Dec. 17, 2008

The University of South Carolina football squad continued its preparations for the New Year’s Day Outback Bowl game by working out for about two hours Wednesday morning at the Bluff Road practice fields. The Gamecocks (7-5) will face the Iowa Hawkeyes (8-4) on January 1 at 11 a.m. ET.

Following Wednesday’s practice, head coach Steve Spurrier addressed the media:

“We had some good hot weather today. We got a sweat and we’re trying to practice a little bit closer to the 11 o’clock game time that we’ll have January 1st. We understand our Gamecock Nation has bought a bunch of tickets and we really appreciate it. Certainly I think there are more to sell, but we appreciate the support of our fans. They do a super job – as good as anybody. Hopefully, our team can really play well down there against Iowa.”

Coach Spurrier was asked what changes would be made with the departure of Emanuel Cook. “We won’t make changes. The next guy gets in there. When one guy goes, the next guy steps up. Hopefully, Dion Lecorn, Darian Stewart and those guys will be ready to fill in and make tackles.”

Coach Spurrier was asked about Shane Beamer taking over the recruiting coordinator duties. “He’s doing a super job. He’s done that before, I think he did it at Mississippi State. He’s experienced in that field and has been doing a super job at it.”

Coach Spurrier emphasized that in recruiting, his staff tries to stay positive and sell the University of South Carolina, rather than negative recruit. “We believe that schools that use negative recruiting don’t have much good to say about their own school. We try to sell the positives of the University of South Carolina.”

The Gamecocks will return to the practice fields on Thursday and will work out each day through Monday, December 22 before breaking for Christmas.