Aug. 29, 2007

The University of South Carolina football squad practiced for two hours on Wednesday afternoon at the Bluff Road practice fields. The Gamecocks are just three days away from their season-opening game against Louisiana-Lafayette, set for Saturday, Sept. 1 at 7 p.m. in Columbia’s Williams-Brice Stadium.

“We’re looking forward to the game Saturday night,” said Head Coach Steve Spurrier following the practice session. “Our guys should be really ready to play and should play well. We’re working on running our plays, our defenses and our special teams execution. We’re trying to plan for everything. This was just a typical week of preparation for a game.”

Coach Spurrier feels confident that redshirt freshman quarterback Chris Smelley is more prepared this season than he was a year ago. “Chris Smelley is throwing the ball better. I think he knows where to throw it. He’s not throwing as many screwballs as he threw last year. The ball was coming out of the back end of his palm occasionally. He’s throwing the ball very well. That’s what’s going to be so interesting about the game Saturday night – to see which one (Smelley or Tommy Beecher) plays the best. They may both play about the same.”

The Gamecocks return to the practice fields on Thursday afternoon from 4:15-6:15 p.m.