WEATHER CUTS SHORT GAMECOCK PRACTICE SESSION

A late afternoon thunderstorm cut short South Carolina’s preseason football practice Wednesday. The Gamecocks were able to only get in about one-third of their scheduled workout before severe weather came through the Columbia area ...

• With summer school still in session and a number of the varsity players enrolled in classes, it is difficult to re-arrange practice times this week. Final exams conclude on Friday.

• Andrea Gause, a rising junior from Conway, S.C., will be given a look at safety or cornerback, according to head coach Lou Holtz. Gause has also played wide receiver during his career and played some cornerback a year ago. Gause has been hampered with a knee injury much of his career.

• Woodly Telfort, a junior college offensive line prospect, was held from practice Wednesday after medical tests revealed he had an abnormal blood sugar level. The medical staff will further evaluate his condition on Thursday.

• Here are some post-practice comments from head coach Lou Holtz: “It’s hard to evaluate much after only 1 1/2 days of practice. The weather got us today. We may try to go back out there tonight and work on some pass skel, but we’ll have to see. I like the attitude of this team. You don’t know what to expect from them from one play to the next.

I think the players like one another … We’re trying to build a championship program. We’ve had 2.5 years of good football and 1.5 years of not so good football thus far. We have an obligation to these players to provide them with every opportunity to succeed … I like the new reporting rules. It’s good for the newcomers to be around the returning players and see how things are supposed to get done. But, losing today’s practice hurts.”

TICKET NOTE: A limited number of tickets to the season opener against Louisiana-Lafayette will go on sale Thursday morning (8/7) at the USC Athletics Ticket Office on Rosewood Drive. These are tickets that have been returned from ULL’s allotment. Tickets are $24 each and may be purchased in person at the ticket office or by calling 800-4SC-FANS. Tickets are also available via ticketmaster outlets : 1-800-ticketmaster or ticketmaster.com. There are ticketmaster convenience fees associated with this service. However, it affords the buyer the chance to buy tickets 24 hours a day via the internet from the convenience of home. The ticketmaster tickets will be available after 10:00 am on Thursday.