Aug. 12, 2015

The University of South Carolina football team practiced in full pads again on Wednesday morning at the new outdoor practice fields, located at the west end of Gamecock Park. The practice ended with a spirited “Oklahoma” drill.

Wide receiver Pharoh Cooper (left hand/knee) and linebacker Jonathan Walton (right knee) returned to practice on Wednesday after missing a couple of days to nurse minor injuries.

“We had a pretty good practice,” said head coach Steve Spurrier following the workout. “Guys had energy, but we’ve got a lot of coaching to do still. The guys are trying and hopefully we can get there.”

After Pharoh Cooper, the wide receiving corps remains untested. “Deebo (Samuel) is doing well,” noted the Head Ball Coach. “The other guys haven’t played much. Terry Googer has a chance to be a big receiver. They’re doing ok. The quarterbacks are doing ok. We’ve got to get better though.”

Quarterbacks coach G.A. Mangus updated the media on the progress of the quartet that’s battling for playing time as the squad’s signal-caller. “They’re doing fine. Not as good in `individual’ today, but did some good thing there in `team’. We just installed some redzone stuff today, so that first day there’s always new stuff. We’re still in an installation period, so some good, some bad. They’re all doing a bunch of good things right now. There’s a whole lot of evaluation left and plenty of time to (name a starter).”

Those players who were held out of Wednesday’s practice included safety Antoine Wilder (right knee sprain), offensive guard Will Sport (shoulder), defensive end Gerald Dixon (lower leg), tight end Connor Redmond (back) and defensive tackle Taylor Stallworth (pec muscle).

The squad will hold another closed practice on Thursday morning at 8:30 p.m.