Dec. 28, 2009

The University of South Carolina football squad returned to the Bluff Road practice fields on Monday afternoon after taking several days off for the Christmas Holidays. The squad worked out for about two hours in preparation for the Papajohns.com Bowl game, which is scheduled for Saturday, January 2 in Birmingham, Ala. The Gamecocks (7-5) will face the UConn Huskies (7-5) out of the Big East Conference at 1 p.m. CT at historic Legion Field.

“We had a day probably similar to what we’re going to have Saturday in Birmingham, probably about 38 to 45 degrees, something like that,” said head coach Steve Spurrier following the workout. “The guys ran around fairly well. We had a decent practice, so hopefully we’ll really be ready to play Saturday. Everybody made it back ok and it seems like everybody is healthy.

“Stephen (Garcia) threw the ball around fairly well,” continued Coach Spurrier. “Hopefully we can sharpen up as we get to the game. UConn is going to be ready. We know that – they’re a good team. We should be ready also, so it should be a heck of a game.”

The Gamecocks will return to the practice fields on Tuesday at 11 a.m. That will be their final workout in Columbia before departing for Birmingham.