Aug. 9, 2005

The South Carolina Gamecocks worked out for about two and a half hours on Tuesday morning on the Bluff Road practice fields. The practice started under overcast skies, but the sun broke through for the second half of the session, and, along with the humid conditions, created the warmest day yet this fall. Here are Head Coach Steve Spurrier’s quotes following the practice:

“I think we made a little progress throwing and catching. The offensive line looked a little better. We still have a long way to go. We had some nice heat and humidity today; the conditioning hopefully was a good factor. We_ll meet this afternoon, meet some more, have a walk-through and that will be today_s session.”

“Antonio (Heffner) had a sore forearm, got a little ice on it so we held him out of the latter part of the day.”

On offensive game plan for the season: “We_ve put in almost everything. That_s why we had a lot of mistakes here and there. Hopefully the mistakes will dwindle as we go and they dwindled a little bit today. So today_s practice was encouraging.”

On Sidney Rice: “Sidney Rice had a little surgery on his pinky finger, had a fracture and they put a small pin in. He should be around tomorrow. I think his mother took him home for the day to take care of him and he should be back tomorrow.”

On talent of this year_s football team: “I think we have excellent talent. If they play to their potential, we have good players here no question about it.”

PRACTICE SCHEDULE UPDATE: The Gamecocks will have their first of three two-a-days on Wednesday, August 10. The first practice is scheduled for 9-11:15 a.m. with full pads, while the second practice of the day has been moved to 7:30-9:30 p.m. with helmets only. The same schedule will hold for Friday, August 12. Media availability will be after the second practice only on Wednesday and Friday.

INJURY UPDATE: Center Fran Person missed much of the practice due to illness; Wide receiver Sidney Rice was out after undergoing surgery on his left little finger on Monday morning; Cornerback Fred Bennett was out with a strained left hamstring; Offensive lineman Jeremy Burgess was limited with a lower back strain; Defensive back Brandon Isaac returned to full action after missing a day due to an abdominal strain; Wide receiver O.J. Murdock remains limited with a bruised left shoulder; Wide receiver Noah Whiteside remains limited with an ankle injury.