GAME SKETCH
- Line: Arkansas (-5)
- Kickoff: 6:15pm CDT (ESPN national broadcast with Brad Nessler doing play-by-play, Todd Blackledge providing color analysis, and Holly Rowe on the sideline)
- Weather: Partly Cloudy all night; Kickoff Temperature of 59 degrees with readings only dropping to 55 degrees by the end of the game
- Streaks: Arkansas has won four of the previous five meeting between these two teams.
Have you heard there is a game this weekend featuring two BCS Top Ten teams from the country’s premier football conference? Did you know it was Arkansas v. South Carolina?
Yes, yes…I understand. It really is an unusual event when the top two teams in the country play one another in a November game. The matchup between Alabama and LSU deserves a ton of hype. It should be a whale of a game.
But ESPN – who is televising the Hogs v. Cocks – has had wall-to-wall coverage of a game on another network. The one week ESPN decides to actually act like journalists is the week that Arkansas gets the shaft on buildup to its biggest home game of the season. When it comes to The Mouse, I just give up.
National respect and exposure aside, this is an enormous game for two teams that have legitimate dreams of playing in Atlanta and in a BCS bowl this season. Carolina’s path to the SEC Championship Game is much easier than the Hogs (The Cocks control their own destiny). Arkansas has an outside chance of representing the SEC West. That slim chance evaporates, though, if the Razorbacks fail to take care of business Saturday night at Reynolds Razorback Stadium.
And history is not on their side.
For the second time in two years, the Hogs play host to a game featuring two Top Ten teams. Oddly enough, though, it’s only the fourth time since 1965 – which is the last time the Hogs were victorious in such a game. Arkansas hosted and beat #9 Texas Tech (1965) before losing to #1 Texas (1969), #6 Houston (1979), and #1 Alabama (2010). Arkansas enters Saturday’s game ranked #7 in this week’s BCS standings while Carolina comes in at #9 with a 7-1 record.
Why Arkansas should win: The Razorbacks are playing just their 2nd home game since September 17 v. Troy. Let that sink in for a moment. (Waiting…) Arkansas has not lost a home game since last year’s heartbreaker to #1 Alabama, and not many of those games have even been close –especially at Razorback Stadium. The Hogs average margin of victory in Fayetteville is 27 points over the course of their current six-game winning streak at Razorback Stadium. Simply put, this is a completely different team at home.
Carolina is on the road for the second-consecutive week, which takes its toll on a football team. The more I consider how Arkansas has scraped and clawed to get to 7-1, the more impressed I become. With only one home game over the past six weeks, it’s truly amazing these Hogs have managed to escape disaster. Now they get to gear up for a home crowd that cannot wait to see them.
On the field, Tyler Wilson has command of this offense. He is the toughest quarterback in the SEC, and his team respects the hell out of him. South Carolina will present some interesting looks and will certainly pressure the quarterback, but Wilson has proven that he will stand tall and deliver the throw if at all possible. He enters the game without having thrown an interception in 176 attempts (surely to be snapped in the 1st Quarter since it’s been so often repeated this week), and Jarius Wright & Joe Adams appear to be playing the best football of their lives.
Last season Hog fans talked about the emergence of Knile Davis as the key to the second-half surge that ended with a berth in the Sugar Bowl. This season we may all point to the suddenly stellar play of tight end Chris Gragg. The Warren native has been playing great football lately, reminding me of just how vital D.J. Williams was to the success of the Razorbacks for so many years. An effective tight end makes every quarterback better, and one the level of Gragg makes a QB the level of Wilson look great.
We keep saying it week after week, but this may actually be the Saturday where the defense gets it right. The Gamecocks offense has spat and sputtered since losing Marcus Lattimore. Connor Shaw has filled in for Stephen Garcia at quarterback, and not much has changed. The Gamecocks still turn the ball over too much, and head coach Steve Spurrier still does not have a reliable signal caller. We expect Willy Robinson to load the box to stop the run and make Shaw beat the defense. Alshon Jeffery is a beast, but he still needs someone to throw him the ball. Robinson will likely keep a safety on top of Jeffery all night with a cornerback underneath, effectively taking away his big play ability. If that plan is successful, the Razorbacks defense will have a good night.
Why South Carolina should win: The Arkansas defense has had a tendency lately to make average offenses look pretty damn good. Slow starts by the offense have put the defense in difficult spots, and the D simply has not responded. From poor tackling to missed alignments to blown coverages, the defense has shown more flaws than high definition cameras have of Amy Poehler. Like Poehler, though, the Hogs defense makes adjustments and comes through at winning time. At least they have so far. While Carolina may not have a ton of experience at the skill positions, they have the firepower athletically to ruin Arkansas’s homecoming if the defense doesn’t get things together in the first half.
Brandon Wilds will not be confused with Marcus Lattimore any time soon, but the freshman running back has definitely got the talent to hurt you if you make mistakes. At 6’ 1” and 223 pounds, this South Carolina native is averaging more than 5 yards per carry so far this year. The Hogs have shown a weakness in stopping the run, especially between the tackles which is where Spurrier likes to pound the football. If Wilds can hold up, this could cause big problems for Arkansas. Carolina wants to control the ball and keep the Arkansas offense on the sidelines, and that very well may happen if Wilds turns in a solid game.
It’s easy to laugh off Connor Shaw, but the young man has played well at times. What concerns us most
is his mobility. We saw last week that a mobile quarterback can really cause Arkansas trouble. Shaw carried the ball 16 times last week at Knoxville, scoring a touchdown and picking up 64 yards on the ground. It was not his best week passing against Tennessee, but the sophomore has shown that he’s a gamer that will try to beat you even without his A-game.
The Carolina defense may be good enough to win on its own. The Gamecocks are second in the nation in interceptions and only allow 17.1 points/game which is good enough for 14th nationally. South Carolina ranks 4th nationally in total defense, allowing only 266 yards/game. Overlooked because of the supernatural play by LSU and Alabama, the South Carolina defense should be revered as one of the best in the nation. They haven’t allowed more than one TD in a game since September 17th against Navy.
And the Winner Is…
The numbers tell us it should be a close game, and history tells us Arkansas is in big trouble.
Screw that.
Arkansas has not played a complete game all season. That all changes tomorrow night in Fayetteville. It’s November, and that means it’s winning time for Bobby Petrino and the Razorbacks. Arkansas is 9-3 in November since 2008, and they were perfect last season. It’s a home game, and it’s homecoming. As I mentioned before, too, it’s the first time the Hogs have been home since the first weekend of October and only the second time since September 17. The crowd will be insane, and the team may give them additional reason to get fired up. Rumors are swirling around Fayetteville that the Hogs will sport some special uniforms Saturday night. All the intangibles point to an Arkansas victory.
Probably the most difficult reason to pick South Carolina is the inexperience at quarterback and the fact that they’re playing the second of back-to-back road SEC games. That’s a tough task, and it’s made even more difficult by the fact Spurrier starts a soph at quarterback and frosh at running back. Ultimately, the Razorbacks will simply be too much for Carolina. Remember this statistic as you shift uncomfortably at halftime in a close game: Arkansas has only given up 66 points in the second half this season – and only 17 points in the fourth quarter. For all its flaws, this defense closes the deal. They’ll do it again tomorrow night. Arkansas 33, South Carolina 20
Dennis Johnson’s special teams work on Saturday night has been rewarded by the SEC home office. D.J. was named the conference’s Special Teams Player of the Week. He is the second Hog to win this award in the 2011 season. Joe Adams took home the honor back in Week 1 after he took 2 punt returns to the house against Missouri State. Says the SEC website:
BlogHawgs Razorback Rewind–South Carolina Game
Posted by Adam Butler on November 7, 2011
WPS!
Saturday was a historic night at Reynolds Razorback Stadium. As the night wound down, the Earth shook noticeably in the Ozarks.
Then, a little over an hour after Arkansas defensive end Jake Bequette baptized South Carolina quarterback Conner Shaw, there was an actual earthquake that put an odd cap on a seismic Hog victory that was 46 years in the making.
The Hogs’ 44-28 victory over #9 ranked South Carolina was the first win for the Razorbacks in a Top 10 matchup in Fayetteville since 1965. And, though it
shouldcould have, it didn’t come easy.What We Saw:
Arkansas (8-1, 4-1) controlled the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball. Bequette wrecked havoc–logging 3 of Arkansas’ 5 sacks, and pressuring Shaw on several other occasions.
For the first time this season, Bequette, who has been dinged by a hamstring injury for most of his senior campaign, looked like a force for the Hogs. This was a big development for Arkansas’ defense because having a healthy and productive Bequette is like having a shutdown closer in baseball. When he is on, he makes everyone else around him better.
Meanwhile, Arkansas’ offensive line kept Arkansas Quarterback Tyler Wilson clean most of the night, despite facing one of the best defensive fronts in the country. The Hogs threw the ball 38 times and allowed one sack, as compared to South Carolina’s 5 sacks and 25 pass attempts. The Arkansas OL also opened enough holes for runningback Dennis Johnson to have another stellar outing.
South Carolina (7-2, 5-2) was stymied for the most part by an aggressive Arkansas defensive that bracketed the Gamecocks’ star wide receiver, Alshon Jeffrey, brought repeated “run blitzes” and dared USCE to beat them with someone other than Jeffrey and runningback Brandon Wilds.
But for the running of Shaw (59 yards gained rushing) the Cocks were largely unable to do so.
If there is a complaint (and we know there is because Arkansas fans love to bitch) it is that the Hogs should have put South Carolina away early.
Ronnie Wingo, Cobi Hamilton and Jarius Wright all had dropped touchdown passes, Wilson had an egregious “Pick Six”, Zach Hocker missed a pair of field goals he usually drills and the Hogs were stuffed near the goalline on 4th down. The score could have easily been 65-21.
–Arkansas’ defensive backs played the ball and played it well. Kudos to Isaac Madison, Greg Gatson, et. al.
–Arkansas used QB Brandon Mitchell near the goalline again, with mixed results. We like the changeup. Once Mitchell settles into that role, he can be a real weapon in short yardage. The passing game can be smothered, somewhat, in the red zone, and Mitchell adds a dimension for which opposing defenses must prepare.
–The game atmosphere was great in the 1st half. The second half? Not as much. There were long periods in which there was no music over the PA and/or no organized cheers. It’s too bad. It was a great showcase night for recruiting. But hey, they hocked some Kettle Chips!
What We Didn’t See:
–We keep waiting to see a healthy Greg Childs for Arkansas, and it just does not seem like it is in the cards. Childs, who had a season-ending knee injury a year ago and has not been the same, since. He is giving it a go (and he had an 11-yard reception) but he is receiving fewer snaps, is favoring the leg, and is not being targeted much by Wilson.
What You May Not Have Seen:
–Jeffrey became frustrated, and pouted a lot. On one such occasion, he was late getting set after an audible, and USCE received a delay of game penalty as a result.
What We Hope to See Next Week:
Arkansas needs to throttle a down Tennessee Volunteers squad. The Vols should still be without Quarterback Tyler Bray (broken thumb) and they have been punchless offensively in his absence.
Posted in Commentary, Sports | Tagged: Arkansas Razorbacks, College Football, Jake Bequette, South Carolina Gamecocks, Tyler Wilson | 5 Comments »