Sept. 18, 2014

COLUMBIA, S.C. –
No. 14/16 South Carolina (2-1, 1-1 SEC) continued workouts at the Bluff Road practice fields Thursday afternoon in preparation for Saturday’s game at Vanderbilt (1-2, 0-1 SEC). Kickoff for the contest is 7:30 p.m. ET at Vanderbilt Stadium in Nashville. The game will be televised nationally on the SEC Network with Brent Musberger and Jesse Palmer in the booth and Maria Taylor on the sidelines. It is also available on the Gamecock Radio Network from IMG College including flagship station, 107.5 FM, “The Game.”

South Carolina defensive coordinator Lorenzo Ward met with the media after practice. Ward and the Gamecock defense is preparing for a new offensive system from Vanderbilt this year as Derek Mason is in his first season at the helm of the Commodores” program.

“They are going to do a lot of things that Georgia did,” said Ward. (They) play two tight ends, move them around, two-back sets.”

“They run the football, added Ward. “I know Coach Mason from when he was at Stanford, he and I spent some time together, he wants to be a physical football team so we have to be ready to play a physical football game.”

Ward is hopeful that the defense will show progress after the first three weeks of play.

“We still have a lot of room for improvement,” noted Ward. “(Our) offense has played pretty well but we haven’t played very well on defense yet.”

Coach Ward indicated that senior Brison Williams may move to safety on Saturday and if that change occurs, the likely starters at cornerback will be Al Harris Jr. and Rico McWilliams.