Oct. 14, 2004

Columbia, S.C. – The South Carolina football team practiced in shorts with no pads Thursday in their final on-field preparation before leaving for Lexington for Saturday’s game against Kentucky. Kickoff is set for 7:00 p.m., with the game televised on a pay-per-view basis to the state of South Carolina. Contact your local cable provider for details.

* Injury update from the Gamecock camp: QB Dondrial Pinkins (bruised shoulder) did not practice and will not play Saturday. C John Strickland (ankle sprain) practiced Thursday and will make the trip to Lexington. WR Travis Lee (broken finger) is out. DT Stan Doughty (neck) did not practice Thursday and is will not play Saturday.

Following are comments from coach Lou Holtz from Thursday:

“I expect Kentucky to come out and play very well. I expect our football team to come out and play well, too. We had a very good week on defense and had a good week on offense, but were too inconsistent offensively. John Strickland will make the trip, but Dondrial Pinkins will not. He can’t throw the ball more than about 15 yards at this point, and we do not take injured players on trips. Stanley Doughty had a neck stinger won’t travel, neither with Travis Lee with his finger. Blake Mitchell will play in this game, and will be on the field during the fourth series. We will play the second unit on the fourth series, but Blake might also see some action with the first unit as well. In this league, you need to have two quarterbacks. Syvelle Newton has done well, and I believe he is going to be an excellent passer. He has tremendous eyes and is not just an athlete playing quarterback. If you evaluate what he has done in his first year, you’d have to say he has done very well.”