Nov. 5, 2009

The University of South Carolina football squad (6-3, 3-3 SEC) worked out on Thursday afternoon at the Bluff Road practice fields as it continued preparations for Saturday’s SEC showdown in Fayetteville against the Arkansas Razorbacks (4-4, 1-4 SEC). Game time is set for 12:21 p.m. ET and will be televised regionally on the SEC Network. It can be seen locally in Columbia on WIS-TV.

Head coach Steve Spurrier is hopeful the Gamecocks can play better this week. “We can’t play much worse than we did the other game,” admitted the Head Ball Coach. “But then again, we haven’t played super all year. We’ve sort of played ugly at times and won a bunch of games. Obviously, it catches up with you when you play a team that makes no mistakes and plays well.

“If we’re going to beat Arkansas, we’ve got to play well,” continued Coach Spurrier. “We are trying to encourage our guys to play well, which is something we’ve not done regularly on offense this year at all. We’ll see if Stephen Garcia can make good decisions, take care of the ball, hit the right guys, catch `em, the line can block, all those kind of things. And see if we can stop Arkansas some. They’ve got a good offense.

“We need to play well on special teams,” added the Gamecocks’ coach. “Their kickoff return’s one of the best in the conference. I think they lead the SEC. And that’s sort of a sore spot for us – kickoff coverage. So we’ve got to be on top of our game special teams-wise if we’re going to have a chance.”

Coach Spurrier confirmed that Kyle Nunn would get the start at left tackle with walk-on Garrett Chisolm scheduled to make his first career start at left guard.

The Gamecocks will leave for Fayetteville on Friday afternoon. Fans are encouraged to wish the team well before its departure by attending a “send off” in the southwest corner of Williams-Brice Stadium beginning around 1:30 p.m.