Aug. 11, 2011

The University of South Carolina football team continued its fall practice slate on Thursday morning at the Bluff Road practice fields. Overcast skies kept the temperatures much more bearable, as the team worked out for a little over two hours in full pads.

“Just a decent little inside-the-25/overtime scrimmage we had today,” said head coach Steve Spurrier following the practice session. “The first defense did pretty well. The first offense wasn’t too good. The second offense scored most of the time it seemed like. We had some good plays here and there. Damiere Byrd seems to make a play or two all the time. Other than that, just very average. Nobody got hurt today, so it was a decent practice.”

Tomorrow (Friday) will probably be the last open practice,” continued the Head Ball Coach. “The scrimmage is not going to be open on Saturday. We’re going to start closing up practices starting Saturday.”

Coach Spurrier noted that wide receiver D.L. Moore has a mild shoulder sprain and could be out two or three days. Redshirt freshman offensive lineman Cody Gibson injured his knee but he could be back in a few weeks.

Coach Spurrier recognizes that Saturday will be the first big test for a lot of the players, as they will scrimmage at Williams-Brice Stadium. “We’re looking for guys who can play their assignments. We’re looking for the quarterback play to be very good – better than maybe it’s been. We’ll see what happens Saturday.”

The Gamecocks will return to the practice fields on Friday morning at 8:30 a.m. That will be the final scheduled open practice of the fall.