Gamecocks Gearing Up For First Fall Scrimmage

The start of the season is less than a month away and the Gamecocks are taking the next step in preparing with its first scrimmage on Saturday.

The start of the season is less than a month away and the Gamecocks are taking the next step in preparing with its first scrimmage on Saturday.

Wednesday when head coach Will Muschamp spoke to the media, he said the focus this week has been on situational football.

“We’ll work one minute with a field goal to win the game, one minute with a touchdown to win the game,” he said. “Ten conference games, we’ll probably have five to seven games that’ll come down to the last drive. Offensively needed a score, whether it be a field goal or a touchdown, defense needing to make a stop. Offense staying on the field in a four-minute situation, grinding the clock.

This Saturday the freshman will suit up in full game-day uniforms for the first time as the Gamecocks head over to Williams-Brice Stadium for the scrimmage.

Muschamp said offensive coordinator Mike Bobo will be in the coaches’ box and USC will have full sideline operation in regards to coaching staff.

"We're going to operate in game-like situations," Muschamp said. "We'll have coaches in the box and coaches on the sidelines, so that communication. Being clean offensively, clean defensively with no procedural issues and self-inflicted penalties and mental mistakes. We've got to continue to push through those going into practice 9."

Friday the Gamecocks spent time in helmets preparing and Muschamp said he was somewhat satisfied with what he saw.

“We were pretty well-balanced as a team," he said. "I thought defensively we did some nice things at times and we had some explosive plays offensively. That's what we've got to continue to progress to do."

Muschamp said that Saturday will help him see exactly where they are.

"We've got a big day tomorrow - a huge evaluation day for everybody on this football team - young players, old players, and at multiple positions," he said. "We've got to continue to build depth."

He also noted that special teams play will be a focal point during Saturday's scrimmage with some "live" looks.

"We will have some live work and we'll have some thud work where we'll stay up, so it will be a mixture of both," he said. "But we're going to have a lot of kicking involved. I think Kai (Kroeger) has punted pretty well. He can do some different things for us as far as punt is concerned. He's a really good athlete. I've been pleased with that. Mitch Jeter has really kicked the ball well for us when Parker (White) has had some class. He's done some nice things. But we need some special teams work. We've got to find a punt returner, we've got to find a kickoff returner, and we've got to find more guys who can help us on (special) teams."

The Gamecocks are scheduled to meet at 10:45 am on Saturday before making their way from the football complex to the stadium.

Working on the weekend, like usual.#SpursUp🤙 pic.twitter.com/QwpJbdjByZ

— Gamecock Football (@GamecockFB) August 22, 2020