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We are 29 days away from kickoff and in our second day of fall camp. Here’s what we know so far:
Updates on the quarterback position battle
So far, it’s been a split of QB1 snaps over the first two days of practice. Perry Orth saw time with the first team yesterday; Brandon McIlwain was at that spot today.
Perry Orth took first-team QB reps Tuesday. Brandon McIlwain took them Wednesday. Nunez all WR so far. Bentley practicing with rookies.
— Josh Kendall (@JoshatTheState) August 3, 2016
It’s obviously tough for anyone to get a good read on things over the first two days, so we’ll see how the snaps are split throughout the course of the week to give us some kind of hint as to where Muschamp is leaning. As for Jake Bentley...
Jake Bentley has been with the "rookies" in the spit-squad practices and has taken all the reps there, Orth says.m
— David Cloninger (@DCTheState) August 3, 2016
This was (kind of) part of the plan all along. Muschamp mentioned the other day that the veterans would start practice against each other, then the full team, then the young guys. Bentley taking reps with the young guys to start may be just to get his feet wet before the full team practices throughout the whole of practice in a few days.
Lorenzo Nuñez only getting WR reps
Lorenzo Nunez is taking all his reps at WR. #Gamecocks #UofSC
— Willie Smith (@willie_t_smith) August 3, 2016
One player that has not gotten QB reps: Lorenzo Nuñez. The sophomore, as expected, is practicing with the wide receivers and has done so exclusively over the first two days. Again, once the entire team practices together from start to finish, I’d expect him to get some reps under center, although not as many as Orth and McIlwain.
Allen-Williams banged up
Bryson Allen-Williams needed some assistance from Jeff Dillman walking from weight room to lockerroom #Gamecocks #UofSC
— Willie Smith (@willie_t_smith) August 3, 2016
Smith also added that it didn’t look serious. The Gamecocks are down one LB already (Skai Moore) and will be looking for guys like Allen-Williams to fill the void. The last thing they want is another one hitting the injury list for any stretch of time. Freshman safety Toure Boyd suffered a few cramps, but that’s not expected to be serious, either.
Who stood out?
Reports out of practice mentioned that Muschamp singled out three players in particular: DE Dennis (D.J.) Wonnum, WR Kiel Pollard, and transfer Ty’Son Williams. Williams, of course, is ineligible to play in 2016 but can still practice. For Pollard, it’s good that he has made a good first impression this early, especially with such a gulf of inexperience at wideout. And we know that the D-line isn’t exactly ranked among the best of them.
Then there’s this comment by Will Muschamp re: David Williams:
“The guy has got some ability, but it’s hard when you’ve gotta challenge somebody every single day, every single day at practice and every meeting. It gets tiring for coaches.
“I asked him the other day, ‘What have you accomplished since you’ve been here?’”
...
“I didn’t get a response,” Muschamp said. “Next question.”
Tell us, coach, how do you really feel?