And Zandi, a fifth-year senior, will have one additional game to savor.Deebo Samuel scored three touchdowns, including a 100-yard kickoff return, while Rico Dowdle ran for 226 yards and two scores in South Carolinas win.Samuel, the sophomore receiver, made his mark in the running game with a pair of 2-yard TD runs and with his dazzling return on a first-quarter kickoff as the Gamecocks (6-5) doubled their win total from a year ago.This is a huge relief for us, Zandi said. Its even bigger for the program moving forward.The Catamounts (2-9) of the FCS Southern Conference kept denting the Gamecocks defense and were within 41-31 after Detrez Newsomes 93-yard kickoff return touchdown with 9:13 to go.But South Carolina was able to hold on and avoid the embarrassment of a second straight FCS defeat after falling to Citadel 23-22 in their 3-9 season last fall.At the end of the day, we needed to get to a bowl game, first-year South Carolina coach Will Muschamp said . It was really important with where we were after our first games.Freshman tailback Dowdle had a 43-yard touchdown run on South Carolinas opening series, then a 1-yard TD rush on the teams next series. He has rushed for over 100 yards in three of the past four games.Dowdles total yards were the most since Gamecocks great Marcus Lattimore gained 246 in a win over Navy in 2011.A.J. Turner added 97 yards rushing for South Carolina, which ran for 422 yards, its highest total since gaining 352 yards rushing against Coastal Carolina in 2013.Western Carolina fell to 0-52 against Football Bowl Subdivision teams and 0-19 all-time against Southeastern Conference opponents.THE TAKEAWAYDespite an early flourish, Western Carolina was overrun by its quicker, stronger FBS opponent. But the FCS school, which received $400,000 to come to South Carolina, has several FBS teams on upcoming schedules. Next year, the Catamounts play Hawaii and North Carolina. In 2018, its the Tar Heels again before facing North Carolina State in 2019.South Carolina is still getting its feet wet under new coach Will Muschamp. Where more advanced SEC teams mightve run from the Catamounts at the start, the young Gamecocks needed some time to get going before securing the win. Thats a big reason the coach wanted his team to qualify for the bowl -- the extra weeks of prep, planning, film study and practice the postseason gives his building program.FCS BACKERWestern Carolina coach Mark Speir said he hears all the time that SEC teams should not take on FCS teams like the Catamounts. This was a great game, said Speir, whose team scored more points on the Gamecocks than any other this season. I think the fans had a great time. Thirty-three of our players got a scholarship to come to Western Carolina because South Carolina gave us the opportunity to come down here and play.SAMUELS SWEEPReceiver Deebo Samuel has been an effective scorer for South Carolina near the goal line. He had two touchdowns near the goal line, running a patented jet-sweep play. That jet sweep has been money for us, Samuel said, smiling.How long did it take Muschamp and the offensive staff to know Samuel could be effective in the red zone? After about the third day of spring practice, Muschamp said.UP NEXTWestern Carolinas season is finished.South Carolina plays at Clemson on Saturday, trying to end a two-game losing streak to its rival.Nolan Patrick Jersey . The CFLs leading rusher kept adding to his gaudy numbers this season and scored the winning touchdown with just over two minutes to play. The New Westminster, B.C., native plowed three yards into the end zone for the last score of a heated, see-saw battle between the two teams with the best records in the CFL. Sean Couturier Flyers Jersey . Woodson said during a radio interview Thursday that the Knicks Carmelo Anthony doesnt get the same calls as other superstars. http://www.hockeyflyersauthentic.com/ . Datsyuk will miss Tuesdays game against New Jersey and could be sidelined longer, while Cleary will likely miss at least the next three games. Its been an injury-plagued season for Datsyuk, who has suited up for just 39 games. Bernie Parent Jersey . Ancelotti says Ronaldo has recovered from a hamstring injury but "but he doesnt feel comfortable yet so we wont risk him." Madrid is third in the Spanish league, six points behind leader Barcelona, going into Saturdays game against Valladolid. Custom Philadelphia Flyers Jerseys .S. Open champion Justin Rose birdied the first hole with a blind shot he hit to a foot of the pin, and he stayed in front Tuesday until he completed a 4-under 67 for a two-shot lead over Jason Dufner in PGA Grand Slam of Golf.West Indies 62 for 2 (Brathwaite 32*) v India Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsIndias hopes of retaining the No. 1 Test ranking going into the home season suffered a setback as only 22 overs were possible on the first day in wet Port of Spain. Forecast for the second day wasnt great either, and the facilities at the ground came under scrutiny too. The first days play began half an hour late despite no rain since the evening before the Test, and it was called off as early as 2pm. There is no super sopper at Queens Park Oval.Any team will be a tad disappointed with losing two wickets in the first session after choosing to bat on a slow track, but such has been the state of the West Indies batting that they might take this, with the rain being the bonus. Only once in the series have they lost their third wicket after reaching three figures. Kraigg Brathwaite, who has shown the willingness to buckle down, did that job, but he will be disappointed they lost two wickets especially after he and Leon Johnson had seen off the first spells of the opening bowlers.West Indies will be all the more disappointed because the pitch was really slow after having spent a lot of time under covers because of rain leading up to the Test. It had left the outfield wet enough to delay the start of the Test by half an hour. Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who had cracked open the last Test for India, wasted little time, though, in creating opportunities. In his first four overs, he hit the outside edge of Brathwaites bat four times: twice the ball fell short, once it travelled inn the gap in the slip cordon, and once Virat Kohli dropped it at second slip, seeming to suggest he expected third slip KL Rahul to go for it.ddddddddddddThat wasnt the first disfavour he had done his bowlers: he had decided to play just the four bowlers so that both Cheteshwar Pujara and Rohit Sharma could be included. Also he dropped Shikhar Dhawan for M Vijay after an uncertain batting line-up had been reduced to 126 for 5 in the previous Test.After seeing off Bhuvneshwar and Mohammed Shami for a partnership of 31 runs, Johnson fell to the first ball bowled by Ishant Sharma. This was his second straight dismissal to short leg, and again straight off the bat. Ishant got it just high enough into the ribs, but Johnson could have left it alone.The second wicket didnt take so much co-operation from the batsman. After Darren Bravo had picked R Ashwin for a two and a four at his home ground, the next ball was just a bit shorter, creating the distance between the pitch of the ball and the bat. Then it had enough time to turn from middle and leg and past the outside edge to hit the top of off stump. That in the first session of a Test is excellent for a spinner.Brathwaite, though, remained solid and in partnership with Marlon Samuels took West Indies to within 15 minutes of lunch when rain brought them early relief. As it turned out steady rain for the next hour or so was all it took for the days play to be called off. ' ' '