Sept. 28, 2009

The University of South Carolina football team returned to practice Monday night at the Bluff Road practice fields after taking three days off following their upset win over fourth-ranked Ole Miss last Thursday night. The Gamecocks began preparations for South Carolina State, who comes to Columbia on Saturday night for a 7 p.m. kick, which will be televised nationally on ESPN Classic.

“South Carolina State is a very good team,” said Gamecocks’ head coach Steve Spurrier following Monday’s two-hour workout. “Coach Buddy Pough and his coaches do a super job. These guys are well coached and I know they’re coming to win, so it’s going to be a dogfight here Saturday night. Hopefully our team can play a lot better, especially on offense and see if we can act like we know what we’re doing out there Saturday night.”

Coach Spurrier confirmed that starting quarterback Stephen Garcia would be ready on Saturday after suffering bruised ribs in the win over Ole Miss. “He’ll be all right. He’s just bruised up a little bit. He didn’t throw too much (today), just a little bit here and there, but he’ll be fine.”

Coach Spurrier has a lot of respect for the Bulldogs. “They’re a very solid team. They disguise their coverages. When you look at them on tape, they look like an SEC team. They’ve got big, strong guys. They’re fast. They can run. They’re well coached. They didn’t win that conference accidentally. That conference down there is a lot better than probably a lot of people think. Those teams have all got athletes. They’ll be fast and ready to play.”

The Gamecocks will return to the practice fields on Tuesday at 4:15 p.m.