Aug. 26, 2005

After enjoying an off day on Thursday, the South Carolina Gamecocks worked out for two hours on the Bluff Road practice fields Friday afternoon. Here are head coach Steve Spurrier’s comments following the practice:

“I think we had a decent practice today because the weather was a little cooler – a little cloud cover, not as humid, so that always picks up the spirits of the guys. Actually this pre-season hasn’t been all that extreme hot weather. We’ve had a few hot days, but overall, pretty nice.

“When we start playing other teams, we’ll find out where we are. I hope we’re ready to play – we think we are, but until you go play in front of 80,000 and a national TV audience you just don’t know how a lot of guys will perform when they’ve never done it before. We have a lot in that situation, but we have confidence they will play well.

“We’ve got tape on about all of our opponents. It’s easy to get tape now-a-days. (UCF) has the same defensive coach, but he may have changed his philosophies, so we’re planning for everything.

“I think our defense has a chance to really play well all year.

On the injury situation: “We’re waiting on Sidney (Rice). If Sidney can’t catch any balls by Tuesday or Wednesday, he’ll probably be out.”

The Gamecocks will continue their opening game preparations on Saturday when they return to the practice field for a 4:15 p.m. practice.