April 4, 2003

COUNTDOWN TO KICKOFF: 149 days until the season-opener at Williams-Brice Stadium, Sat., Aug. 30 vs. Louisiana-Lafayette.

GOING CAMPING: USC conducted a two-hour practice under mostly sunny skies and temperatures in the 70’s at the practice fields west of Williams-Brice Stadium in preparation for a Saturday scrimmage.

QUOTING ASSISTANT HEAD COACH SKIP HOLTZ: Assistant head coach Skip Holtz spoke to the media following today’s practice.

(on today’s practice) – “We had a very positive practice. It was upbeat and the tempo was good. We went a lot against each other. We had team pass and inside run and some good hitting on both sides. There were good plays made on offense and good plays made on defense. We have the full offense in now.”

(on Chris White) – “Chris White (redshirt freshman offensive lineman from Chester, SC) has been cleared to practice and he was out there today. It looked like he got tired but he pushed through it. He’s playing offensive guard right now and is certainly a big body in there. The doctors met with Chris and his parents earlier this week and he was cleared to practice.”

(on the quarterbacks) – “Dondrial Pinkins has the chance to be an excellent quarterback and I like how the young quarterbacks are coming along. We scrimmage tomorrow and it will be more like a game situation than the last scrimmage was.”

CHRIS WHITE RETURNS TO THE FIELD: Chris White, offensive lineman from Chester, SC, returned to the practice field for the first time Friday since last August, when he suffered a neck stinger during preseason camp. White had not practiced since then. He was given clearance to return to full participation by the doctors earlier this week. Following practice he talked about his return:

“I signed a waiver earlier today which gave me clearance to practice. I’d rather keep what’s in the waiver between my family and the doctors. I suffered a stinger during preseason camp last August. I visited with a lot of different doctors and they said I could now resume playing football. The last time I was in full pads was in the Shrine Bowl (December, 2001). I’m a little sore today. I’ve got to get back into football shape.”

INJURY UPDATE: Wide receiver Andrea Gause did not practice Friday. He was resting a sore knee.

UPCOMING SCHEDULE: USC will scrimmage Saturday afternoon. The scrimmage is closed.

DID YOU KNOW?: South Carolina ranked ninth in the nation in attendance by capacity percentage during the 2002 season. The Gamecocks packed Williams-Brice Stadium to 102% of capacity, averaging 82,138 fans per game, for the third consecutive season. Only two SEC schools had a better attendance percentage during 2002, Florida and Tennessee, both filling their venues to 103% of capacity.