Miles, Davis to back up star tailback at Vanderbilt
When the Gamecocks take to the field Thursday night against Vanderbilt, Marcus Lattimore will be running with the team for the first time in 10 and a half months.
It has been a long road to recovery for the junior halfback after he tore his ACL Oct. 15 against Mississippi State. However, the wait is almost over for Lattimore, and he is just ready to get back onto the field.
“It has been a long time since I have prepared for anybody,” Lattimore said.
While USC went 5-1 in Lattimore’s absence last season, the return of the Duncan, S.C., native is good news for a Gamecock team that has experienced a considerable thinning at the halfback position lately.
Redshirt freshman Shon Carson (wrist) is expected to be out six weeks, and sophomore Brandon Wilds (sprain) is expected to miss the first two or three weeks of the regular season after suffering summer camp injuries.
That leaves Lattimore, fifth-year senior Kenny Miles at the backup spot and true freshman Mike Davis at the No. 3 spot for the Vanderbilt game. While Davis was likely headed for a redshirt a few weeks ago, the injuries have forced halfback coach Everette Sands to consider playing the Georgia native.
“Mike’s got to be ready; he is the third guy,” Sands said. “Will I hesitate to put him in if I have to put him in? No, I won’t hesitate. He is ready to get the opportunity.”
Sands also said everyone is ready to go play on someone else’s field after a summer of conditioning and banging up on each other, and did not rule out the possibility of having Lattimore and Miles on the field at the same time, saying “anything is possible.”
In addition, the Gamecocks will enter a season opener with a stable quarterback for the first time in coach Steve Spurrier’s eight seasons in Columbia. In Shaw’s nine starts at the quarterback position, he has only had Lattimore start behind him once, in the 54-3 demolition of Kentucky last season where the Gamecocks racked up 639 yards of total offense. Quarterbacks coach G.A. Mangus is excited to get both back for their first full season together.
“It’s always fun to watch and see how people try to defend you,” Mangus said. “It’s a chess match a little bit. We’re healthy and ready to go, and we will see what happens. Hopefully, we are going to see some good results Thursday night.”
USC will also have a relatively stable offensive line Thursday night to protect Shaw and company. However, highly touted redshirt freshman Brandon Shell gets his first start at left tackle, and junior Ronald Patrick will enter his first season as a starter, taking over the right guard spot. Despite the inexperience, the coaching staff is not concerned with either player, particularly Shell.
“[Shell’s] very athletic for a guy that big,” Mangus said. “He’s fun to watch run around and the best thing is that he is still just a freshman. He has a great future and it is his time to play.”
Senior T.J. Johnson, who enters his fourth season as a starter, returns at center, and redshirt sophomore A.J. Cann returns at the left guard spot after starting every game last season.
There is a right tackle battle, however, between sophomore Mike Matulis and redshirt sophomore Cody Gibson that will play out into the game against the Commodores. While Matulis will likely get the nod, offensive line coach Shawn Elliot isn’t ruling out anything.
“That (battle) is going to dictate Thursday night,” Elliot said. “Matulis may walk out there and trip over a rock, and we may have to get Cody out there in the first series. I don’t have a plan; it’s a feel thing. If Mike is playing well, he will probably go; if he isn’t playing well, we’ll make substitutions.”
Nevertheless, one thing is certain, and that is the Gamecocks will kick off the 2012 season in Nashville Thursday night, 241 days after the team last took the field, and 290 days since Lattimore collapsed in Starkville, Miss.