Nov. 12, 2009

The University of South Carolina football squad worked out at the indoor practice facility again on Thursday afternoon. It was the third straight day rain in the Columbia area forced the squad indoors. The Gamecocks (6-4, 3-4 SEC) are preparing for Saturday’s SEC showdown with top-ranked Florida (9-0, 7-0 SEC). Game time is set for 3:30 p.m. at Williams-Brice Stadium in Columbia. The game will be televised nationally by CBS.

“We had a spirited workout in the indoor facility,” said head coach Steve Spurrier following the workout. “The field was awfully wet, so we went in there and hopefully got some good practice time in and looking forward to seeing what happens here Saturday afternoon. Looking forward to a big crowd here, probably our first sellout of the year, so that’s neat. Hopefully our fans will be really fired up and we’ll give it our best shot Saturday and see what happens.”

Defensive end Cliff Matthews practiced some on Thursday and could see some limited action on Saturday. “He’s going to suit up and has a chance to play a bit,” said the Head Ball Coach. “He wears a little bit of a (shoulder) strap. He still had a gold jersey on today, but I think he can play (on Saturday).” Melvin Ingram is expected to make the start at defensive end opposite Clifton Geathers.

The Gamecocks will don new Under Armour uniforms on Saturday to commemorate Veterans Day and the Wounded Warrior Project. “We’ve got some new uniforms representing our country – the U.S. Army, Marines and all of our service people all around the country so hopefully that will add some inspiration to our team,” noted Coach Spurrier.

Coach Spurrier also indicated that Brian Maddox would make the start at tailback this week. “Brian’s a little bigger and he can block those blitzing linebackers a little better, so we’ll see how it goes,” said Coach Spurrier.