Gamecocks go gray against LSU

BATON ROUGE, La. — South Carolina wore special uniforms — solid gray tops with white numbers and names, and a garnet “CAROLINA” on the front, and digital gray camouflage pants, with a palmetto tree and crescent moon incorporated into the design.

The Gamecocks wore their regular white helmets with the “C” logo on the sides.

USC called the uniforms “Battle” grays and said they were inspired by the color of a battleship and the military’s presence in the state of South Carolina.

It was the first time in school history that the Gamecocks have worn gray uniforms. They did so at the request of their apparel supplier, Under Armour. The players will receive the jerseys as part of their bowl game gifts from USC.

No Gibson, Shell starts
Backup right tackle Cody Gibson was not on the dress roster Saturday because of an illness. He seemed unlikely to play anyway.

Gibson has started two games this season, both at right tackle — the Week 2 matchup with East Carolina and the next week’s game against Alabama-Birmingham.

For the third straight game, redshirt freshman Brandon Shell (Goose Creek High) started at right tackle. Shell has now started four of seven games this season, including at left tackle in the season opener at Vanderbilt.

Shell again replaced Mike Matulis as the right tackle Saturday. Matulis dealt with a sprained left shoulder the past two weeks, but the coaches said last week that he’d be fine for the LSU game.

Night time again
Night games in college football became popular largely because of Tiger Stadium. Entering Saturday, LSU was 225-60-4 in home night games since 1960, and was 34-1 in Saturday night home games under coach Les Miles, who arrived in 2005. Entering Saturday, LSU was 25-26-3 in home day games since 1960.

Saturday marked a return to tradition. It was LSU’s first SEC home game of the season. The Tigers had already played at Auburn and Florida. Last season, the Tigers did not play any SEC home night games — the first time that had happened since 1935. LSU was a charter member of the SEC, which launched in 1932.

Saturday was USC’s fourth trip to LSU as an SEC member. USC won in 1994 and lost in 2002 and 2007, when LSU won the national championship.

Jerideau starts
Sophomore defensive tackle J.T. Surratt was expected to make his first career start Saturday, in place of Byron Jerideau, who sprained his ankle in last week’s win over Georgia. Defensive coordinator Lorenzo Ward said Thursday that Surratt was likely to start, and Surratt was announced as the starter before the game. But Jerideau ended up starting anyway. Surratt entered early in the second quarter, when he replaced Kelcy Quarles, who got hurt. Quarles later returned.

Dietzel recognized
At the end of the first quarter Saturday, LSU honored Paul Dietzel on the field. Dietzel, 88, was LSU’s coach from 1955-61 and USC’s coach from 1966-74. He served as USC’s athletic director from 1966-75 and LSU’s athletic director from 1978-82.