South Carolina tight end Brady Hunt officially cleared in Friday injury report

One day after South Carolina head coach Shane Beamer said on his call-in show that Brady Hunt would play this weekend against Vanderbilt, the senior tight end was officially cleared via Friday’s update to the SEC availability report.

“No one wants to talk about the loss of Brady Hunt last week, which was not helpful to our offense,” Beamer said on Thursday. “He’s our starting tight end, does so much for our offense, and he went out on I think the sixth play of the game. He’s done a heck of a job coming back. We thought he may be out for a couple of weeks and he’s going to play Saturday night, so we’re excited to be back as close to full health as we can be.”

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As expected, junior cornerback Judge Collier was the lone Gamecock player listed on the latest update. Collier will not play on Saturday.

Hunt had been listed as probable on Thursday before Friday’s update.

Vanderbilt defensive lineman Yilanan Quattara is the lone Commodores player expected to miss the game.

In addition to Hunt, South Carolina will have Jalon Kilgore, JT Geer, Vicari Swain, Brandon Cisse, Jaquel Holman, and Josiah Thompson available this weekend. Everyone in that group missed at least some, if not all, of the South Carolina State game with a variety of injuries.

Beamer had said on Sunday that he was most concerned about Hunt of those who were injured against the Bulldogs, but he made a quick recovery this week.

Collier played just nine snaps against Virginia Tech before exiting with the injury and was spotted on the sidelines on crutches with his knee in a cast.

Since this is an SEC matchup, South Carolina and Vanderbilt have both released availability reports throughout the week.

The next and final availability update will come 90 minutes before kickoff on Saturday.

Last season, the SEC approved a player availability injury report system for football, men’s and women’s basketball and baseball.

SEC school personnel must submit availability reports three days before each football game, with daily updates leading to a final report 90 minutes before game time. For basketball and baseball, reports are filed the night before, with an update on game day.

According to the SEC, penalties for inaccurate or late reports will range from $25,000 to $100,000 for football and anywhere from $15,000 to $25,000 for basketball and baseball.

When schools submit injury reports, players will be designated as available, probable, doubtful, and questionable before game day. On game day, designations will be available, game-time decision or out. The model follows injury reports similar to the NFL.

Both off to 2-0 starts, the Gamecocks and Commodores are set for a 7:45 kickoff Saturday night at Williams-Brice Stadium on the SEC Network.

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