Oct. 27, 2011

The University of South Carolina football team worked out Thursday afternoon at the Bluff Road practice fields in preparation for Saturday’s SEC showdown against the Tennessee Volunteers.

The Gamecocks (6-1, 4-1 SEC) are ranked 14th in both major polls entering the week and are ranked 13th in this week’s BCS Standings. They are facing a Tennessee team that is 3-4 overall and 0-4 in league play. Game time is set for 7:15 p.m. ET, in Knoxville’s Neyland Stadium. ESPN2 will carry the broadcast nationally with Mark Jones and Ed Cunningham in the booth and Jessica Mendoza working the sidelines.

“After Thursday’s practice, I think our guys are ready to play well,” said head coach Steve Spurrier following Thursday’s workout. “We’ve had good practices this week and we’re looking forward to the game in Knoxville. Tennessee is going to be tough – we know they are. They’re going to give it their best shot and we’ve got to be ready to play. We’re looking forward to seeing what happens and looking forward to seeing what we can do here during the stretch run in the SEC, starting with the big game in Knoxville this Saturday night.

“Bruce Ellington practiced a little bit today,” noted Coach Spurrier. “He feels like he’ll be full speed by Saturday. So he was able to run around a little bit. He didn’t do too much, as his hamstring has been a little tight, but I think he should be full speed by Saturday night. Who knows how the game will progress. Who knows if we’ll need to use a bunch of `Wildcat.’ Sometime you get in a game and you don’t plan on using it that much and you use it 15 plays. Then other games you may not use it much. We’ll see how the game goes, but he should be full go in case we need to use him a bunch. He hurt it in Monday night’s practice. He was just running a route and came back and felt a little twinge he said, so we rested him pretty much all week.

“Kenny Miles is running around well,” added Coach Spurrier. “He and Brandon (Wilds) have practiced well. Eric Baker is ready. And Josh Hinch, don’t forget about Josh, our walk-on kid from Knoxville. We plan to get him in the ballgame somewhere.”

The Gamecocks will have an abbreviated practice on Friday in Columbia before departing for Knoxville in the mid-afternoon.