Sept. 22, 2008

The University of South Carolina football team began its preparations for Saturday’s game versus UAB by going through a two-hour session on Monday night at the Bluff Road practice fields. The Gamecocks (2-2) and Blazers (1-3) will kick off at 7 p.m. on Saturday at Williams-Brice Stadium. The game can be seen throughout the Palmetto State on a pay-per-view basis and throughout the rest of the country on ESPN’s GamePlan package.

Freshman C.C. Whitlock moved to defensive back on Monday, while junior Chris HaIL moved to wide receiver. “We did a little swap there to see if we can get those guys on the field a little bit more,” said head coach Steve Spurrier following the practice session.

“There may be some different starters this week, all over the offense,” said Coach Spurrier. “We’re going to have tryouts this week to see who we think the best players are that can go and play.”

Coach Spurrier confirmed that Hail, Heath Batchelor, Mike Davis and Jordin Lindsey will sit out this week’s game due to “academic issues.”

Linebacker Rodney Paulk is out for this week’s game with a left knee injury.

Stephen Garcia “looked ok” in practice according to Coach Spurrier. “He needs to make better decisions on where to throw it all of the time, but so does Chris Smelley. He’s in the mix. It will be either he or Chris Smelley starting the game. We’re opening up all spots (on offense). I don’t know anyone who has played so well on offense that he deserves to say he’s a starter. We’ll make some announcements Thursday as to who our starters are on offense.”

The Gamecocks will return to the practice fields on Tuesday afternoon.