Aug. 11, 2008

The South Carolina Gamecock football team went through its first two-a-days of the fall campaign today, working out in both the morning and evening hours at the Bluff Road practice fields. The injury list looked a little shorter for the Gamecocks on Monday, as both quarterback Chris Smelley and tight end Jared Cook returned to full duty, while tailback Mike Davis participated in non-contact drills for the first time in several days.

The Gamecocks will practice just once on Tuesday, working out in a closed practice during the evening hours, then will open up Wednesday’s practice to the public.

“We’re going to open up Wednesday night – we’ll have a little scrimmage with the young guys again,” said Head Coach Steve Spurrier following Monday’s second practice. “We’d like for the Carolina fans to be able to come, just don’t bring any video cameras – Wednesday night about 8 o’clock or so. If we can get some people in the stands, I like that better than an empty stadium to tell you the truth. I like to see some people in the stands and see how the players play with a crowd around.”

“This morning’s was a little crisper, it was a little sloppy this afternoon,” assessed Coach Spurrier of the day’s two practice sessions. “Our guys were a little tired maybe. The defense did some good things. The offense guys weren’t real sharp.”

Redshirt freshman offensive tackle Quintin Richardson earned some accolades from the Gamecocks’ fourth-year head coach. “A local Spring Valley High School product has really done well. He easily could be the starter right now at left tackle. But Jarriel King is doing some good things in there. I don’t who’s going to start. Garrett (Anderson) and Seaver (Brown) are battling it out for the center spot. Heath Batchelor has probably nailed down one guard spot. (Justin) Sorenson has probably nailed down one spot.”