South Carolina could soon see the return of starting cornerback Judge Collier, who hasn’t played since suffering an injury early in the season opener against Virginia Tech.
Head coach Shane Beamer offered a cautiously optimistic update during his Tuesday press conference, noting that more details will come with the SEC’s midweek availability reports.
“Injury-wise, we’ll have a report for you tomorrow night, nobody that we’d say right now is out,” Beamer said. “It was good to see Judge Collier back at practice today, hopefully he will continue to trend in the right direction, and see where guys are tomorrow night when we release that availability report.”
Collier wasn’t the only absence in last week’s 29-20 loss to Missouri, as tight end Mike Smith and safety DQ Smith also missed the contest. Offensive tackle Cason Henry, who returned to the starting lineup after being banged up against Vanderbilt, left the Missouri game after the very first play with what was reported as a shoulder injury.
Defensive tackle Gabe Brownlow-Dindy and center Nolan Hay also came out of the game with knocks, though Beamer said Sunday that neither injury appeared to be season-altering.
“Injury-wise, we got out of it fairly okay,” Beamer explained during his weekly teleconference. “I would say right now Gabe Dindy and Cason Henry are the two that we’re most concerned about and we’ll have another update for ya injury-wise on Wednesday night.”
Beamer also revealed that offensive lineman Trovon Baugh was managing a lingering issue going into the Missouri matchup. “He’s kind of had a nagging injury this week,” Beamer said Saturday. “He was available, but he wasn’t 100 percent.”
SEC Injury Reports in Play
Because this week’s matchup is an SEC game, both South Carolina and Kentucky are required to release official player availability reports. The first update will come Wednesday night just after 8 p.m., with follow-ups Thursday and Friday evenings, and a final report 90 minutes before kickoff on Saturday. Beamer also traditionally provides additional updates on his Thursday night call-in show.
The SEC adopted its official injury-reporting system last season for football, basketball, and baseball. Schools must submit reports three days before each football game, updating daily until kickoff. Players are designated as available, probable, doubtful, or questionable during the week. On game day, they’ll be listed as either available, a game-time decision, or out.
Penalties for inaccurate or late reports are stiff, ranging from $25,000 to $100,000 for football violations and $15,000 to $25,000 for basketball and baseball. The format mirrors the NFL’s model to ensure transparency and limit speculation.
South Carolina hosts Kentucky on Saturday, Sept. 27, with kickoff scheduled for 7:45 p.m. on SEC Network, before heading into its first bye week of the season.
