Aug. 7, 2003

Columbia, S.C. –

* South Carolina returned to the football practice field Thursday afternoon, working out for more than two hours in shorts and shoulder pads. There were some injuries to report. Tight end Andy Boyd left practice with a right knee sprain. He will have an MRI performed for further evaluation. Defensive end Moe Thompson had heat exertion. Defensive end Jason Capers had an asthma attack and was transported to Palmetto Richland Hospital for precautionary measures. Offensive lineman Woodly Telfort returned to the practice field Thursday after being held out on Wednesday. Lab tests showed that Telfort has type 2 diabetes and will treat it with oral medication.

* Assistant head coach/offensive coordinator Skip Holtz met with the media following practice. Here are some comments from Skip: “We had a very spirited practice. We almost had to pull the reins back on them; they really wanted to get after it. Offensively, it’s way too early to tell much about what we have. If one guy missteps, then the whole thing looks bad. Michael Rathe (quarterback) has had a good couple of days of practice. He looks sharp. I would have liked to see Dondrial (Pinkins) have a better day than he had today. He missed a few of his reads. Dondrial is definitely number one right now, but Michael isn’t that far behind. I’d like to see Dondrial be more patient in the pocket. He has a tendency to want to rely on his running ability. Sometimes that’s difficult for a natural athlete to do; and that’s stay in the pocket until the last second before releasing the ball. Bennett Swygert is doing some nice things. If you take 20 of his plays, 18 of them are really good. He neds to eliminate those two bad plays. Syvelle (Newton) and Blake (Mitchell) are talented young players, but they are really swimming out there now. The speed of the game is so much faster for them than in high school. At wide receivers, Troy Williamson, Taqiy Muhammad, Chavez Donnings and Mikal Goodman are doing some really good things. I like our group of receivers. Charlie Williams (receivers coach) has done a great job with those guys. They are playing with a lot of confidence. Charlie has a good nucleus to work with. He needs to find a few more who can step up and contribute. At tight end, Hart Turner, Brian Brownlee and Andy Boyd are very solid. I hope that Boyd’s injury is not serious. At running back, I think we have three backs who can make people miss and make the big play and that’s Kenny Irons, Cory Boyd, and Demetris Summers. Demetris made a cut back today that was really special. I looked at Dave Roberts (running backs coach) and he looked at me and we both said ‘wow.’ Daccus Turman is an excellent utility back who can catch the ball, block and get the tough yards. The offensive line has a lot of talent, but they haven’t found their rhythm yet. We’re looking at John Strickland at guard and center. We’ve got some good depth there.”