Aug. 19, 2005

The South Carolina Gamecocks went through a 90-minute scrimmage on Friday afternoon on the Williams-Brice Stadium field. The squad ran through 69 offensive plays, scoring three touchdowns.

Freshman quarterback Cade Thompson had the best numbers of the three quarterbacks that saw action. Thompson completed 10-of-16 passes for 157 yards and a pair of touchdowns, connecting with fellow freshman Kenny McKinley on a 28-yard scoring strike, and then hooking up with Le’Moriell Williams on a five-yard TD pass. Sophomore starter Blake Mitchell got off to a slow start, hitting on just two of his first six attempts, but finished the day with seven completions in his final nine, including a 19-yard scoring pass to Syvelle Newton. Antonio Heffner completed just 1-of-3 passes for 38 yards, but also rushed four times for 24 yards, including an 18-yard scamper.

Freshman Bobby Wallace was the top ground gainer, producing 37 yards on just two carries, including a 28-yard burst up the middle. His freshmen teammates, Taylor Rank (six carries for 28 yards) and Mike Davis (eight carries for 24 yards) did most of the legwork on the afternoon.

Head coach Steve Spurrier addressed the media following the workout:

“It was a decent scrimmage. The best thing is nobody got hurt. That’s always a plus part of it. The defense clobbered the offense early. I think we had about six possessions before the offense got a first down. All the quarterbacks did some good things here and there. We’ve got to work on signaling from me or the sideline to the quarterback. We’re way behind on that. We need a good two weeks of communication teaching before we’re ready to play.

“Cade’s a good passer. He throws a nice, catchable ball. He’s accurate. The guys don’t drop many of his. He doesn’t know where everybody’s going yet. Once he does that, and has the ability to audible every now and then, the kid’s got a chance.

“We had a new kicker show up yesterday, Jordan Dodds, a walk-on, and he made everything today. Coach Cooper was sending him out there with the first kickers. He put this kicker in there and dadgum, he made them all. He’s from Edgewater High School in Orlando. After he started making them, the other guys started making them.”

The Gamecocks will enjoy an off day on Saturday before returning to the practice fields on Sunday at 5 p.m. All Gamecock practices are closed.

FRIDAY’S STATS:

PASSING: Thompson 10-16-0-157 2 TDs; Mitchell 9-15-0-52 1 TD; Heffner 1-3-0-38. TEAM 20-34-0-247 3 TDs.

RUSHING: Wallace 2-37; Rank 6-28; M. Davis 8-24; Heffner 4-24; Sims 4-19; Turman 1-2; Thomas 1-2; Mitchell 5-(-26); Thompson 4-(-35). TEAM 35-145.

RECEIVING: McKinley 3-33 1 TD; Williams 3-27 1 TD; Murdock 2-56; Pavlovic 2-38; Brown 2-24; Lee 2-16; Thomas 2-15; Newton 1-19 1 TD; Boyd 1-9; Clark 1-6; Askins 1-4. TEAM 20-247.