Arkansas hands South Carolina 33-16 loss
Arkansas' Joe Adams dives into the end zone past South Carolina's Devin Taylor on Saturday at Reynolds Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville.
Saturday, November 7, 2009
FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas came into what coaches and players had called a crucial game and made some crucial plays to defeat South Carolina 33-16 in Fayetteville on Saturday.
What had been an evenly matched game in the first half with a tie at 10 became all about Arkansas beginning midway through the third quarter.
Arkansas picked up steam with Jerell Norton's interception.
Quaterback Ryan Mallett went 23 of 27 for 329 yards. He also rushed for a touchdown.
Mallett was 12 of 13 in the second half, and the Razorbacks scored 23 unanswered points to finish the game. Arkansas (5-4, 2-4 Southeastern Conference) needs only one more win to become bowl eligible.
D.J. Williams caught seven passes for 137 yards for the Razorbacks, including a 69-yard reception near the end of the first half that set up an important field goal.
Stephen Garcia passed for 327 yards with a touchdown and an interception for the Gamecocks (6-4, 3-4), who have lost three of four and are in danger of a third straight late-season fade. Mallett and Garcia entered the game ranked 1-2 in the SEC in passing.
Norton intercepted Garcia in the end zone on South Carolina’s next possession, and Broderick Green put Arkansas ahead by eight with a 2-yard touchdown run. Less than 90 seconds later, the Razorbacks added a safety on a play that began at the South Carolina 32. A shotgun snap sailed past Garcia, and although the quarterback tried to fall on the ball near his own 5, it skipped into the end zone. South Carolina recovered, but the two points gave Arkansas a 26-16 advantage.
With the Razorbacks trailing 10-7 and 22 seconds remaining in the first half, Williams took a short pass, eluded a couple defenders and ran all the way to the South Carolina 7 for a 69-yard gain. Mallett nearly threw an interception on the next play, but Arkansas was able to tie it with a field goal on the half’s final play.
The Gamecocks (6-3, 3-3) were ranked in the top 25 until tumbling out of the polls after their loss to Tennessee last week.
Stay with WholeHogSports.com for more coverage of the game.
Information for this article was contributed by Noah Trister of The Associated Press.
Comments
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hognaustin says...
Great game for both sides of the ball for the Hogs! Defense played well and so did the short game for Mallet. NOW is the time to get ****ed and hand Coach Blakeney and Troy the worst beat down of their life next week. We should not take such disrespect that they gave us at the beginning of the year - kick their butts, leave them with a goose egg - no points - and win our sixth game and become bowl eligible. Beat them worse then we did EMU. That should be our goal this week - hopefully BP has a mean streak in him and will not take the diss that Blakeney gave us.
November 7, 2009 at 8:36 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
ROBERT_HENRY says...
Great win, but if you watched the defense you saw novices trying to tackle.... especially the secondary. We will never get to the second tier of the SEC until we get some competent defensive coaches. The arm tackling reminded me of the Jr High games in the early 50's between Crossett and Hamburg. I worked as an engineer on the Perishing Missile at Redstone in the 60's, but it does not take a Rocket Scientist to know we got to do something about the defense or be satisfied to hang out with Vanderbilt and Kentucky.
November 8, 2009 at 7:03 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
cajunhog says...
I agree with Mr. Robert Henry. I think besides the normal things we look for in recruiting Defensive Backs ,(Speed, bench press, verticle jump,etc...) , the one thing those fastest most athletic recruits MUST TACKLE, not hit hard. Wrap up & tackle. If they don't wrap up & tackle by the time any recruit gets to college, they never will out of instinct. Not to compare coaches or programs, but that is exactly what Nick Saban recruits. The speed, verticle jump and so on, but also they have to tackle.
November 8, 2009 at 10:52 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
txctryhog says...
The defensive secondary is young(some true freshman) and new to program(Leon, Crim, Stewart) Mr. Henry and Mr cajunhog. You likely won't get a faster back than Gordon. These guys are getting used to the SEC. The Defensive Coaches are good.. you still have some growing pains going on, i.e. the long bombs. By the way, just saw the Hogs red zone defense is #4 in the nation!!!you likely wont see nicky saban and myers starting true freshman like Coach Robinson is having to do. Gotta get the program back to where the young guys can develop and THEN get thrown into the fire.
November 9, 2009 at 8:27 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
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