Aug. 16, 2012

Fresh off their second scrimmage of the preseason and two weeks from the season opener, the South Carolina Gamecocks returned to the Bluff Road practice fields Thursday morning for a two-hour workout. The squad was dressed in helmets, shoulder pads and shorts on a warm Columbia morning.

“After reviewing the tapes from the scrimmage last night, Connor Shaw was pretty good,” said head coach Steve Spurrier. “He threw the ball pretty well. He had a couple of sacks in there where he didn’t quite have time to throw, but he was pretty good last night. It was probably one of his best scrimmages. He’s a very good quarterback. Hopefully he can take us a long way this year.”

Three Gamecocks remain sidelined with concussions, including cornerback Ahmad Christian, linebacker Kaiwan Lewis and tight end Kelvin Rainey.

Coach Spurrier confirmed that freshman running back Kendric Salley was a likely redshirt candidate this season. Salley, who has not practiced yet, is recovering from a knee injury suffered last fall.

The offensive line is “doing ok,” according to the Head Ball Coach. “Brandon Shell played pretty well last night. Cody (Gibson) and (Mike) Matulis are rotating at right tackle. They’re battling for that position. (Left guard) A.J. (Cann), (center) T.J. (Johnson), and at right guard Ronald Patrick is doing pretty well. So they’re doing pretty decent. I think our line should play better than last year’s line. We will be a little stronger and bigger up there and guys should know what to do better.”

The Gamecocks will return to the practice fields on Friday morning at 8:30. That practice is closed.