Practice Report: Connor Shaw near 100 percent

Connor Shaw is starting to feel like himself again. This could spell bad news for the SEC as Shaw is coming off one of his most impressive performances to date against Missouri. The quarterback for the Gamecocks talked about his health and more on Wednesday night.

South Carolina's starting quarterback returned to action this past weekend against Missouri.

Some questions arose about the health of Connor Shaw in his return to the lineup after leaving the UAB game due to injury.

Shaw silenced the doubters with a near perfect performance, throwing for 249 yards on 20-of-21 passes for two touchdowns. Shaw finished the game by completing 20 straight passes after his first pass fell incomplete to Marcus Lattimore early in the first quarter.

Shaw's performance on the field showed he's ready to go for the Gamecocks and he talked about how he feels off the field on Wednesday evening.

"It feels pretty good. It was sore on Sunday but other than that, I got treatment and it feels pretty good."

Missouri didn't have many chances at Connor Shaw this past weekend but he did say there was one time he felt some pain when hit. He admits that he's practically back to full health.

"I feel really good. It's not bothering me anymore. I think there was only one time were I landed in the game where I felt it a little but it feels pretty much 100 percent right now."

Shaw mentioned how the only time its sore is right after a game, but he says the soreness usually wears off after a day. At this point, Shaw says he's not too worried about his shoulder anymore.

With Shaw's concerns about his shoulder erased, he says his style of play on the field hasn't changed including the way he avoids hits in the open field.

"I think I've always done a pretty good job of avoiding contact, sliding or diving before taking unnecessary hits."

Shaw in the lineup gives the Gamecocks a dual-threat from the quarterback position. His ability to run and his improved performance in the passing game certainly allows the Carolina offense to be a much more dangerous threat to the opponents.

As they say, though, there's always room for improvement and Shaw knows that.

"I think it's always a work in progress. Our goal is to get better every week in the passing game, run game, all aspects of the game. We're progressing each week. "

The Gamecocks will continue preparations against Kentucky on Thursday.

Post-Practice Notes

-Coach Steve Spurrier said that Akeem Auguste "looks like he can play a little bit up there" against Kentucky this weekend.
-Coach Spurrier joked that coaching is a big reason for the Gamecocks being one of the lesser penalized teams around. The main focus has been on being more disciplined. "It's probably called real good coaching if you ask me. Our guys have been pretty disciplined. We had some careless penalties a couple weeks ago but overall we're trying to play some disciplined ball."
-Spurrier said Mike Matulis was held out of practice with a shoulder sprain. He should be able to play on Saturday.