Aug. 23, 2005

The South Carolina Gamecocks scrimmaged on the Williams-Brice Stadium field Tuesday night. Despite having to stop for a period of time due to lightning in the area, the squad was able to get in its work, spending a significant amount of time in “red zone” situations – starting several possessions at the seven yard line, then at the 25-yard line.

All three quarterbacks struggled at times during the workout. Sophomore starter Blake Mitchell finished the day completing 10-of-26 passes for 94 yards with a pair of scores and two interceptions. The two picks came on back-to-back plays by Johnathan Joseph. Antonio Heffner again looked good running the ball, carrying six times for 30 yards, but completed just 5-of-12 passes for 36 yards and one score. Freshman Cade Thompson hit on just 3-of-13 passes for 21 yards with an interception.

In addition to Joseph’s two interceptions, Jeremy Ware picked off a pass and Aubrey McKay returned a fumble 78 yards for a touchdown.

Freshman Bobby Wallace was the top ground-gainer, finishing with 46 yards on 12 carries, including a pair of touchdowns. Travis Lee was the top receiver, gaining 47 yards on three catches, including a pair of TDs.

Head coach Steve Spurrier addressed the media following the workout:

“It was a struggle for the offensive lads tonight, but maybe that means our defense was playing very well, that’s one way to look at it. It wasn’t real pretty for the offensive guys, so we’ll regroup, watch tape and see if we can get better.”

About the quarterbacks: “None of them played very well tonight, but maybe we haven’t coached them as well as we need to. It was a struggle. The protection wasn’t real super, the receivers dropped a bunch, we under-threw a bunch, over-threw a bunch – we couldn’t throw a completion. We had some guys open. We were running some pretty good routes, but if the ball doesn’t get there and they don’t catch it, it doesn’t mean anything.”

“If we can’t throw, we’ll run up the middle and punt. And if our defense plays this well, if we can win 13-10, that’s what we’ll try to do. But we can’t go out there and throw it right to the other team like we did tonight. But it’s early. We don’t play for nine days, so we have some time to hopefully get better.”

“Bobby Wallace made some nice runs early. We’ll try to spring Bobby and Mike Davis and see what we can do that way.”

OTHER NOTES: Coach Spurrier taped an interview today with ESPN’s Kirk Herbstreit for a “Sunday Night Conversation” that is expected to run this coming Sunday.