COLUMBIA (courtesy USC sports information) – The University of South Carolina football squad held its first scrimmage of the spring on Saturday morning at Williams-Brice Stadium.
The reserve players saw most of the action during the scrimmage, that took up the latter half of the two-hour practice session. Five quarterbacks took snaps, 10 different players had carries and a dozen players had catches in the contest that saw three touchdowns and a field goal.
The first touchdown came on a 34-yard scoring pass from Connor Shaw to K.J. Brent. Landon Ard connected on a 40-yard field goal. Brandon Wilds wrapped up the scoring with a pair of short touchdown runs.
“I think it was one of our typical scrimmages here,” said head coach Steve Spurrier. “I hope nobody got hurt – I don’t think anybody did seriously, so that’s always important. We had a lot of snaps. Everybody got a chance to play a little bit. We had some good plays here and there, a lot of plays we could have done better. But overall, it’s always good when you get a lot of snaps and play tackle ball and nobody gets hurt. We’re looking forward to practicing next week now.“
The Gamecocks were without two of their wide receivers that could contribute in the fall. Damiere Byrd was taking part in the Weems Baskin Relays across campus, while Shamier Jeffery twisted his knee in practice on Friday and was not available.
Statistically, Seth Strickland had the best day at quarterback, completing 9-of-10 passes for 72 yards, but was picked off once by walk-on Jessie Dukes. Walk-on running back Dwayne Duckett carried a game-high 10 times for 25 yards. Lamar Scruggs hauled in six passes for 52 yards, while tight end Drew Owens added four receptions for 44 yards. K.J. Brent also had 52 yards receiving on two receptions.
The squad will return to the Bluff Road practice fields on Tuesday at 4:15 p.m.
SCORING PLAYS:
K.J. Brent 34-yard pass from Connor Shaw (Adam Yates kick)
Landon Ard 40-yard field goal
Brandon Wilds 3-yard run (Adam Yates kick)
Brandon Wilds 4-yard run (Landon Ard kick)
PASSING: Seth Strickland 9-10-1-72; Connor Shaw 4-8-0-72, 1 TD; Tanner McEvoy 4-12-0-46; Dylan Thompson 3-6-0-38; Andrew Clifford 3-5-0-26. TOTALS: 23-41-254-1, 1 TD.
RUSHING: Dwayne Duckett 10-25; Tanner McEvoy 3-21; Kenny Miles 1-12; Seth Strickland 2-11; Brandon Wilds 4-9, 2 TDs; Qua Gilchrist 2-8; Connor Shaw 3-3; Andrew Clifford 1-3; Dylan Thompson 1-0; Sidney Rhodes 1-(-10). TOTALS: 28-82, 2 TDs.
RECEIVING: Lamar Scruggs 6-52; Drew Owens 4-44; K.J. Brent 2-52, 1 TD; Corey Simmons 2-25; Dwayne Duckett 2-8; Blair Lowery 1-24; Kelvin Rainey 1-17; Brandon Wilds 1-12; DeAngelo Smith 1-10; Cody Gilbert 1-6; Sidney Rhodes 1-4; Riley Gallaher 1-0. TOTALS: 23-254, 1 TD.
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