Spirited Tuesday practice

Special teams injuries

The Gamecocks had several players in yellow non-contact jerseys on Tuesday. The most noteworthy of the yellow jerseys was punter/kicker Spencer Lanning. Lanning injured his shoulder attempting to tackle Florida punter Brandon James last week.

“Spencer fell on his shoulder and bumped it around a little bit when he made that tackle on the return,” Spurrier said. “He forced the guy to cut back and got him down. Lanning’s pretty good as a tackler. He’s had some experience this year, unfortunately.”

Lanning was joined in yellow by long snapper Charles Turner. Spurrier laughed at the fact that his two main special teams players both sat out practice.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen a snapper and a kicker in gold on the same day,” Spurrier said. “That was a first, but they’ll both be ready to play.”

Matthews also injured

Defensive end Cliff Matthews was also in yellow as he continues to recover from the shoulder injury he suffered against Tennessee. Matthews played against Florida and will play against Clemson.

“He just doesn’t need to bump around with anybody,” Spurrier said. “He should be fine.”

Fundamental work

The Gamecocks worked on fundamentals Tuesday and the starters practiced against each other. Spurrier was pleased with the energy and focus his team brought to the bye week.

“We’ve got good team spirit and we are what we are,” Spurrier said. “We’ve won a few close ones, we’ve lost a few close ones, and we’re 6-5 and that’s where we are. If we’re fortunate and win the last one, we’ll have a very good year, and if we don’t we’ll have a very average year. It’s as simple as that.”

Looking at Clemson

The Gamecocks have not started the actual game-planning for Clemson, but have begun watched film on their rivals. Spurrier offered his early analysis of the Tigers.

“They’ve got a good team, a very good overall team, offense, defense, and special teams,” Spurrier said.

Video