March 21, 2015

The University of South Carolina football team worked out at the new practice fields on Saturday morning in full pads. It was the squad’s fourth practice session during the first week of spring drills.

Prior to the start of Saturday’s practice, NFL Hall of Famer Floyd Little addressed the team. Little, a Syracuse grad, is in Columbia for the NCAA women’s basketball tournament.

“The first week was pretty good, I think,” said Head Coach Steve Spurrier. “(Offensive lineman) Malik (Young) sprained his knee a little bit. We’ve only got six offensive lineman right now I think, so we can’t scrimmage too much,” noted the Head Ball Coach. “Perry Orth threw a nice ball to Deebo (Samuel) there at the end. Other than that, both sides are doing some good stuff. Our defensive guys are doing a good job disguising and moving around a bit. But we’re just getting started. We’re a long way from being a good team, but hopefully we can get there.”

Senior running back Brandon Wilds also was in a yellow “no contact” jersey on Saturday. “He’s fine,” said running backs coach Everette Sands. “He banged up his shoulder a little when he was doing no pads, but he’ll be fine. I know what he can do. I’m pretty confident in that. We’re not going to press the issue. If we had to play on Saturday, he’d be ready to go.”

Coach Sands sees the starting job up for grabs between Wilds and sophomore David Williams. “Nothing has been given. Both of them will play. The question is who will be the guy that runs out on the field first.”

Meanwhile, on the other side of the ball, co-defensive coordinator Jon Hoke was pleased with what he’s seen during the first week of spring drills. “They’re doing great,” said Hoke of the defense making adjustments to his style. “We can see improvement every day. Obviously the terminology is a little bit different for them, the tempo is a little bit different for them, the way we play is a little different, but they’re doing good,” said Hoke. “The coaches are doing a tremendous job of being detailed in what they’re telling them. We’ve got a lot of work to do, we all know that, but they’re giving us great effort and they’re working at it. We’ve not missed a day of what we want to put in. We thought about holding back, but we keep going forward and they guys are doing a good job.”

Defensive end Marquavius Lewis is an important addition to the defensive line as the Gamecocks look to improve their pass rush. “There’s no pressure,” said Lewis of being asked to fill a major hole in the defense. “I’m relying on my teammates to help out. It’s a team effort.” Lewis noted that there is a big difference making the transition to major college football from junior college in terms of player personnel and scheme, but noted, “I think I play both run and pass equally well, so hopefully I can transition.”

The Gamecocks will return to the practice fields on Tuesday. That practice will be open to the media and to the public.