Aug. 6, 2005

The South Carolina Gamecocks put on full pads for the first time this fall, going through a two-hour practice at the Bluff Road practice fields on the USC campus Saturday night. Head Coach Steve Spurrier addressed the media following the workout.

“Not a real sharp practice tonight,” said Coach Spurrier. “We had a bunch of guys jump offside, dropped passes, things like that. We need to get a lot better or we’ll be lucky to beat anybody the way some of these guys played tonight, but hopefully we’ll get a little sharper next week.”

“In the one-on-one drills, I thought the offensive guys maybe got a little bit better than the defensive guys overall – a little bit, but not a whole bunch. But in the team part, the offense was not very good at all, so we have a lot of work to do. Hopefully we can find some guys to get it done with.”

“We got out of the first week fairly healthy I think. We’re ready to go into next week.”

On the status of Freddy Saint Preux: “He hasn’t been here, so I guess he’s finished, that’s the last I heard. He’s finished, unless something happens and he comes back. If he doesn’t, that gives us another scholarship to give out. So we’ll have a worthy deserving walk-on who will be very happy.”

Freshman tailback Mike Davis was asked about learning the offense: “I’m starting to get my mind set on the task at hand. I’m picking some things up pretty well, but I’ve got to make sure that I stay on top of doing all the little things. I still have a ways to go, but I’m learning.”

The Gamecocks will have their annual Media Day on Sunday afternoon, then go through an abbreviated special teams practice Sunday evening, beginning at 8 p.m.

INJURY UPDATE: Offensive guard Kyle Bishop missed practice due to illness; Wide receiver O.J. Murdock was limited with a bruised left shoulder; Cornerback Brandyn Young (hamstring) returned to full action; Defensive tackle Marque Hall was out with a left ankle bruise; Wide receiver Noah Whiteside was limited with an ankle injury; Wide receiver D’von Hill was out with a lower back injury.