COLUMBIA — Admitting that after nine games his team took full advantage of its bye week, South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier made an announcement that will probably excite fans attending Saturday’s game against Arkansas even more.
Spurrier said running back Marcus Lattimore, who had surgery on his injured right knee in Birmingham, Ala. on Friday, will be in attendance.
“I think he’ll be at the game Saturday, so we’re looking forward to that,” said Spurrier. “I guess I can already announce that they’re going to put his name on the wall for scoring the most touchdowns and the most rushing touchdowns. I think he replaces Harold Green and George Rogers as career touchdowns leader.
“That announcement is either going to be right before the game or between the first and second quarter, something like that. So I think our fans need to know that Marcus will be here and I’m sure he’ll get an ovation maybe like there’s never been one at Williams-Brice. That’s set to occur this Saturday.”
While the Lattimore celebration will be inspirational, Spurrier hopes his team will be focused for an Arkansas squad that has soundly defeated the Gamecocks for three straight seasons.
“As most people know, they got off to a rough start, Arkansas did this year,” said Spurrier. “They seemed to have regrouped somewhat. I think they’ve won several of their last few games. I think they’re 4-5 coming in here and their hopes are obviously to go to a bowl game, so they need a couple of wins and they’ll be ready to play us.
“They’ve certainly played us very well the last three or four years. We need to have a good game if we’re going to beat these guys. Looking forward to it. I know the fans are ready.”
Spurrier says the news is mostly good on the health front, although offensive tackle Mike Matulis has been ruled out for the remainder of the season with shoulder problems.
Defensive tackle Kelcy Quarles is slated to return after missing two games with a sprained shoulder.
Spurrier did display concern about quarterback Connor Shaw, who is suffering with an injured foot.
“He sprained his foot against Tennessee right at the end of the game and he was gimping around (Monday) night in practice,” said Spurrier. “He stood in the pocket and caught it and threw a few, but he couldn’t run last night. Hopefully, by the middle of this week, he’ll be full go. But we’ll just have to wait and see.
“Dylan Thompson is ready. Dylan had a good practice. His injured triceps is I think 100 percent well now. But Connor, he’s got a little rehabbing to do before he’s full go for this Saturday. I doubt if he could have played if we’d have had a game last week, with the way he was gimping around (Monday) night
link: http://bleacherreport.com/tb/d8SQ9?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=south-carolina-football
Spurrier said running back Marcus Lattimore, who had surgery on his injured right knee in Birmingham, Ala. on Friday, will be in attendance.
“I think he’ll be at the game Saturday, so we’re looking forward to that,” said Spurrier. “I guess I can already announce that they’re going to put his name on the wall for scoring the most touchdowns and the most rushing touchdowns. I think he replaces Harold Green and George Rogers as career touchdowns leader.
“That announcement is either going to be right before the game or between the first and second quarter, something like that. So I think our fans need to know that Marcus will be here and I’m sure he’ll get an ovation maybe like there’s never been one at Williams-Brice. That’s set to occur this Saturday.”
While the Lattimore celebration will be inspirational, Spurrier hopes his team will be focused for an Arkansas squad that has soundly defeated the Gamecocks for three straight seasons.
“As most people know, they got off to a rough start, Arkansas did this year,” said Spurrier. “They seemed to have regrouped somewhat. I think they’ve won several of their last few games. I think they’re 4-5 coming in here and their hopes are obviously to go to a bowl game, so they need a couple of wins and they’ll be ready to play us.
“They’ve certainly played us very well the last three or four years. We need to have a good game if we’re going to beat these guys. Looking forward to it. I know the fans are ready.”
Spurrier says the news is mostly good on the health front, although offensive tackle Mike Matulis has been ruled out for the remainder of the season with shoulder problems.
Defensive tackle Kelcy Quarles is slated to return after missing two games with a sprained shoulder.
Spurrier did display concern about quarterback Connor Shaw, who is suffering with an injured foot.
“He sprained his foot against Tennessee right at the end of the game and he was gimping around (Monday) night in practice,” said Spurrier. “He stood in the pocket and caught it and threw a few, but he couldn’t run last night. Hopefully, by the middle of this week, he’ll be full go. But we’ll just have to wait and see.
“Dylan Thompson is ready. Dylan had a good practice. His injured triceps is I think 100 percent well now. But Connor, he’s got a little rehabbing to do before he’s full go for this Saturday. I doubt if he could have played if we’d have had a game last week, with the way he was gimping around (Monday) night
link: http://bleacherreport.com/tb/d8SQ9?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=south-carolina-football