Family of the late South Carolina QB Phil Petty joins Gamecocks for practice
South Carolina held its seventh practice of fall camp on Friday. Here’s a look at all the news and notes from the viewing window open to local reporters:
- The family of former South Carolina quarterback Phil Petty was at practice. Petty, who guided the Gamecocks to a pair of Outback Bowl wins, died last month. His son, McCoy, hung out with receivers Josh Vann and Ahmarean Brown, while the rest of the Petty family spent the afternoon with Shane Beamer’s family along the sidelines.
- Ex-Gamecocks running back Ryan Brewer was also on hand Friday with the Pettys. Brewer and Petty played together at South Carolina and remained close following their undergraduate days.
- Quarterback Spencer Rattler looked sharp in the brief segment of practice open to reporters. He completed all five of his longer passes up the seams during positional work and connected with a handful of different receivers during red zone passing drills.
- Beyond Rattler, walk-on quarterbacks Jake Helfrich and Jalen Daniels were not present during the viewing window. Helfrich joined the team last fall after a standout career at Providence Day High School in Charlotte. Daniels was a recent addition to the squad, committing to the Gamecocks in June. He’s a longtime friend of Rattler’s from Arizona and works out with the same private quarterback coach.
- Running backs MarShawn Lloyd and Christian Beal-Smith didn’t appear to be at practice on Friday. Lloyd — a former top-65 recruit — has been considered a front-runner for the starting tailback job. He missed his entire first season at South Carolina due to a torn ACL and wasn’t quite fully healthy for the bulk of last fall. Lloyd responded via Twitter Friday night to a fan’s question asking if he was injured with: “Lol no, I’m good big dog.” ... Beal-Smith is a graduate transfer from Wake Forest, where he led the Demon Deacons in rushing each of the last two seasons. A South Carolina spokesperson told The State that Beamer could address any absences during his press conference scheduled for Saturday afternoon.
- The upper portion of receiver Dakereon Joyner’s right leg was wrapped and largely covered with what looked to be a compression sleeve. He did not appear to be limited during the open portion of practice.
- South Carolina didn’t run any full team offense during the viewing window, but the skeleton first-team offense skill position looked as follows: RB Juju McDowell, TE Austin Stogner, WR Antwane “Juice” Wells Jr., WR Xavier Legette, Joyner and Rattler.
NEXT: South Carolina will hold the first of two preseason scrimmages on Saturday afternoon.
This story was originally published August 12, 2022 at 4:43 PM.
Ben Portnoy
The State