Practice report: USC closer to setting D-line starters

South Carolina’s defensive line rotation is beginning to take shape.

Senior Cedrick Cooper and junior Marquavius Lewis will start on the outside, and senior Gerald Dixon Jr. and sophomore Dante Sawyer likely will start on the inside, co-defensive coordinator Lorenzo Ward said.

Taylor Stallworth still could supplant Sawyer, Ward said. Phillip Dukes will be the top backup behind Dixon Jr., Ward said. Abu Lamin will be the third-stringer there but could end up competing with Ulric Jones if Jones is moved from the other inside position.

Gerald Dixon Jr. and Darius English are the top backups at end at the moment, Ward said.

Cooper’s role. Junior wide receiver Pharoh Cooper expects to get the ball a lot this season, but he hasn’t talked much with head coach Steve Spurrier about how much of his time will be spent as a Wildcat quarterback.

“I’m still going to do the same stuff I did last year. Sort of the ol’ Wildcat,” he said. “Run it, throw it, whatever they give me the plays back there to do.”

Injury update. Defensive linemen David Johnson and Kelsey Griffin have returned to practice after suffering minor injuries in Saturday’s scrimmage. Safety Antoine Wilder (knee), tight end Connor Redmond (back), kicker Joseph Charlton (back) and quarterback Gage Pucci (knee) did not practice.

Reclassification. Dixon has been re-classified as a redshirt senior after being listed on the team’s roster as a junior. Dixon redshirted his first year, then had a concussion after three games in his second year. The confusion about his status came because the school thought he would receive a sixth year of eligibility from the NCAA due to the concussion. He did not.

-- Staff writer David Cloninger contributed to this report.

This story was originally published August 25, 2015 at 6:49 PM with the headline "Practice report: USC closer to setting D-line starters."