Dec. 21, 2005

The South Carolina Gamecocks wrapped up their pre-Christmas bowl practice schedule on the Bluff Road practice fields Wednesday morning. The team will reconvene on Sunday night, December 25, then practice Monday morning, December 26, before flying to Shreveport for the 2005 Independence Bowl. The Gamecocks will face the Big 12’s Missouri Tigers on Friday, December 30.

Following today’s practice, Coach Steve Spurrier addressed the media:

“Nothing much happened. It was a pretty good practice. Hopefully our guys will drive safely and get back here Christmas night, then we will go to Shreveport the next day.”

On the status of Jarriel King: “Jarriel King is still trying to take that doggone test. Hopefully, he will get someone to tutor him. He’s got some opportunities to enroll at some other places. Hopefully, he will hang in there and pass that test. I think he’s considering all his options right now. We’re certainly hoping that he hangs with us.”

“Our preparation has been ok. You don’t want to be extremely sharp two weeks before the game. You want to be fairly sharp and then try to get real sharp leading up to the game. We’ve had pretty good practices. We’ll have a typical Tuesday and Wednesday practice (when we get to Shreveport), then a light walk thru the day before the game.”

On having his seniors speak at the last practice: “I started having the seniors address the team on the last day on the practice field. It’s always a message about how quickly your college career goes and trying to make the most of it while you’re here and these are the best years possibly of your entire life – your four to five years of college. The senior class here was outstanding I think. They did a super job of the winter conditioning, summer conditioning, weight lifting, being on time, so hopefully, they set the example for the younger guys. Even the senior managers spoke. They are very important to our team also.”