Aug. 21, 2004
Columbia, S.C. –
o South Carolina’s football team went through its second scrimmage of the preseason Saturday at Williams-Brice Stadium. The Gamecocks ran 128 plays during the scrimmage.
o Injury report: OG Jonathan Alston sprained his left ankle and is listed as day to day; WR Sidney Rice bruised his right shoulder and is listed as day to day.
o There were four touchdowns scored in the scrimmage – three by the offense and one by the defense. Second-team quarterback Syvelle Newton scored on a one-yard run; running back Cory Boyd broke three tackles and scored on a 65-yard run; Sidney Rice caught a 39-yard TD pass from Newton; and Lance Laury returned an interception 55 yards for a score.
o On defense, interceptions were recorded by Ko Simpson, Lance Laury, and Fred Bennett.
The leading tacklers were linebackers Lance Laury and Orus Lambert with nine apiece. Freshman safety Chris Hampton had an active afternoon, with four tackles, one QB sack, one pass deflection, one forced fumble and one tackle for loss.
o Following the scrimmage head coach Lou Holtz met with the media. Here are some of his comments: “It was a long, hard scrimmage. I didn’t think we were very sharp mentally. We had too many missed assignments. I told the offense towards the end, if they want to go home, they need to be more physical running the ball, and they were. I’ll have to look at the film, but I don’t think the intensity or the enthusiasm was there on offense for the first three quarters of the scrimmage. We actually got better towards the end. There’s more competition on defense. I was impressed with the running of Cory Boyd, Daccus Turman and Demetris Summers. We need to take a look at the offensive line. Depth is a problem there. Overall, I thought Dondrial did pretty well. He had a good tempo leading the team. Syvelle Newton brings an air of excitement. Everything starts with the offensive line and we’ve got to be more consistent there. Until we control the line of scrimmage, we will struggle on offense. I think the defense is still a little ahead of the offense. The defense has controlled the line of scrimmage for most of camp. Towards the end today, the offensive line pretty much held its own. Chris Hampton continues to come up with some big hits at safety. Right now, Josh Brown would be our punter and field goal kicker. He has more experience on the field. I think the players need a day off and they will get one on Sunday.”
o Here are some comments from defensive coordinator Rick Minter: “I appreciate the effort these guys are giving us. They have had a grueling schedule and are just coming off two-a-days and now school has started. We have been working them really hard, so I appreciate what they’re doing.”
o Here are some comments from assistant head coach Skip Holtz: “We’re doing lots of good things out there. We are throwing a lot at them and we are continuing to develop in terms of running plays and running playsthat get us first downs. All of the running backs ran the ball hard. At times they would appear to be down, but they would get a couple extra yards through the pile. Cory Boyd, Demetris Summers and Daccus Turman all ran really hard today.”
o Scrimmage stat leaders:
Passing: Pinkins 9-14 for 89 yards; Newton 7-11-1 for 76 yards and 1 TD; Mitchelle 5-11-1 for 47 yards; Rathe 3-7 for 68 yards
Rushing: Boyd 7-94 and 1 TD; Summers 12-67; Gray 6-51; Turman 8-41
Receiving: Whiteside 3-46; Rice 2-53 and 1 TD; LeSane 1-53; Williamson 2-19
Media Availability – The next media availability will be following Monday’s practice when head coach Lou Holtz will be available in the press room behind the lobby of the football building (approximately 6:30 p.m.). Requested players will also be available outside the locker room. Please make your requests in advance to Gavin Lang at the USC Sports Information Office.
