South Carolina officials announced Monday that senior cornerback Akeem Auguste and redshirt freshman running back Shon Carson will both be out indefinitely due to injuries.  No offense to Carson, but the loss of Auguste — a starter — is the bigger concern for Gamecock fans.

Auguste suffered a torn muscle in his right thigh during a weekend scrimmage.  He underwent a procedure Sunday afternoon and is expected to miss the first month of the season before being re-evaluated by doctors.  Auguste missed most of last season with a foot injury.

Auguste had already been kept out of much of the Cocks’ fall camp with an injury in his groin area, but he was cleared to return on Friday.  Then on Saturday he aggravated the injury, leading to the “procedure.”

For Carolina, the secondary had only one returning starter — senior safety DJ Swearinger — entering camp.  With Auguste out of commission, new defensive coordinator Lorenzo Ward will have to rely on youngsters and inexperienced upperclassmen to fill the slots around Swearinger.

Next Thursday in Nashville, Vanderbilt quarterback Jordan Rodgers will most definitely try to exploit what on paper looks to be the Gamecocks’ biggest defensive weakness.  That makes the pass rush provided by guys like Jadeveon Clowney all the more important to protect the back end of Carolina’s defense.

As for Carson, he underwent surgery on his left wrist.  But Marcus Lattimore and Kenny Miles are 1-2 on Steve Spurrier’s depth chart.  That injury — while unfortunate — the Cocks can afford.  The one to Auguste?  A much bigger deal.

South Carolina star tailback Marcus Lattimore is expected to be back to full strength by the time the Cocks open practice later this summer.  The Heisman candidate is coming off surgery to repair ligament and cartilage damage to his left knee, an injury that cost Lattimore about half of the 2011 season.

Steve Spurrier said yesterday that he thinks his star should be fine:

“Marcus, again, is about a month or two away from full speed, but he should be 100 percent in August… I watched him during spring practice, he ran on the sideline, ran straight ahead.  And I think the month of May, he’s going to start making some cuts and planting and so forth.  But from watching him run straight ahead, I don’t think it will be a problem when he starts cutting and juking and jiving and so forth.”

Carolina’s coach also said that Shon Carson — a key backup to Lattimore — is recovering nicely from his own ACL tear last September.

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South Carolina Baseball Announces 2010 Signing Class