Aug. 9, 2006

The South Carolina Gamecocks put on full pads for the first time this fall, as they went through their fifth day of practice on Wednesday at the Bluff Road practice fields.

One of the highlights of the day was the “Oklahoma” drill, pitting an offensive lineman against a defensive lineman. The team also completed the practice by going 11-on-11.

The team will return to the Bluff Road practice fields for its first two-a-day session on Thursday, working out at 9:30 a.m. and again at 7:30 p.m.

Following tonight’s workout, Head Coach Steve Spurrier addressed the media:

“Again good day weather-wise, not too muggy, not too hot, so we got a lot of practice time, so I think it was productive.”

On the Oklahoma drill: “Heath Batchelor on offense knocked some guys backwards. Stanley (Doughty) and Marque Hall looked pretty good on defense. Gurminder (Thind) did some good things. Other than that, everybody was just pushing and shoving. Everybody did pretty decent in there. That’s usually a fun drill the first day in pads.”

On James Thompson working with the “ones” at guard: “Hopefully James can help us this year. He’s getting better. He’s trying hard. He’s much improved from last year.”

On whether he has any concerns: “Concerns? Yea, the whole team. I’m concerned about trying to beat Mississippi State.”

On the passing game: “Overall the passing is not good enough right now. We’ve got to pass better when guys are flying around us. So we’re struggling a little bit there. The pass protection is struggling a lot.”

On the status of Mike Davis: “I’m not worried about Mike. He should be fine in a week or so. At one time (it looked like it might be a staph infection), but they don’t think so now.”