South Carolina had it’s second and final scrimmage of fall camp on Saturday. Typically the second scrimmage is the real separator for players going into game one.

Gamecocks head coach Shane Beamer stepped to the mic following the scrimmage inside Williams-Brice. Last week’s practice had a laundry list of players who sat on the sidelines. This week was not the case.

“Most of our guys scrimmaged, the guys that didn’t were Brian Thomas, Reid Mikeska, Jakai Moore, Nick Elksnis, and Elijah Davis,” Coach Beamer said. “All those guys should be fine, expect them back this week. Nothing long term.”

With a relatively healthy squad, Beamer was happy with what he saw from his team. He specifically spoke about the progress the defense has made, though noted there are a few things to clean up.

“Overall with the scrimmage, was pleased. Defensively, thought they played really well and continued to make strides and get better. Disappointing thing we gave up some third and long conversions, where they should’ve been off the field and we give up an explosive pass or an explosive run,” Coach Beamer said.

On the other side of the ball, the offense had highs and lows. Like the defense, there were some penalities and miscues that held the team back. But for the most part, the first, second, and third group played well, especially during the two minute drills.

“Offensively, I thought we moved the ball well and did some good things. We just had too many negative plays from an offensive standpoint. Thought coming out of the half time we had, [I] was really proud of the offense the way they responded. We did a two minute drill at the end with LaNorris [Sellers] and Robbie [Ashford] both. Both of those resulted in kicking a field goal to win the game,” Coah Beamer said about the scrimmage.

With kickoff against Old Dominion on August 31, Coach Beamer was asked when he would discuss the players standing on the roster. That’s a conversation that appears to be happening early next week.

“We’ll start to have those conversations this week,” Coach Beamer said. “On Tuesday morning, we have our 8:00am meeting. I’ll tell the team that today that we’ll start doing some scout team type stuff. This is where your role is right now, but that doesn’t mean that’s what your role will be in three weeks, or four weeks, or five weeks. You’ll determine that.”

Unlike last year’s camp, where the team had a few injuries heading into the season. Coach Beamer’s squad appears to be healthy and ready to go in 2024.

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A man wanted in South Carolina pulled out a gun before biting a police officer during his arrest, according to police.

Marty Benjamin Miller, who has 16 active warrants, was identified by an officer driving in the Nicholtown community in Greenville, South Carolina, on Friday night, Greenville police told Fox Carolina.

The officer approached Miller at a home on McCullough Street, where the officer attempted to apprehend him.

Miller refused to follow the officer’s commands and attempted to flee the scene in his vehicle.

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Another officer arrived to help, and both officers attempted to prevent Miller from leaving as he continued to resist arrest.

As Miller was resisting, he pulled out a gun, but the officers were able to disarm him, according to police.

The suspect did manage to inflict a severe bite on one of the officers, police said.

Officers then deployed a K9 officer that police said bit Miller.

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Officers deployed a K9 officer that police said bit the suspect. (iStock)

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Miller was taken into custody and received medical treatment at the hospital. His bond was set at $20,000.

The officers involved in the incident were also transported to the hospital.

Miller was wanted for shoplifting, failure to stop for police and texting while driving. He is also expected to face additional charges in connection with the incident on Friday, including resisting arrest with assault on a police officer, resisting arrest with a deadly weapon, possession of a firearm by a violent felon and interfering with law enforcement officers.

With 14 days until South Carolina’s season opener against Old Dominion, head coach Shane Beamer is feeling much better about the injury status of his football team than he did at the same point last season.

EDGE Bryan Thomas Jr., TE Reid Mikeska, TE Nick Elksnis, OL Jakai Moore, and EDGE Elijah Davis were all held out of Saturday’s scrimmage but several key players who missed last week’s scrimmage were all able to participate in this Saturday’s scrimmage.

“All of those guys should be fine; expect them back this week for sure,” Beamer said of the players who were held out. “Nothing long-term. During the scrimmage, had a couple of hamstring issues that some guys weren’t able to finish in the secondary. Nothing long-term.”

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Running backs Rocket Sanders and Juju McDowell, linebacker Bam Martin-Scott, and wide receiver Vandrevius Jacobs — all projected contributors who missed last week’s scrimmage — were back in action at Williams-Brice this week.

“So from that standpoint, knock on wood, but really in so much better health than we were last year,” Beamer continued. “Looking back at last year on this day last year, we had I think it was 11 players that did not participate in this scrimmage that started the preseason healthy. And this year, most all of those guys — Reid hasn’t really healthy since we started, so other than Bryan, Jakai, Nick, and Elijah — I mean that’s four guys and they’re all going to be back — so we’re in good shape from a health standpoint, which is especially gratifying after a physical preseason camp that we’ve had.”

Sanders, the Gamecocks’ All-SEC transfer from Arkansas, made his scrimmage debut this Saturday after the staff chose to limit him to just the 7-on-7 portion of last week’s scrimmage.

Sanders used the spring to rehab a shoulder injury that required surgery but is now 100 percent with two weeks until Game 1.

“Today, we wanted him to get tackled,” Beamer said. “That happened some in practice this week — he got tackled a couple of times and then it happened today and I thought he looked great. He’s a pro, ran the ball hard. People don’t talk enough about him in pass protection but he’s really good in pass protection and that’s so critical at the running back position. He runs good routes, he can catch. He’s just a really good overall running back. We got him some carries in there today and I thought he showed that he was Rocket Sanders.”

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The Gamecocks are, however, still taking it easy with redshirt freshman Markee Anderson who missed all of last season with an injury and then was banged up in the spring too.

“He’s coming along,” Beamer said. “Nothing really related to anything in the past, just kind of banged up and aggravated. He didn’t do a whole lot today. He was out there and did a little bit but hasn’t done a whole lot this week.

“Trying to get him as close to 100 percent before we go into this week and hopefully we can really have a good week Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday because he’s a guy that we need out there. Like I said, if he had been healthy last year, I feel confident in saying he probably would have been a starter for us at one of the guard spots and certainly would have played. He’s a really talented guy if we can just get him where he’s 100 percent healthy and get him rolling.”

With class starting this week on campus at South Carolina, the Gamecocks will work through a mock game week as a trial run for the lead-up to the first game during the week after.