Aug. 27, 2004
Columbia, S.C. –
South Carolina’s football team went through a dress rehearsal scrimmage Friday evening at Williams-Brice Stadium. The team went through everything from pre-game warm-ups, to sideline substitutions to working on two-point plays and other situations it may encounter through the course of a game. The Gamecocks open next Saturday, Sept. 4 at Vanderbilt.
o Injury report: RB Daccus Turman suffered a left knee bruise; WR Noah Whiteside suffered a sprained left wrist. OG Jonathan Alston (ankle), WR Sidney Rice (shoulder), OL Kris Mick (wrist) and DT Darrell Shropshire (dental work) did not scrimmage. WR Troy Williamson is still out while attending his father’s funeral in New York.
o Offensive highlights from the scrimmage included: Dondrial Pinkins completed passes of 45 yards (Matthew Thomas) and 18 yards (Michael Flint); Syvelle Newton threw an 8-yard TD pass to Andrea Gause; Newton also completed passes of 28 yards (Kris Clark) and Travis Lee (14 yards); Blake Mitchell completed passes of 30 yards (Andrea Gause) and 28 yards (Noah Whiteside). Josh Brown connected on a 37-yard field goal.
o Here are some post-scrimmage comments from head coach Lou Holtz: “We covered a lot of things out there tonight. We weren’t as organized as we needed to be. There was some confusion on offense and most of that was my fault. We may be better off with a 40-second clock as opposed to a 25-second clock. I thought we got a lot accomplished. The receivers stepped up and caught the ball well. Skip (Holtz) will be upstairs in the booth along with Rick Stockstill. I always like for a play to be called from the booth. If I feel like we need to call something else, then we do, but I always catalog the play that was called. We talk about everything we’re doing on the headsets. Tomorrow, we’ll look at the film and have a walk-through. The players will have Sunday off.”
o Tim Frisby, the 39-year-old walk-on receiver who is a former U.S. Army Ranger, caught one pass during the scrimmage – a 14-yarder from Mike Rathe.
o Coach Holtz mentioned the play of Jamon Meredith, a true freshman, and track athlete Brook Antonio, a junior, as possible help for depth along the offensive line. Coach Holtz referred to Antonio, who throws the hammer and discus for USC’s track team, as Jim Thorpe.
o MEDIA AVAILABILITY FOR SATURDAY: Following the practice, assistant head coach Skip Holtz and defensive coordinator Rick Minter will be available to the media outside the locker room at approximately 12:15 p.m.
