Aug. 15, 2006
The South Carolina Gamecocks were in full pads as they conducted a two hour practice Tuesday night. It was a beautiful night in Columbia until a downpour hit the Bluff Road practice fields for the final 15 minutes of the session.
Four players did not take part in the drills including tight end Andy Boyd (right shoulder), wide receiver Mike West (left hamstring), tailback Taylor Rank (left thigh) and safety Nick Prochak (right hamstring). In addition, Ty Erving missed another day of practice following the death of a close friend. He is expected to rejoin the team on Thursday.
The Gamecocks will work out twice on Wednesday as they continue preparations for the season opener at Mississippi State on Thursday, August 31.
Following Tuesday’s workout, Head Coach Steve Spurrier met the media:
“We had a decent practice tonight. Nothing exciting. Nobody got hurt. We’ll practice a couple of times tomorrow and keep practicing.”
On Wednesday night’s scrimmage: “We’re planning on playing a little bit – we’ve got some referees coming. So we’ll try to get 75 to 85 plays in tomorrow night.”
On Brandon Isaac being ineligible for the first three games: “We heard on Isaac that there were some issues academically – nothing was his fault. Right now he’s still got that hamstring a little bit. There’s a chance we made redshirt him or we may play him later on in the year. We’ll just have to wait and see how it goes.”
On the youth in the secondary without Isaac and Ty Erving: “Some of them young guys may be our starters regardless of who’s here. They’ve looked pretty doggone good. We don’t worry about who we don’t have. We concern ourselves with who we have right now. There’s a chance (Isaac) may be back or he may be redshirted.”
On practice being closed: “I wish we had some fans out here, but too much information gets out on everything we do. It doesn’t make sense to have people here. Unfortunately for the fans, that’s just the way it is now a days.”
On the development of the young offensive linemen: “We’re still struggling up front, but that’s to be expected. Some of them are doing some good things though. We’re struggling up front at times. Of course, everyone struggles up front at times.”
