Scrimmage recap: Brandon Wilds takes one to the house

South Carolina’s Brandon Wilds had a 70-yard touchdown run in Saturday’s scrimmage. It won’t be the only one this season, the senior tailback said.

“You’ll see it a lot,” said Wilds, clearly feeling good after a four-carry, 86-yard day.

Sophomore running back David Williams had nine carries for 48 yards.

“We know if we run the ball, it’s going to be hard to stop us,” Wilds said. “Our o-line loves to run the ball. If we run the ball, we know we are going to get 5 yards easy. If we run the ball, we know as an offense, we will be good to go.”

“That was a good-looking play, looked very similar to the one against Georgia when he went down the left sideline over there,” head coach Steve Spurrier said. “When we get Brandon out there, he doesn’t get caught from behind very often.”

Wilds believes people underestimate his speed, saying he runs a 4.4 40-yard dash.

“Pretty much left everybody,” he said of the run.

Wilds, 6-foot-2, 216 pounds, has rushed 256 times for 1,277 yards in three seasons at South Carolina.

“In the past, I focused on trying to not get hurt, but I’m just playing football now,” he said. “I’m not really worried about getting hurt. I am just going out and giving my all.”

Good news, bad news. Spurrier was pleased with his offense’s performance Saturday, which means somebody had to be unhappy.

“Disappointing,” co-defensive coordinator Jon Hoke said. “There were some good things we did do, but I think the overshadowing part was we didn’t have the passion we’ve had through camp and through the other scrimmages.”

The lack of a pass rush was troubling, Hoke indicated. Saturday’s scrimmage was closed to the public and media.

“It’s always going to be about rush and cover. We do it together,” he said. “I just don’t think both parts played as hard as they had been playing or played with as much passion as they have been playing.”

“The defense didn’t have the best day they have had this year,” Spurrier said. “That’ll give the coaches something to yell at them about.”

Turnovers. There were four turnovers in Saturday’s scrimmage. Isaiah Johnson and T.J. Holloman each intercepted Connor Mitch; Al Harris recovered a fumble from Deebo Samuel, which was caused by Chris Moody; and Lorenzo Nunez fumbled a snap.

Injury update. Defensive linemen Kelsey Griffin (arm) and David Johnson (knee) were injured during the scrimmage.

“Hopefully, both of those guys will be OK,” Spurrier said.

Safety Antoine Wilder (knee), tight end Connor Redmond (back), kicker Joseph Charlton (back) and quarterback Gage Pucci (knee) did not practice due to injury.

Practice report. Hoke’s brother Brady, formerly the head coach at Michigan, attended Saturday’s practice. The Gamecocks will take off Sunday and return to the practice field Monday evening for a closed practice.

SCRIMMAGE STATISTICS

Passing

Connor Mitch 5-10-71-2, Perry Orth 5-10-56-0, Michael Scarnecchia 6-10-58-0, Lorenzo Nunez 3-3-44-0

Rushing

Brandon Wilds 4-86, David Williams 9-48, Darius Paulk 2-9, Mitch 3-1, Nunez 3-(-1), Shon Carson 3-7, Devin Potter 1-2, Mon Denson 2-4, A.J. Turner 1-1

Receiving

Shamier Jeffery 3-39, Carlton Heard 4-33, Deebo Samuel 1-15, Williams 2-6, Jalen Christian 1-25, Matrick Belton 1-13, Jared Washington 1-16, Hayden Hurst 2-53, Cody Waldrop 1-(-6), Jacob August 2-18, Christian Owens 1-17

SCORING PLAYS

Wilds 70 run

Elliott Fry 52 FG

Williams 1 run

Mitch 4 run

Carson 2 run (Landon Ard PAT)

Turner 1 run (Fry PAT)

This story was originally published August 22, 2015 at 12:18 PM.