8/17 USC Preseason Football Practice Report

Columbia, S.C. - The South Carolina Gamecocks had their second preseason scrimmage Sunday afternoon at Williams-Brice Stadium. The scrimmage lasted for more than 90 minutes and also included a kicking practice ...

* The offensive line dominated the scrimmage from the start. With Travelle Wharton (tackle), Na'Shan Goddard (tackle), Jabari Levey (guard), Jonathan Alston (guard) and John Strickland (center) running with the first unit, the Gamecock offense was able to move the ball effectively. Tailback Kenny Irons got things going early on, ripping off runs of 9, 14 and 10 yards, with the 10-yarder going for a touchdown. Also in that first scoring drive was an 11-yard pass completion from Donrial Pinkins to Troy Williamson.

* Unofficially, Irons finished with 82 yards on six carries, including the one touchdown. Pinkins was 9-19 for 97 yards and one touchdown, a 28-yard strike to tight end Hart Turner. Freshman Syvelle Newton was impressive in the passing game, with four catches for 35 yards. Backup quarterback Mike Rathe completed six of 10 passes for 48 yards and one interception. Rathe scored on a 1-yard run early in the scrimmage on a fourth and goal. Charles Silas grabbed an errant pass from Rathe near the line of scrimmage and ran it back 31 yards for a touchdown. Freshman quarterback Blake Mitchell was 5-6 for 46 yards, with a long completion of 30 yards to freshman tight end David Laggis. Cornerback Fred Bennett had three pass deflections. Daniel Weaver missed a 40-yard field goal. Demetris Summers had runs of 6, 3, 2, 6, 12 and 16 yards. Cory Boyd's longest run was 13 yards. Freshman Cody Wells recovered a fumble.

* Injury report: LB Ricardo Hurley had a high ankle sprain, as did DT Randy Jackson. S Corey Peoples bruised his shoulder and S Rod Wilson had a turf toe. LB Lance Laury (knee), OL Josh Malloy (knee), WR Mikal Goodman (chest) did not scrimmage due to injuries. OL Chris White (shoulder) scrimmaged for a few plays after missing the past several days.

* Following the scrimmage, head coach Lou Holtz met with the media. Here are some of his comments:

"It was an excellent performance by our offensive line. That's the good news. The bad news is that the offensive line dominated the defensive line and that concerns me. We put Charles Silas on the defensive line for a few plays and he came up with an interception and returned it for a touchdown. He can really run. Our backs ran hard and they ran far. Dondrial Pinkins played well except for a couple of mis-reads. Kenny Irons was impressive. He worked hard over the summer and has really matured. Demetris Summers looked good, although he had a fumble. Both the first and second team offensive lines were impressive. The defense couldn't slow them down. Defensively, it wasn't a bright day. But, this is the first time in the past four days that the offense has had the upper hand with the defense. We gave up more yards today than Germany did during World War II and with less resistance. I think Josh Brown will be our punter and Joey Bowers of (Stephen) Stellfox will kick off. I'm not sure about placekicker. Ike Crofoot should be the snapper on punts. I'm not sure about PATs and field goals."

Monday's Schedule: The team will have a walk through in the morning.

Special Note for Monday: The team will have dinner with youngsters from "Children's Chance" around 6:15 p.m.. in the Zone of Williams-Brice Stadium.