Aug. 26, 2009

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The University of South Carolina football team worked out for another two hours Wednesday afternoon at the Bluff Road practice fields. The team continued its preparations for the September 3 season opener at NC State, now just over a week away.

“Nothing exciting too much happened, but the quarterbacks threw a little bit better than they did yesterday, so it was an improvement,” said head coach Steve Spurrier. “We’re just practicing away. Today Stephen Garcia and Reid McCollum took about all the snaps. We’re trying to get the guys ready that are going to play in the game.”

Starting defensive end Cliff Matthews missed his second straight day due to flu-like symptoms. “He doesn’t need a lot of practice, he knows what to do,” said Coach Spurrier. “He’s a full speed player, so you don’t need to worry about Cliff Matthews.”

With just more than a week to go to NC State, Coach Spurrier has adjusted the practices somewhat. “We’re just trying to get our legs back a little bit. We’ve cut back on the hitting right now. The guys with the banged up shoulders are feeling better. We’re getting healthy. We’ll hit a little bit in preparation for the game, but not too much.”

The Gamecocks will return to the practice fields on Thursday afternoon at 4:15 p.m. Here is the revised schedule for the practices leading up to the NC State game:

Thursday, August 27: 4:15 p.m.

Friday, August 28: No practice scheduled

Saturday, August 29: 7:30 p.m.

Sunday, August 30: 7:30 p.m.

Monday, August 31: 7:30 p.m.

Tuesday, September 1: 4:15 p.m.