Wednesday wasn't a good day for the South Carolina State football team.

Get one key player -- Marshall McFadden -- back, and lose another, Julius Wilkerson. Throw in a bad practice to boot and it's easy to understand why Bulldogs head football coach Oliver "Buddy" Pough was deflated Wednesday night.

"We just went through the motions a little," he said. "Some days the offense is better. Some days the defense looks like it has a little more life. Today, we didn't have either."

The practice was already choppy in the sense that Wednesday, according to Pough, is a "big class day" for many of the Bulldogs. So, several players were in and out of practice.

"We did a lot of individual, fundamental stuff early," Pough said. "And, we did most of the team stuff in the middle of practice because we had those kids who had to leave for practice. Really though, it was medium at best."

Medium wasn't what Pough was looking for at this juncture of the spring.

"You only get 15 days, and you have to get a little bit better each day," he said. "Today, we did not do that. Anytime that happens, regardless of the reason, sometimes you understand why and sometimes you don't...but, we have to be a better football team than we were today. We have to be stronger mentally than we were today."

If there was a bright spot for the Bulldogs it was the return of McFadden, who had sat out the last couple of practices after bruising his thigh. Pough said the Bulldogs are looking at McFadden at several different positions including inside linebacker.

"Generally, when something good happens, it happens at the expense of the other side," he said. "We made a defensive play or two. Marshall McFadden returned to full speed, and it appears that he is ready to have a breakout style season. We just don't know where yet. It's fun to watch him make plays. He is enthusiastic, even in the worst of situations.

"He is a 6-foot, 220-pound guy that can really run," he added. "He plays like a defensive back and hits like a linebacker."

While McFadden may be moving into a linebacker slot, Wilkerson may be in a bit of limbo after injuring his finger Wednesday. Pough said the hope is the injury will only sideline him for a couple of days, but as of Wednesday night he had not seen a medical report on the projected starting linebacker.

"He couldn't get (his finger) back into play and they had to take him into surgery," Pough said.

"The game is played so much with the hands these days," he added. "You see a lot of ugly finger injuries, and you see guys with fingers twisted in ways sometimes that I just turn my back. I didn't see that today, and I am glad that I didn't, but he got it hung up with an offensive player somehow."

Wilkerson joined a growing list of freshly banged-up Bulldogs. Linebacker David Erby and Markus James were already sitting out the spring while recovering from injuries along with several others. Defensive backs Markee Hamlin and Terrence Allen sat out Sunday's scrimmage and did not return to the field Wednesday. Defensive linemen Cedric Lloyd (knee) and James Simmons (ankle) both got banged up Sunday as well, but Pough said the injuries are not serious. Also, defensive tackle Keyon Brooks, who injured his neck in Sunday's scrimmage, is fine according to Pough.

"He already had a .jpgf neck Sunday because he slept on it wrong," he said. "He is fine."

The Bulldogs return to the practice field Friday at 3:30 p.m. for what Pough said would be a long but lite run through. Saturday morning, the Bulldogs will scrimmage at Oliver C. Dawson Stadium at 10:30 a.m.

T&D Sports Editor Brian Linder can be contacted via e-mail at blinder@timesanddemocrat.com or by phone at 803-533-5553. Check out his blog, Welcome to Linderland, at www.thetandd.com.

You must be logged in to comment.