Nov. 7, 2004

Columbia, S.C. – Head coach Lou Holtz conducted his weekly media teleconference Sunday afternoon. The Gamecocks (6-3/4-3) travel to Gainesville, Fla., to take on the Florida Gators (5-4/3-4) this Saturday, Nov. 13 at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. Kickoff time is set for 7 p.m. with ESPN2 televising nationally.

* Injury update from the Gamecock camp: QB Dondrial Pinkins is out with a rotator cuff injury (right shoulder). OL Chris Tucker has a left knee sprain. Results of an MRI are expected back on Monday.

* Here are some of Coach Holtz’s comments: “I don’t expect Dondrial (Pinkins) back for the next two games. Maybe for the bowl game. I just know how long it took him the first time he injured his shoulder. That’s too bad, because Dondrial has been a tremendous leader and he has played pretty well. Other than the interception he threw early on Saturday, he played pretty well in the first half against Arkansas. I feel bad for him and I feel bad for the team. Looking at the film, Jabari Levey is playing extremely well. Demetris Summers had his second straight solid, all-around game. We need to get the ball to Cory Boyd more often. The secondary played pretty well. Overall, defensively, we didn’t play that well. You know, we were behind four different times in that game. To come back like we did, was a real tribute to the players. We want to keep winning, win the bowl game and hopefully get ranked in the top 20. Florida is a very difficult place to play. Our players know the challenge that faces them of playing in the Swamp. I do expect us to have a good week of practice, to play hard and to play well. I thought our red zone offense was effective last week. Basically, we stuck to what we had been doing throughout the game. It wasn’t like we put in a special offense for the red zone. Two things helped our offense in the red zone. First, we only had one penalty. Second, we didn’t have any loss yardage plays. That made a big difference.”

* Head coach Lou Holtz will conduct his weekly press conference on Monday at 12 noon in the Lettermen’s Lounge of Williams-Brice Stadium.