Oct. 30, 2012

The No. 11/11 South Carolina Gamecocks (7-2, 5-2 SEC) practiced inside Williams-Brice Stadium Tuesday afternoon, its first practice session since a 38-35 win over Tennessee last Saturday.

The Gamecocks, ranked eighth in the latest BCS Standings, are enjoying their bye week this week. They will return to action on Saturday, November 10, when they host the Arkansas Razorbacks in a noon start at WBS. The game will be televised nationally on CBS.

“We’re working on South Carolina,” said defensive coordinator Lorenzo Ward of the team’s focus during the off week. “We’ve got to be better in man coverage, we’ve got to be better in zone coverage and we’ve got to do a better job disguising what we do.”

One of the keys this week will be getting the team to refocus after the loss of team leader Marcus Lattimore to a season-ending knee injury. “I think the mood was great,” continued Ward. “I think the kids came out focused. We watched the game tape and showed them the mistakes we made and showed them the places we can get better. I think they came out with a great mentality today.”

Tennessee gave the Gamecock defense some trouble with its passing game, something that Arkansas will try to exploit as well. “Tennessee is a little different than Arkansas,” noted Ward. “Arkansas throws the ball an awful lot. They actually probably throw the ball more than Tennessee. But Tennessee does a great job of spreading the field and they go from sideline to sideline. Arkansas is going to do the things they’ve done over the years and had success. They’re both throwing teams but I think Tennessee really stretches the field.”

Ward indicated that several defensive players, including Byron Jerideau, Jadeveon Clowney, Kelcy Quarles and Akeem Auguste did not practice on Tuesday, but he was optimistic all would be back and ready to play next week against the Razorbacks.

The Gamecocks will practice again on Wednesday afternoon.