Aug. 20, 2012

The University of South Carolina football squad worked out in full pads under the lights at the Bluff Road practice fields Monday night. The team began game-planning for Vanderbilt, as numerous players were dressed in black “scout team” jerseys.

Junior running back Marcus Lattimore is anxious to get back into game action after a long rehab stint of his injured knee. “It’s been a long time since I’ve prepared for anybody, so I’m real excited about it,” said Lattimore of the upcoming opener at Vanderbilt. “I’m not thinking about (the knee) anymore, that’s the main thing. I’m just going out there trying to be myself. I just block it out and remember how I worked for those nine months and knowing that I’m strong enough to be able to take a hit or make that cut. I’m just relying on my faith in God and all the hard work I put into my leg to get it back to full strength.”

Lattimore is excited about the depth of the team at running back, even with the loss of Shon Carson. “We have a lot of running backs. We’re going to run the ball a lot,” said Lattimore. “We’ve got Kenny (Miles), Brandon (Wilds), and a lot of people that can run the ball this year. And, of course, Connor (Shaw). We’re going to share the load. We’re going to do that the whole season.”

Lattimore believes the team will be ready when the bell rings. “We don’t have to be ready until August 30. That’s our goal to be ready to play as well as we can on August 30 and beat Vandy.”

Redshirt freshman cornerback Ahmad Christian returned to practice on Monday night. He practiced in a yellow “no contact” jersey.

The Gamecocks will return to the practice fields on Tuesday morning at 8:30 a.m.