Aug. 24, 2009

The University of South Carolina football returned to the Bluff Road practice fields on Monday night. The team was dressed in helmets and shorts with no pads.

“We had a pretty lively practice tonight,” said head coach Steve Spurrier. “Most of the guys enjoyed a day off and they came back and seemed to get their legs back a little bit. The quarterbacks and receivers actually threw and caught the ball the best they have all year. Maybe if we can play in shorts and no hitting, we’d be all right.”

Much of the post-practice questions revolved around the recent suspension of starting defensive end Clifton Geathers following a late night altercation in the Vista.

“It’s very disappointing he got himself in that situation,” said the Head Ball Coach. “Like any person that is arrested, he’s suspended from the team and will be until whenever all the facts come in about what happened exactly. The University, the athletics director and me will all get together and see what we’re going to do with him. His behavior has not been like this,” continued Coach Spurrier. “He got himself in a bad situation. We’ll see what the legal system says and we’ll go from there. We all know how to act. Unfortunately, one of our team didn’t act that way. It’s embarrassing to all of us, the whole program. It’s not going to dampen our spirits. If he’s not here, Devin Taylor gets his shot. Devin Taylor is our starting defensive end. We had a curfew that wasn’t as well-explained as it should have been. They know they have one now – 2 a.m.”

The Gamecocks will return to the practice fields Tuesday afternoon. Practices through Friday are all scheduled for 4:15 p.m.