One of the top safeties in the SEC in 2010, South Carolina’s Akeem Auguste missed the entire 2011 season due to a foot injury.
A mid-August groin injury this year knocked the defensive back out for “at least a month” at the time. A couple of weeks past that initial prognosis, Auguste is ready for his 2012 debut in September.
Head coach Steve Spurrier confirmed Wednesday that, for the first time this season, Auguste is expected to “play a little bit up there” in the Gamecocks’ game Saturday against Kentucky in Lexington.
“Akeem Auguste looks like he can play a little bit up there for the first time this year, so we’re very healthy going into the ballgame,” Spurrier said in quotes distributed by the school, adding, “we’ll see if we can play a little better than we’ve been playing.”
The Gamecocks are currently 73rd in the country -- but 11th among SEC schools -- in passing yards allowed, giving up an average of just over 233 per game.
Auguste, regardless of much he plays, will certainly buttress the Gamecocks’ secondary. As will the return of another player from that unit from a brief sabbatical.
Starting free safety D.J. Swearinger was suspended for one game for what the SEC deemed a “flagrant and dangerous act” in USC’s Sept. 15 win over UAB. The senior had started 16 straight games prior to the one-game sidelining for the win over Missouri.