Will Muschamp delivers good news on Gamecocks bowl injury front

Just about every time South Carolina football coach Will Muschamp sits down in front of a microphone, he seems to explain another Gamecock will miss the Belk Bowl.

On Tuesday, he delivered some good news.

“Bryson-Allen Williams is practicing and looks good,” Muschamp said. “Jaycee Horn is practicing and looks good. Jaylin Dickerson is a little limited but we think will be full-speed by the end of the week and we think will be prepared for the bowl game, and Keir Thomas and Aaron Sterling continue to progress and we’ll see how they do moving forward.”

That news echoes some of what he said last week, and means USC will be shoring up a couple of crucially thin spots against a multifaceted Virginia defense.

Allen-Williams’ return helps a pass rush that has been without D.J. Wonnum most of the year. Horn missed the final two games of the regular season, and USC was so thin at defensive back, it played Jason Senn heavily against Chattanooga and Akron.

Perhaps most notable is the return of Dickerson, who went from buried on the bench to playing a real role to pulling a hamstring and being lost for the final three games of the regular season. The return of him and Horn help offset the loss of Keisean Nixon, who is out with a fractured neck.

South Carolina faces the Cavaliers in Charlotte on Dec. 29 at noon.