10 observations from South Carolina’s first football practice of the 2023 preseason

Ben Portnoy, Lou Bezjak
Joshua Boucher/jboucher@thestate.com

Fall camp has arrived.

South Carolina began Year 3 of Shane Beamer’s tenure in earnest on Friday morning with the first official practice of the preseason.

Here are a handful of news and notes from the seven period viewing window that were open to media members:

  • A number of players were either limited or worked off to the side with the strength staff on Day 1. Defensive end Tyreek Johnson donned a blue limited-contact jersey, but went through individual drills with his position group. Those working off to the side included: safety Peyton Williams, linebacker Stone Blanton, running back/tight end Kam Sandlin and defensive tackle D’Andre Martin.

  • Defensive end Jordan Strachan and Mo Kaba were full participants during the portion of practice open to reporters. Head coach Shane Beamer noted both players could be semi-limited to start preseason practice as they continue to recover from right-knee ACL tears they suffered in Week 2 at Arkansas last year.

  • Receiver Xavier Legette and running backs Juju McDowell and Dakereon Joyner handled kick return duties during a brief special teams segment on Friday. Receivers Ahmarean Brown and Eddie Lewis fielded punts.

  • The Gamecocks ran through a handful of skeleton offensive plays. Those who ran with the first team included quarterback Spencer Rattler and Joyner in the backfield, O’Mega Blake, Brown and Legette at receiver, Trey Knox at tight end, and an offensive line of Jakai Moore (left tackle), Nick Gargiulo (left guard), Vershon Lee (center), Trai Jones (right guard) and Sidney Fugar (right tackle). Antwane “Juice” Wells, the team’s top returning receiver, was healthy and going through other drills during the media viewing period.

  • South Carolina’s second-team offense was comprised of quarterback Luke Doty, running back Mario Anderson, tight end Josh Simon, receivers Landon Samson, Joseph Morris and Payton Mangrum and an offensive line of Tree Babalade (left tackle), Trovon Baugh (left guard), Grayson Mains (center), JonDarius Morgan (right guard) and Tyshawn Wannamaker (right tackle). Freshman tailback DJay Braswell also took a snap with the second-team offense.

  • While the offense ran on one field, the first- and second-team defenses lined up on the opposite practice area. The first team included: Johnson and Jordan Strachan at defensive ends, Tonka Hemingway and TJ Sanders at defensive tackle, Grayson “Pup” Howard and Debo Williams at linebacker and Marcellas Dial (corner), O’Donnell Fortune (corner), Nick Emmanwori (safety), DQ Smith (safety) and David Spaulding (nickel) in the secondary.

  • Alex Huntley, who is expected to be a starter next to Hemingway, wasn’t with the first team Friday, but he and Hemingway were the first tackles up in other drills.

  • The second-team defense was made up of Jatius Geer, Bryan Thomas, Jamaal Whyce and Elijah Davis up front, Bam Martin-Scott and Colin Bryant at linebacker, and a secondary of Emory Floyd (corner), Judge Collier (corner), Jalon Kilgore (safety), King Deminian-Ford (safety) and Landon Grier (nickel).

  • Other injured players who were on the sidelines at practice were freshman athlete Kelton Henderson and second-year offensive lineman Ryan Brubaker. Both were on crutches and did not participate in any capacity.

  • Tampa Bay Buccaneers scout Tony Hardie attended practice on Friday. Hardie is responsible for scouting the Southeast and also oversees the Bucs’ operations in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast.

Next

South Carolina practices again Saturday. The next media view period is Monday afternoon.

Beamer offered this quote via a press release from USC about Friday’s workout: “It was great to be back out here on Day One. There was a lot of energy, a lot of excitement and a lot of youth. I thought we did some good things. The biggest concern is our ability to maintain as the practice goes. I thought one side of the ball defensively got better as the day went and the other side kind of allowed fatigue to set in a little bit. I know we’re in shape. We have to be better, but I liked the workman-like attitude. We just have to continue to build that mental toughness.”

Advertisement