Rory Anderson’s 2014 status uncertain, Jerell Adams next in line
Spring practice for the Gamecock football team is winding down with much anticipation for this coming Saturday’s Garnet & Black Spring Game.
Head coach Steve Spurrier made sure to advertise the game after Tuesday’s practice, stressing that admission is free and that the women’s basketball team will be honored at Williams-Brice Stadium for its regular-season SEC championship.
The other major note from Spurrier included the status of senior tight end Rory “Busta” Anderson, who tore his triceps last Saturday in a scrimmage. Anderson had surgery on Tuesday, and Spurrier said it’s possible he will return for the upcoming season.
“He does have a redshirt year available if we need to do that,” Spurrier said. “So we will try to do what’s best for Busta and what’s best for the team and go from there.”
If Anderson does have to redshirt, junior Jerell Adams, the next player in line, picked up plenty of game experience last season. He played in all 13 games last year.
Highly touted redshirt freshman running back David Williams is also hurt. Williams has missed over a week of spring play with a hamstring injury, but he is expected to return to practice on Friday.
Running backs coach Everette Sands said the missed time has hurt Williams’ progression, but it just means that the tailback will have to put in extra work during the summer.
Sands said he still has confidence in Williams and anticipates that he will get a good number of reps on Friday and in Saturday’s game. Sands added that the three players in front of Williams at tailback are focusing on different things than the redshirt freshman.
Redshirt juniors Brandon Wilds and Shon Carson and junior Mike Davis are all concentrating on the details of their assignments while Williams is still looking to grasp the overall picture of the offense, Sands said.
Davis is the starter at tailback, with Wilds and Carson as the next players in, but Williams would give South Carolina a lot of depth in the backfield.
“I’m going to have four guys that I think can play in the SEC anywhere,” Sands said. “So we got to see how we’re going to work that when the time comes.”
Davis is not likely to see playing time in Saturday’s game. Defensive end Jadeveon Clowney was similarly held out of last year’s spring game.
As for the quarterbacks, Spurrier said redshirt senior Dylan Thompson will play for a half on Saturday before the younger players step in the rest of the way.
Spurrier added that redshirt freshman Connor Mitch is closing the gap for the No. 2 spot on the depth chart behind Thompson, with redshirt sophomores Perry Orth and Brendan Nosovitch in a battle for the No. 3 spot.
However, Spurrier noted that depending on how each performs in Saturday’s game, the depth chart could change.
Spurrier said there would be a trick play in this year’s game. Last year, Clowney came off the bench to catch a deep pass. But as for this year’s, Spurrier was vague.
“It’s going to be a little different this year,” he said. “I want the fans to know that it’s going to be a surprise. We have a surprise celebrity catcher for the off-the-bench play.”