Spring game press conference recap

South Carolina held its annual spring game on Saturday, the first under head coach Will Muschamp. Garnet defeated Black by a final score of 35-14. Post-game comment recap here:

Will Muschamp said it was a fantastic day that started with the alumni game. Christian Owens had a high ankle sprain.

Jonathan Walton had a baby with his long time girlfriend so he was not on the field today.

Muschamp said he was very pleased with the effort. Said this offseason was big because the coaches couldn't be with them on the field with a ball but that teams could make tremendous improvement during the offseason either way.

There were normal route concepts and normal things on defense, save for taking out some schemes that would tend to get guys tangled up. There was not a lot of scaling back.

As for Brandon McIlwain, Muschamp said he had a lot of command and maturity. He's a good athlete, but threw some nice passes as well and made good decisions. He's continued to improve from practice one until now.

Connor Mitch made a couple nice downfield throws and that the decision making by the all the quarterbacks was good. Competition is a coach's best friend, he said, and they'll throw Lorenzo Nunez and Perry Orth back in the mix too. Orth, again, slated to be ready June 1.

In previous scrimmages, the coaches who are normally in the pressbox on gamedays were up there to fully simulate game day. Today, they wanted to see how the players were responding to adversity and where their eyes were.

Muschamp says the number one concern is QB, but they have viable options and that the position will take care of itself. Finding skill players is another, but Samuel, Edwards, Hurst, and Crosby have come on. They need to find some depth at the skill spots, receiver and running back.

The secondary is a concern of Muschamp's in terms of downfield coverage ability. Muschamp mentions the two SEC West opponents in Mississippi State and Texas A&M are very talented at receiver, so the coaches have to create more depth in the secondary.

Muschamp liked the tempo of the offense and how the backs found daylight today running it.

Keir Thomas, Brandon McIlwain, Kobe Smith and Bryan Edwards were singled out by Muschamp as early enrollees that have done well and will make impacts.

Mason Zandi, Cory Helms, Alan Knott, DJ Park, Donell Stanley singled out as having been improved and having good spring sessions.

Muschamp feels good about the linebacking situation and that USC is playing blocks much better now than they did at the start of the spring up front on the defensive line.

Jamari Smith was unselfish in moving over to wide receiver for the betterment of the team, according to Muschamp. He's an intelligent kid with playmaking ability that can help in the passing game.

Muschamp wants the team to improve in the pattern matching concepts in pass coverage but felt they were better tackling on the perimeter.

Chad Holbrook and Muschamp are on the same page about Brandon McIlwain's split between baseball and football. They'll tackle that as it comes, he says.