Aug. 14, 2010

By Steve Fink, Media Relations Director

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The University of South Carolina football team scrimmaged Saturday afternoon at Williams-Brice Stadium. The 70-play scrimmage had the usual assortment of some good plays and some mistakes, not uncommon for a team using its full complement of players and with still nearly three weeks to go before the season opener against Southern Miss on Thursday, Sept. 2.

“We had one of our typical scrimmages I guess,” said head coach Steve Spurrier following the workout. “We scored a few touchdowns here and there but there was sloppy play – jumping offsides, don’t snap the ball at the right time, pass protection was not very good. The defense did ok, but neither side did very good to tell you the truth. Neither side did anything spectacular. The receivers caught about everything,” the Head Ball Coach continued. “There were some good catches and throws but I think Stephen Garcia got sacked about five times out of 15 attempts. Connor (Shaw) and (Andrew) Clifford got sacked once or twice so that wasn’t very good. There were some good plays here and there, but there should have been more. The receivers ran good routes and we have a bunch of guys open but we couldn’t get the ball up in the air as often as we should.”

Freshman quarterback Connor Shaw had the best day of the three signal-callers that saw action. Shaw completed 12-of-14 passes for 150 yards and a touchdown. His longest pass was a 45-yarder to Lamar Scruggs, who made a nice leaping catch. Scruggs was the day’s top receiver with three catches for 73 yards. Redshirt freshman Andrew Clifford hit on 7-of-11 passes for 99 yards, including a 15-yard strike to DeAngelo Smith in the left corner of the endzone for the scrimmage’s first points. Incumbent starter Stephen Garcia was just 3-for-8 for 76 yards, but did find DeMario Bennett wide open down the middle on a 31-yard scoring strike. Bennett finished the afternoon with three receptions for 66 yards. The quarterbacking trio combined to complete 67 percent of their passes (22-for-33) for 325 yards and three touchdowns with no interceptions, but were also sacked a number of times.

The running game struggled to get untracked all day and the rushing totals were diminished by the sacks. Bryce Sherman led the ball carriers with four totes for 16 yards, including a 9-yard burst for a score. Jarvis Giles and Marcus Lattimore each rushed for 15 yards.

The team will take part in the annual Fan Appreciation Day presented by Colonial Life at the Colonial Life Arena on Sunday afternoon from 1-2:30 p.m. Doors open at 12:30 and admission is free. The coaches and players will sign the official 2010 team poster. There is no practice scheduled for Sunday evening. The Gamecocks will return to the practice fields on Monday afternoon at 3:30 p.m. Tuesday’s practice is scheduled for 9:30 a.m., while a two-a-day has been added to the slate on Wednesday, with practices set for 10 a.m. and again at 7:30 p.m.

SCORING PLAYS:

DeAngelo Smith 15-yard pass from Andrew Clifford (Spencer Lanning kick)

Bryce Sherman 9-yard run (Adam Yates kick)

Ace Sanders 4-yard pass from Connor Shaw (Jay Wooten kick)

DeMario Bennett 31-yard pass from Stephen Garcia (Joey Scribner-Howard kick)

Spencer Lanning 20-yard field goal

PASSING:

Connor Shaw 12-14-0-150; Andrew Clifford 7-11-0-99; Stephen Garcia 3-8-0-76. TOTALS: 22-33-0-325.

RUSHING:

Bryce Sherman 4-16; Jarvis Giles 10-15; Marcus Lattimore 4-15; Connor Shaw 3-11; Ace Sanders 1-10; Brian Maddox 2-2; Jacob Baker 4-0; Andrew Clifford 3-(-11); Stephen Garcia 6-(-23). TOTALS: 37-35.

RECEIVING:

Lamar Scruggs 3-73; DeMario Bennett 3-66; Ace Sanders 3-33; DeAngelo Smith 2-30; Mike Triglia 2-15; Bryce Sherman 2-11; Jason Barnes 1-33; Jacob Baker 1-18; Cedrick Snead 1-17; Marcus Lattimore 1-12; Matt Coffee 1-9; Jarvis Giles 1-7; Nick Jones 1-1. TOTALS: 22-325.