Saturday an eventful day for Gamecock football

Saturday was an eventful day for the South Carolina football program. Beginning with the Lou Holtz Chick-fil-A Charity 5K Run at 7:45 a.m. to team meetings, to a physical 2.5 hour workout in full pads, the Gamecocks were busy ...

* More than 1,200 runners and walkers participated in the 2nd annual Lou Holtz Chick-fil-A Charity 5K Run Saturday morning. Coach Lou Holtz welcomed the group and started the race by firing the starter's pistol. Many of the USC coaches ran, including offensive coordinator Skip Holtz, wide receivers coach Charlie Williams, quarterbacks coach Todd Fitch and defensive ends coach Jappy Oliver. While Skip was the first of that group to finish, he couldn't beat his brother, Kevin, who finished ahead of Skip despite pushing his daughter in a jogger stroller the entire race. Beth Holtz, Lou's wife, walked in the race, as did Jennifer Holtz (Skip's wife) and Penny Roberts (wife of running backs coach Dave Roberts).

* Saturday was the first day of full pads for the Gamecocks and there was plenty of hitting. In the "Oklahoma" drill, where a defensive player attempts to shed an offensive player's block and get to the ball carrier, strong performances were turned in by defensive tackles Darrell Shropshire and Freddy Saint-Preux, ends Moe Thompson and George Gause, and safeties Rod Wilson and Jamacia Jackson. On offense, tackle Travelle Wharton and guard Na'Shan Goddard were impressive.

* There was one injury to report. Defensive end Charles Silas sprained his knee. He will be re-evaluated on Sunday. Tailback Demetris Summers (ankle) and wide receiver Taqiy Muhammad (ankle) practiced on a limited basis.

* After the practice, head coach Lou Holtz met with the media. Here are some of his comments: "To make steel, you have to go through fire first, and that's what we're trying to do. We cannot keep making the same mental mistakes. We have really improved our fundamentals in the one-on-one drills, but we've got to carry that over to the team drills in order to become a good football team. Kenny Irons (tailback) may be the most improved player on this team as far as playing without the football. He has really come on. We've got to do a better job of rolling our hips when exploding off of blocks. I haven't even entertained the thought of moving Syvelle Newton from quarterback to another position. He is a talented athlete who plays quarterback. It takes time to develop a quarterback and it will take time for him to develop. But, he's very talented."

* Sunday's schedule: Early morning church service for the players, followed by a walk-through in the indoor practice facility (no head gear). The team will practice in the afternoon (closed practice).