Aug. 18, 2015
The University of South Carolina football team held another two-hour workout Tuesday morning at their new practice fields.
“Practice was ok, nothing too spectacular,” said head coach Steve Spurrier following the workout. “We’ve still got a whole bunch of coaching to do.”
Coach Spurrier has been adamant that the offense needs to play faster. “We’ve got to move faster. The quarterbacks, receivers, offensive line has to get up and get set, all of that kind of stuff. After the ball is snapped, we’ve got to get moving. The quarterbacks have to move their feet, stay after it, let it go, put something on it, fire the ball. But they’re coming around,” he added.
Coach Spurrier does not have a timeline on when he expects to name a starting quarterback. Connor Mitch, Perry Orth, Michael Scarnecchia and Lorenzo Nunez all continue to take snaps in practice. “There’s no rush right now. We’ll start giving more snaps to the guys who look like they’re going to play. Somebody might sprain an ankle and can’t play. We don’t want to start a backup, do we?” he asked. “If somebody gets hurt, we wouldn’t want him to be the starter.”
“They all did some good things,” said G.A. Mangus of the quarterbacks’ performance in last Saturday’s scrimmage. “It was a passing scrimmage. We threw it a bunch obviously. That never bodes well too much when you don’t have that balance. The defensive pins their ears back and gets a pass rush going all the time. So you have to get the ball out quicker when you get in those positions and guys get beat. But Connor (Mitch) graded out pretty well,” Mangus noted.
Mangus indicated that there is a good battle going on a tight end behind Jerell Adams. He identified Kyle Markway, Kevin Crosby, Jacob August and Hayden Hurst as guys who have not played much, but could see action this season.
Former Florida quarterback and current television analyst Jesse Palmer was on hand for Tuesday’s practice and briefly addressed the team. Palmer will be in Charlotte on September 3 for the season opener against North Carolina, working with an ESPN crew that features Joe Tessitore (play-by-play), David Pollack (analyst) and Kaylee Hartung (sideline reporter).
Defensive end Cedrick Cooper (sick) and offensive lineman Cody Waldrop (shoulder) were held out of Tuesday’s practice. They joined safety Antoine Wilder (right knee sprain), tight end Connor Redmond (back), and kicker Joseph Charlton (back) on the sidelines.
The Gamecocks will return to the practice fields for another morning workout on Wednesday. They will have Thursday off, as fall semester classes begin at the University.
Coach Spurrier’s first “Carolina Calls” radio call-in show of the season will be held at Wild Wings Café in the Vista on Thursday night from 7-8 p.m. and can be heard throughout the Midlands on WNKT-107.5 FM. Todd Ellis returns as the host of the show.
