The ninth-ranked University of South Carolina football team (1-0, 1-0 SEC) went through a lighter workout on Thursday afternoon as it continues preparations for Saturday’s home opener against the East Carolina Pirates (1-0, 0-0 C-USA). Game time is set for 12:21 p.m. at Williams-Brice Stadium in Columbia. The game will be televised regionally by the SEC Network with Dave Neal, Andre Ware and Cara Capuano describing the action. Approximately 4,000 tickets priced at $40 each remain for the contest.

Defensive coordinator Lorenzo Ward knows his defense will be tested by the fast-paced Pirate offense. “That’s the style of offense they play. They’re not going to sit back and hold the ball a lot. The quarterback is going to get rid of the football. We’re definitely going to have to play well in space so it puts a lot of pressure on us. Hopefully we can take all the technique and fundamentals that we’ve taught in the spring and fall camp and utilize it.

We didn’t play bad the first game,” continued Ward. We gave up three big plays. If we eliminate those, I thought we played pretty good, based on the field position we had. Most good teams show the most improvement from their first game to the second and we expect that from the guys on Saturday. We’re going to do what we do and hopefully execute better than they do.”

Ward indicated that his defense is relatively healthy for game 2. “We’ve got guys that aren’t 100 percent but they’re going to give it all they got and hopefully hold up.”

The Gamecocks will have a short walk-thru on Friday as their final tune up before Saturday’s non-conference clash.