In just a few days, the Gamecocks will be able to have their first practice in over four months.

Programs already are in the middle of mandatory on-field workouts with an enhanced practice schedule starting Friday.

That means the Gamecocks are finally beginning their on-field preparations for the 2020 season. As they do, here are a few things to watch and storylines to follow.

Will positive tests spike during bigger practices?

Over the last month of voluntary workouts at the operations building it was easy to keep guys distant and limit contact with unsanitary surfaces. Now that they're bringing guys into a practice setting and in large groups, it'll be harder to keep players in pods.

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When guys get together for practices, do the Gamecocks see an increase in positive cases or do things stay relatively similar? South Carolina doesn't announce testing numbers, although Ray Tanner said on 107.5 FM the athletic department numbers have been low.

Other schools like North Carolina and Ohio State paused workouts earlier this summer due to outbreaks and it'll be interesting if there is a spike at South Carolina how it impacts workouts.

What will football look like this fall?

Sticking with that a little, the Gamecocks are going through workouts and soon practicing with an air of uncertainty surrounding college football this fall. It's still to be determined if there will be any games this calendar year with plenty of mid-major conferences suspending fall sports until the fall.

The SEC hasn't gone that far yet, although a decision on that should be coming over the next few weeks.

It's the absolute biggest storyline entering workouts with the Gamecocks not knowing if they will be playing Coastal Carolina Sept. 5, an abbreviated conference-only schedule or any other iteration of a schedule this fall.

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How much progress did the freshmen make in a month?

When practices typically start in August, most of the Gamecocks' freshmen are two to three months into offseason workouts. When they start practicing now they'll be just over a month into things.

Seeing how the freshmen are conditioned and hearing how that process is going will be interesting to track and potentially see how it impacts roles on the 2020 team.

Offensive installation crash course

When a new offensive coordinator takes over, it can be difficult to fully install and absorb and offense even with a full offseason to do it. The Gamecocks are trying to do it with five spring practices and limited on-field time before the season starts.

Yes, Bobo has installed the offense virtually over Zoom meetings, but there has to be an on-field component to it as well, and when the team gets together it's going to be full steam ahead trying to learn the offense.

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How they handle the next six weeks before the scheduled start of the season will be huge in determining how the Gamecocks do offensively.

Position battle competitions starting back up

The Gamecocks have a handful of position battles that need to get settled before the season is scheduled to start, and these practices plus training camp will determine the starters at least early in the year.