April 6, 2013

The University of South Carolina football team scrimmaged for 41 plays during the last half of its two-hour practice at Williams-Brice Stadium on Saturday morning. It was practice number 11 of the 15 allowed during the spring season.

“It was a pretty sloppy scrimmage overall,” said head coach Steve Spurrier. “Some guys did pretty well and some guys weren’t very good. It was most of the younger players going at it. I think the defensive guys were in position and played pretty well. The quarterbacks were sporadic and the receivers dropped a few here and there. Overall, the protection probably wasn’t very good either.”

Sophomore running back Mike Davis was the star of the scrimmage, carrying four times for 54 yards, including a 29-yard burst on the first play from scrimmage. Sophomore Brandon Wilds, who is competing with Davis for the starting position, carried four times for 20 yards, including a nine-yard touchdown run. Walk-on quarterback Perry Orth was the top passer, completing 5-of-6 passes for 60 yards, including a 23-yard strike to redshirt freshman Kwinton Smith on the game’s final play. Placekicker Landon Ard got the scoring started with a 45-yard field goal. Jordan Diggs picked off an Orth pass for the game’s only turnover.

“I think we’re getting a lot of young guys a lot of reps,” said defensive coordinator Lorenzo Ward. “It’s hard to evaluate them when you just sit there and watch. I like to make a fair evaluation after I look at the video, but I think the guys are giving effort.”

Several players did not participate in the scrimmage including Jadeveon Clowney (neck), Connor Shaw (foot), J.T. Surratt (ribs), K.J. Brent (shoulder), Cody Gibson (knee), Ronnie Martin (hamstring), Mike Matulis (shoulder), T.J. Gurley (knee), Rico McWilliams (knee), Cedrick Cooper (knee) and Kane Whitehurst (shoulder).

The Gamecocks will return to the practice fields on Tuesday. They are scheduled to practice Tuesday, Thursday and Friday before Saturday’s annual Garnet & Black Spring Game, scheduled for 1 p.m. on April 13. The game and all practices are open to the public for free.

SCORING PLAYS:

Landon Ard 45-yard field goal

Brandon Wilds 9-yard run (Ard kick)

Kwinton Smith 23-yard pass from Perry Orth (Nick St. Germain kick)

PASSING: Perry Orth 5-6-1-60, 1 TD; Connor Mitch 3-5-0-38; Brendan Nosovitch 1-5-0-12; Dylan Thompson 1-4-0-5. TOTALS: 10-20-1-115, 1 TD.

RUSHING: Mike Davis 4-54; Perry Orth 1-25; Brandon Wilds 4-20, 1 TD; Kendric Salley 4-5; Dylan Thompson 1-5; Devin Potter 2-2; Brendan Nosovitch 3-(-1); Connor Mitch 2-(-4). TOTALS: 21-106, 1 TD.

RECEIVING: Carlton Heard 2-15; Devin Potter 2-7; Shamier Jeffery 1-28; Kwinton Smith 1-25, 1 TD; David Wilkins 1-20; Kendric Salley 1-12; Ty Sutherland 1-5; Brandon Wilds 1-5. TOTALS: 10-115, 1 TD.