COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) Highly touted South Carolina freshman quarterback Stephen Garcia was suspended from the team on Tuesday after being ticketed for underage drinking, marking his third run-in with police in about a year.

Garcia will not be allowed to practice or meet with the team until Aug. 15, athletics department spokesman Steve Fink said.

Garcia, 20, was one of three football players ticketed Saturday for underage drinking near a campus dormitory, according to campus police tickets. His attorney said Monday Garcia had paid a $257 fine; his brother also was charged with giving beer to a minor. Garcia enrolled early at South Carolina to get a jump start on spring practice but was suspended from the team a year ago after two arrests.

In February 2007, he was charged with drunkenness and failure to stop for a police officer. About a month later, he was charged with malicious injury to personal property after a professor reported that Garcia had used a key to scratch the man's car.

Garcia has previously successfully completed a pretrial intervention program to clear his record of misdemeanor charges.

The Gamecocks' first game is scheduled for Aug. 28 against North Carolina State.

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