Aug. 17, 2007

The South Carolina Gamecock football squad worked out twice on Friday in preparation for Saturday’s scrimmage at Williams-Brice Stadium. The Gamecocks will take the field around 4 p.m. for the scrimmage, which will be open to the public free of charge.

The big news out of camp today was the move of freshman Mark Barnes from safety to wide receiver. Barnes is a 6-2, 189-pounder from Columbia’s Richland Northeast High School. “He originally wanted to play wide receiver,” noted Head Coach Steve Spurrier. “We said, `what the heck, let’s give him a shot right now.’ He was doing fine at safety, but this is the time of year you look at everybody. We normally let everyone try at the position they want to first. That’s where he wanted to go but we thought he could get on the field quicker at safety. Now, we said heck, let’s see what he looks like at wide receiver. That’s where he wants to play. He looked pretty good at times,” admitted Coach Spurrier. “He caught a bunch of passes here and there.”

Friday also saw the return of defensive end Jordin Lindsey to the practice field. “He was here,” said Coach Spurrier. “I guess he’s eligible to practice. Nobody’s told me anything official, but it must be good news that he will be eligible. We’ll find out in the next day or so. We think he’s going to be eligible but we don’t know for sure yet. He either is or isn’t. We hope he is. He played well last year. He’s a good player.”

Tommy Beecher came out of the evening practice with a sore shoulder, making his status for Saturday’s scrimmage is questionable. Jasper Brinkley (sprained ankle), Dustin Lindsey (knee surgery) and Leon Gamble (thumb) also were sidelined on Friday.

Coach Spurrier addressed the quarterback situation. “Blake (Mitchell) in all likelihood is going to be our starter, but he knows he needs to play well. These guys have proven out here that they can play. I think (Blake) will (play well). It would be nice to have one quarterback all year. I don’t just switch them for the heck of it. I switch them because I think the other guy gives us the best chance to win.”