March 20, 2012

Another beautiful “Chamber of Commerce” day greeted the South Carolina Gamecock football squad as they returned to the Bluff Road “Proving Grounds” on Tuesday afternoon. The Gamecocks conducted the fourth of their 15 allotted spring practices under ideal weather conditions.

Starting center T.J. Johnson was among those players who did not practice on Tuesday after suffering a sprained foot last week. Also sidelined were tight end Rory Anderson (sprained ankle), cornerback Ahmad Christian (concussion), cornerback Cadarious Sanders (hamstring) and linebacker Quin Smith (back).

“We still have a long way to go,” said defensive coordinator Lorenzo Ward. “We’ve seen some slight improvement by some young guys but not enough improvement to where we can feel good about them helping us win a lot of ball games next season. We’ve still got a ways to go, but still have quite a few practices to get it done.”

Ward did identify a few young players that have stood out so far. “I think a couple of young guys up front are doing some good things – J.T. Surratt, both Dixons are doing fairly well. We’ll have a scrimmage on Saturday so we’ll get to see how they do with some live action. Kadetrix Marcus is doing well on the perimeter. Brison (Williams) didn’t get to play a lot last year but has shown signs of being a starter for us at the boundary safety spot. Vic (Hampton) is playing well, but taking too many chances. He plays a lot with his eyes. I feel good about some of the young guys but we’ve got to get a lot more out of a couple of them.”

The Gamecocks will return to the practice fields again on Friday at 4:15 p.m. Practice is open to the public.