COLUMBIA — South Carolina football held practice on Sunday morning, a day after the Gamecocks’ first scrimmage of the 2024 preseason.

Coach Shane Beamer said Saturday that the scrimmage consisted of about 103 reps, giving South Carolina a chance to play in Williams-Brice Stadium before the season opener on Aug. 31 against Old Dominion.

Sunday marked the ninth practice for the Gamecocks, who officially began their preseason on Aug. 2. Here are observations and notes from practice:

South Carolina football injury update from Aug. 11

Beamer listed eight players that didn’t participate in Saturday’s scrimmage, but said he believed everyone would be back by Sunday.

At practice on Sunday, offensive linemen Markee Anderson and Jakai Moore were once again working with trainers like they were on Friday. Tight end Reid Mikeska, who sat out Saturday’s scrimmage, and running back Bradley Dunn joined Moore and Anderson on the sidelines.

Senior edge rusher Elijah Davis missed the scrimmage and was not seen at practice on Sunday and defensive back Jalewis Solomon was not in full pads.

Beamer got four of the Gamecocks back, most notably running back Rocket Sanders, who didn’t scrimmage on Saturday but was participating in every drill Sunday. Juju McDowell, Vandrevius Jacobs, and Bam Martin-Scott returned as well.

South Carolina’s offense, wide receivers for 2024

For the first time this preseason, South Carolina ran offensive drills during the open media section of practice. Four quarterbacks threw at the same time while the wide receivers rotated catching passes into the end zone.

Beamer made it clear during his press conference Saturday that there is no depth chart right now.

Nyck Harbor, the 6-foot-5 sophomore receiver, had a great snag in the corner of the end zone from sixth-year transfer Davis Beville. The 6-6 quarterback has spent two years at Pittsburgh and two at Oklahoma. It’s unlikely he gets reps this season, as Beamers hinted the No. 2 option is Auburn transfer Robby Ashford.

Freshman tight end Mike Smith impresses Shane Beamer

During a goal line 1-on-1 drill, freshman tight end Michael Smith made a great play to separate himself from Nick Emmanwori and complete the pass from Ashford before falling out of bounds.

The play happened right in front of Beamer, who let his rookie know he saw and appreciated that play. Smith also scored a touchdown on Saturday.

The Gamecocks are without former tight end Trey Knox this season who was an NFL free agent signee with the Minnesota Vikings. Knox caught 37 passes for 312 yards last season and scored twice. South Carolina does return sixth-year player Josh Simon, whose expected to be the go-to TE this year. He caught 28 passes for 256 yards in 2023.

BEAMER ON SATURDAY: What South Carolina’s Shane Beamer said about first scrimmage, Rocket Sanders’ health

Lulu Kesin covers South Carolina athletics for The Greenville News and the USA TODAY Network. Email her at lkesin@gannett.com and follow her on X, formerly known as Twitter, @Lulukesin

A financial lesson of storms past has gone largely unheeded in the Palmetto State.

It appears to have come down to a matter of dollars and cents. 

Property owners in South Carolina aren’t lining up to buy the specialty insurance they’d need to file a claim and rebuild after a bout of water damage, the kind that Tropical Storm Debby already has inflicted last week and may still inflict as creeks, streams and rivers rise and crest.

The upshot is some households could get soaked in more ways than one.

The latest government figures show the number of subsidized federal flood policies sold across the state is lower than it’s been in recent memory, even as residential and commercial development has exploded up and down the coast.

A succession of destructive downpours since 2015 hasn’t been enough to keep the needle from slipping.

As of July 31, the number of South Carolina policies in the national coverage pool of about 4.6 million fell by 2,600, or 1.4 percent, from the same day a year ago, according to a monthly spreadsheet from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which oversees the National Flood Insurance Program.

The latest total is 199,324, equal to about 8 percent of all residential properties around the state. The figure, which exceeded 204,000 in 2018, slipped below the 200,000 level last month.

The government has been the primary underwriter of flood insurance since the late 1960s, when borrowers of federally insured mortgages with homes in high-risk areas were required to buy a policy to cover flood damage. More recently, private carriers have been getting back into the market.

Premiums can range from hundreds to thousands of dollars annually, with a maximum $250,000 payout from the government, plus another $100,000 for contents. The buy-in restrictions include a 30-day waiting period, making it too late for Debby’s victims.