Some Notes from South Carolina Gamecock Open Practice

So the South Carolina Gamecocks football team hosted their second of three open practices yesterday at the new practice fields off Bluff Road. If you didn’t catch us on Facebook, we had a couple of live videos there (find them here and here). I wanted to get this write-up to you guys yesterday, but I had to get on the road so it’s a little late. Better late than never! Here are some of my (uneducated) observations from yesterday’s practice.

Intensity, intensity, intensity:

There was very little downtime at practice yesterday. Once a session or drill ended, everyone was on the move to the next drill or station. This coaching staff definitely adheres to the philosophy of “make practice hard so the game comes easy.”

Thoughts on the QB Race:

Yesterday was Brandon McIlwain’s turn to run with the 1st string offense. Despite what some people might want, this QB race, at the moment, is between Brandon and Perry Orth. I would be very surprised to see someone other than Perry or Brandon start the season opener at Vanderbilt. Obviously Jake Bentley could figure in to the QB race, but best case scenario for this team this year is Brandon McIlwain takes the reins and Jake get a redshirt year.

JaMarcus King is the real deal:

I know I’m not bringing any earth-shattering news here, but Mr. King brings a special athleticism and ability that the Gamecock secondary has lacked in recent seasons. Very much in the mold of Stephon Gilmore, he is able to body up bigger receivers at the line of scrimmage and also run with them in the open field. I said it in the Facebook Live video and I’ll say it again, once JaMarcus masters the defensive playbook there is no reason he shouldn’t be a clear cut starter.