Aug. 11, 2007

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An estimated crowd of 6,000 waited as rain and lightening delayed the start of the South Carolina Gamecocks first scrimmage of the fall on Saturday afternoon. But when the weather cleared, the fans got what they came to see, as many of the highly-touted newcomers made a solid impression in their first playing opportunity at Williams-Brice Stadium.

“It was an okay scrimmage I think,” said Head Coach Steve Spurrier. “The offensive guys did a few good things, the defense did a few good things. Nobody got hurt, which is always most important. But we’re a little sluggish. We don’t go fast enough. We don’t get up and go fast enough. We don’t get out there and get set quick enough. So we’ve got to pick up our speed. It was mostly first and second year players,” noted the Head Ball Coach. “So there were some encouraging things done today.”

With senior Blake Mitchell watching from the sidelines, Tommy Beecher and Chris Smelley took turns at quarterback through the early drives, then freshman Stephen Garcia worked into the mix as the scrimmage progressed. Beecher completed 8-of-11 passes for 100 yards and one touchdown, Smelley was 6-for-10 for 71 yards and a TD and Garcia finished the day 5-for-8 for 50 yards and a touchdown. None of the quarterbacks threw an interception.

“Chris and Tommy are still fighting for number two (quarterback on the depth chart),” said Coach Spurrier. “They’re pretty close.”

Neither Cory Boyd nor Mike Davis saw any action at tailback on Saturday. Bobby Wallace led the rushers with seven carries for 28 yards, while freshman Brian Maddox carried six times for 21 yards.

Jared Cook led the receivers with three catches for 35 yards, including a five-yard touchdown catch from Garcia. Freshman tight end Weslye Saunders also hauled in three catches for 33 yards. Speedy freshman receiver Chris Culliver caught one pass, a 42-yard scoring strike from Beecher that tipped off the hands of defensive back Mike Newton. Moe Brown also scored on a 13-yard pass from Smelley.

The Gamecocks will take part in Fan Appreciation Day on Sunday from 1-2:30 p.m. at the Colonial Center, then will return to the practice fields Sunday night at 7:30 p.m. The first day of two-a-days is set for Monday.

SCORING SUMMARY:

Moe Brown 13-yard touchdown pass from Chris Smelley (Ryan Succop kick)

Jared Cook 5-yard touchdown pass from Stephen Garcia (Ryan Succop kick)

Chris Culliver 42-yard touchdown pass from Tommy Beecher (Thomas Hooper kick)

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS:

PASSING: Tommy Beecher 11-8-0-100, 1 TD; Chris Smelley 10-6-0-71, 1 TD; Stephen Garcia 8-5-0-50, 1 TD. TOTALS: 29-19-0-221, 3 TDs.

RUSHING: Bobby Wallace 7-28; Brian Maddox 6-21; Stephen Garcia 3-3; Chris Smelley 1-(-7). TOTALS: 17-45.

RECEIVING: Jared Cook 3-35, 1 TD; Weslye Saunders 3-33; Dion Lecorn 2-17; Larry Freeman 2-20; Bobby Wallace 2-15; Chris Culliver 1-42, 1 TD; Jason Barnes 1-15; Moe Brown 1-13, 1 TD; Brian Maddox 1-9; Freddie Brown 1-8; Clark Gaston 1-7; Scott Spurrier 1-7. TOTALS: 19-221, 3 TDs.