March 15, 2011

The 2011 edition of South Carolina Football took the field Tuesday afternoon for the first of its 15 spring practices. The squad worked out for about two hours at the Bluff Road “Proving Grounds.”

“I thought it was a very good first practice,” said head coach Steve Spurrier following the workout. “The guys were hustling around. The quarterbacks – Seth (Strickland), Connor (Shaw) and Dylan (Thompson) – all were firing it around and the receivers made a bunch of catches. It was encouraging watching the guys practice today. A good first practice.

“We had three players who didn’t practice,” continued Coach Spurrier. “Stephen Garcia and Andrew Clifford were suspended this week for a violation of team rules. That’s all we’ll say about that. Victor Hampton had an academic issue and missed today. Victor should be back (Thursday). The other two quarterbacks will be back next week.”

Several players did not participate in the first practice due to injuries, including Qua Gilchrist, Rodney Paulk, Matt O’Brien, Ryan Broadhead, Mike Triglia and Dalton Wilson.

Several former Gamecock players were on hand for the first practice including Jasper Brinkley, Lance Laury, Ryan Succop, Patrick DiMarco and Larry Freeman.

The Gamecocks will return to the practice fields at 4 p.m. on Thursday. Practice is open to the public.