South Carolina defensive end Jadeveon Clowney made a game-time decision not to play Saturday night for the Gamecocks against Kentucky, catching coach Steve Spurrier and Clowney’s teammates by surprise.
“I don’t want to get into all of that,” Spurrier said after South Carolina’s 35-28 victory. “He told me he couldn’t play. Ribs hurt, couldn’t run. I said, ‘That’s fine, you don’t have play. We’ll move on.’ He may not be able to play next week, I don’t know. We’re not going to worry about it, I can assure you that. If he doesn’t want to play, he doesn’t have to. It’s as simple as that.”
Spurrier said Clowney told him just before the game.
“Right before the game,” Spurrier said. “He did not practice Thursday. He said he couldn’t play. Who are we to question? He couldn’t play.”
Darius English, a 6-foot-6, 226-pound redshirt freshman, replaced Clowney in the starting lineup.
South Carolina defensive tackle Kelcy Quarles said he had no idea Clowney would not play until Spurrier announced it to the team just before the game.
“He said during pregame that his ribs hurt, but he didn’t say anything about not playing,” Quarles said. “It was a shock. But guys have to step up.”
Clowney, considered an early favorite to be the top pick in next year’s NFL draft, has been in on 12 tackles this season, including three for loss and two sacks.
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