|
GAMECOCKS SCRIMMAGE
Two Week Until Season Opener vs. East Carolina
COLUMBIA, S.C. – The
University of South Carolina football team held its third scrimmage of
the fall at Williams-Brice Stadium on Saturday morning. The defense
dominated the scrimmage, holding the offense scoreless during the
regular part of the scrimmage.
“The defense took charge today,”
admitted head coach Steve Spurrier following the workout. “They shut
out the offense. We put the ball on the 30 and the offense barely made
a first down or two. In the goal line period, the defense got the best
of the offense. The offense scored here and there, but overall, the
defense had a much better day today. They made very few mistakes,
tackled well. I was impressed the way the defense played. The offense
didn’t do much at all. It was a little disappointing that the offense
couldn’t do much. The defense played their assignments well, covered
well, got pressure on the quarterback.”
Senior quarterback
Stephen Garcia took the bulk of the snaps, throwing on 11 of the team’s
33 plays from scrimmage. He completed three passes for 33 yards with an
interception. Backup quarterback Connor Shaw did not play in the
scrimmage after injuring his thumb in Wednesday night’s scrimmage.
“(Shaw)
thinks he’s going to practice Monday or Tuesday,” said Coach Spurrier.
“He wears a glove a lot, so I think that will help keep it more solid.
We’ll see how that works out next week.”
The Gamecocks open the
2011 season ranked 12th in the Associated Press poll, which was
released this morning. It’s the highest preseason AP ranking in school
history.
“I tried to tell our guys today we’re probably an
overrated bunch of dudes right now and an overrated bunch of coaches
right now. We have two weeks to see if we can learn how to play smart,
play hard, play physical, all those kind of things. Again, I was
impressed with the defense today.”
The team will enjoy an off day on Sunday before returning to the practice fields on Monday night at 7:30 p.m.
SCRIMMAGE STATISTICS
PASSING: Stephen Garcia 3-11-1-33; Andrew Clifford 2-6-0-16; Dylan Thompson 1-2-0-9. TOTALS: 6-19-1-58.
RUSHING:
Brandon Wilds 4-19; Shon Carson 2-7; Eric Baker 4-2; Andrew Clifford
1-(-4); Bruce Ellington 1-(-7); Dylan Thompson 2-(-14). TOTALS: 14-3.
RECEIVING: Damiere Byrd 2-20; DeAngelo Smith 1-16; K.J. Brent 1-12; Corey Simmons 1-6; Nick Jones 1-4. TOTALS: 6-58.
|
