Oct. 6, 2008

The University of South Carolina football team worked out Monday evening in preparation for Saturday’s SEC contest at Kentucky. The Gamecocks (4-2, 1-2 SEC) and Wildcats (4-1, 0-1 SEC) will kick off at 12:30 p.m. ET at Commonwealth Stadium in Lexington. The game will be televised live on the Raycom Sports Network. It can be heard on the Gamecock Radio Network, including the Gamecocks’ flagship station, 107.5 The Game in Columbia, as well as on XM satellite radio 199.

“We’re getting ready for Kentucky,” said head coach Steve Spurrier following Monday’s practice. “Kentucky is 4-1. So they’ve got a little better record than we do. It should be a pretty even game. It should be about like last week for us. Hopefully, we can play a little better than we did last week.”

Quarterback Chris Smelley was named the SEC Offensive Player of the Week for his efforts in the 31-24 win at Ole Miss. “It was nice that he was named the SEC Offensive Player of the Week. He had a good game. He had a few careless plays that hopefully we can get rid of, but it ended up not hurting us. Fortunately, we had some good breaks and overcame those bad plays. He hit a few balls down the field. He threw the ball around pretty well. He had a good game and hopefully he’ll have a better game this week.”

Coach Spurrier has been impressed by the Kentucky defense. “They’re very highly ranked. They’re solid. They’ve played very well. It will be a good test for us.”

The Gamecocks should be healthy on Saturday. Tight end Jared Cook, who suffered a right foot injury on Saturday, was “gimpy tonight” according to Coach Spurrier, but should be ready by Saturday.