March 24, 2015

The University of South Carolina football team returned to the practice fields on Tuesday afternoon as the fifth of 15 spring practices was conducted in near perfect weather conditions in Columbia.

“We had a decent practice today,” said head coach Steve Spurrier. “Guys were hustling around. Hopefully I think we made some progress today.”

Coach Spurrier noted that this is just spring practice and the quarterback position remains up for grabs. “We’re all practicing right now. We won’t determine who’s going to start next year until probably preseason practice (in the fall).” The Head Ball Coach acknowledged that Connor Mitch would most likely run with the first team most of the spring, but that Brendan Nosovitch could figure into the plans as well. “Brendan Nosovitch is an excellent play action quarterback who can run the option and all that kind of stuff. Maybe there’s a spot for him to play a bit next year also. He’s more of a combination guy, whereas the other three quarterbacks are not considered outstanding runners. There’s a spot for that running quarterback as we all know.”

Coach Spurrier confirmed that he plans to call the plays again in 2015. “I did delegate at times last year, but I usually took over before the game was over. I certainly plan on doing it. I’ll be ready to do it and we’ll go from there.” When pressed as to why he had delegated the play-calling duties last year, Coach Spurrier quipped, “Same reason I did several years ago – it wasn’t going very well.”

On the defensive side of the ball, with new co-defensive coordinator Jon Hoke installing more a 4-3 look rather than the 4-2-5 the Gamecocks have employed for the past few years, several players are being groomed at new positions.

Larenz Bryant was getting action at SAM linebacker before suffering a liver injury last week, which will sideline him for the remainder of camp. Bryson Allen-Williams is playing the WILL linebacker position and is running with the second team behind Jonathan Walton. “We’ll figure out the best three and we’ll put the best three on the field,” said co-defensive coordinator Lorenzo Ward. “Anything can happen. We’re still experimenting with some guys.”

Ward noted that Jordan Diggs and T.J. Gurley were adapting to their new roles, flip-flopping from the spur and safety positions. “I think they’ve both got some learning to do,” said Ward. “They’re both really essentially switching positions that they played for three years since they’ve been here. They’re both making some mistakes, but I think it will be a good move.”

The Gamecocks are slated to practice three more times this week. They will work out Thursday and Friday at the practice fields, then move into Williams-Brice Stadium on Saturday for the first official scrimmage of the spring. All three of those practices are closed, including Saturday’s scrimmage due to the on-going construction around Williams-Brice Stadium.