COLUMBIA, S.C. — The South Carolina Gamecocks took to the field on Saturday for their first scrimmage of preseason camp.
"The guys compete, and that was the big thing I challenged them going into the stadium today," said head coach Will Muschamp. "Let's go compete, let's try to exhibit mental toughness in what we do to be successful."
Muschamp said while he was impressed with the competitive edge of his team, there were a lot of self-inflicted errors that need to be addressed. The head coach mentioned the defense jumped offside twice, there were a couple delay of game penalties, three false starts, a snap error on a two-point play, and a bad toss on a fourth-and-goal opportunity.
Muschamp said the defensive starters did well on Saturday, while the second and third groups on defense are "nowhere near where we need to be".
"Need to continue to build depth on the football team," the fifth-year head coach said. "Going through the situation we're going through, you never know who could be up or down within the week. You got to be able to have answers as coaches."
Muschamp said he was pleased with the quarterback play of both Ryan Hilinski and Collin Hill. "I thought we did some really good things, I thought both guys had really good command in the huddle of what we got to do to be successful."
Muschamp has yet to name a starting quarterback for week one against Tennessee. When asked if he has considered playing both Hilinski and Hill in the first few games of the season, Muschamp said he'll do anything it takes to win.
The team has Sunday off, with Monday originally scheduled to be a weight-lifting and film-watching day. However, Muschamp announced that he has cancelled all football activities on Monday. Instead, the team will participate in a demonstration on USC's campus to support racial justice.
