Gamecocks head football coach Will Muschamp addressed the media via Zoom, Wednesday, tackling topics from Marshawn Lloyd’s injury to the quarterback battle to position groups of most concern. Muschamp singled out the wide receiver position as one where he’d like to see some players “come on.” It’s a position that has little production returning outside of senior Shi Smith. Muschamp said, “Shi (Smith) is really productive and Xavier (Leggette) has had a good camp. Jalen Brooks has done a nice job. But we need to continue to have more guys come on. We need to create some explosive plays out there.”
But overall, Muschamp has been pleased with what he has seen from the offensive side operating in its first season under Mike Bobo, “It’s a mixture of what he did at Georgia and at Colorado State. A lot of eye candy with respect to motion and formations. I’m very pleased with how we’re progressing schematically.”
The Gamecocks will be working on a lot of last-minute situations tomorrow in preparation for Saturday’s scrimmage under game day conditions at Williams-Brice Stadium. Muschamp is taking the scrimmage seriously, “We’ll have game uniforms on. Offense in one uniform, defense in another. Nothing different from a game day. We need a lot of guys to get looks. We’ve got to have depth.”
Additional comments from Will Muschamp:
Additional areas that need to improve: Nick Muse has done a nice job at TE but we need to come on at that position, as well … Ernest Jones is still out at LB, but we’ll get him back three weeks ahead of the opener
We still have a lot of question marks in the punting game and the return game. We don’t know who will be featured in return game but we’ll get some live reps in the stadium, Saturday
We have to do a better job in the red zone (as an offense). We were below 50% in scoring touchdowns last season, which was worst in the SEC
On QB Collin Hill: He’s a competitive, tough guy. He has a leg up in understanding the system, terminology and what Mike (Bobo) expects. I’ve enjoyed having him here and I think he’s been good for Ryan (Hilinski).
On QB competition: Collin Hill and Ryan Hilinski are getting even reps. I think Saturday will be good to watch them administer the offense. Mike (Bobo) and I haven’t talked about that (which QB will start), but in this situation, we need to have everybody ready to play
On QB/WR Luke Doty: We never had any discussion about redshirting Luke. Mike (Bobo) has been pleased with his progress at both QB and WR. He runs a 4.4 and he practices really hard. Love his competitiveness
On WR Shi Smith: I’ve seen him grow and develop, a lot. I asked him this morning to hold guys accountable at his position. Wouldn’t have asked that of him 3 yrs ago. He’s having a good camp and he’s repping at every WR position (slot and outside)
Injury-wise, disappointing news with RB Marshawn Lloyd. He jumped up and jogged back down the field but we got the news back after the MRI. Marshawn is so mentally strong, he told me “this was supposed to happen.” He’s focused on getting back
On COVID-19 testing: We had one positive test in our building previously and we tested again, today
A lot of situational work tomorrow. We’ll probably have 5-7 games that will come down to final possession
