Gamecocks down key player in secondary vs Auburn today
South Carolina will be missing one of its starting defensive backs, plus a key backup, against Auburn on Saturday.
Junior Israel Mukuamu was out in early warmups, jogging around without pads at Williams-Brice Stadium. But when the full team came out closer to the noon kickoff time, he wasn’t there. And when the team rushed onto the field just before kickoff, he was in street clothes.
Redshirt freshman cornerback Cam Smith was also missing.
Mukuamu, projected by many as a NFL Draft pick in the spring, has been hampered by a groin injury all season, but he has yet to miss a game completely. Smith endured a rough opener against Tennessee but has improved since, coach Will Muschamp said.
Muschamp told radio play-by-play voice Todd Ellis that cornerback John Dixon would start if Mukuamu is unable to play.
On the more positive side for Gamecock fans, senior defensive lineman Keir Thomas was going through warmups in pads after unexpectedly missing last week’s game for unexplained reasons. Sophomore linebacker Jahmar Brown, who has yet to play in a game this season due to a knee injury, was also out there.
Muschamp has said he will not provide any injury updates for the rest of the season due to COVID-19 privacy concerns, and the Gamecock sports information staff is no longer providing a list of players who are available to play in each game.
The Gamecocks and the Tigers kick off at noon on ESPN.
This story was originally published October 17, 2020 at 11:44 AM.
