ORANGEBURG, SC – South Carolina State spent a short practice Friday prepping for its first spring football scrimmage, which gets underway Saturday at 10 a.m. at Oliver C. Dawson Bulldog Stadium.
The Bulldogs, who are just past the halfway point in spring drills, will see their first live action in full gear during the approximately two-hour workout, noted head coach Buddy Pough.
“It will be interesting to see how our players react to live contact,” Pough said following Friday's 90-minute session. “It will be our first full-contact drill and things will be a little different than when you are in just shorts and waist-up gear.”
Pough said he and his staff will be looking to see how the Bulldogs have developed in two or three areas, among them both lines and at tight end.
“We will be trying to develop some depth on both lines,” he said. “We are a little thin in both areas due to some players being out injured and we are holding out a guy or two due to some discipline situations.
“It's critical to our overall execution on offense,” continued Pough, “that we develop some depth on the offensive line. We also want to develop a four-man rotation on the D-line. If we get our lines going, I think we will be all right because I think we have enough depth at most of the skill positions.”
Pough said that he and his staff would mostly be watching to see the cohesion and coordination the players have developed thus far.
He also reported that top running backs Will Ford and Travil Jamison would see little action, if any, during the scrimmage. He said the staff would be taking a look at several other backs, including Chris Merrill, who was red-shirted last season, transfer Chris Massey, and seldom-used fullback Ken Smalls from the 2008 squad.
After Saturday's scrimmage, the Bulldogs will be away from the gridiron until Tuesday at 8 p.m.
SC State will culminate spring drills Apr. 18 with its annual Garnet and Blue game Apr. 18 at 1 p.m.
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