FAYETTEVILLE — The game was 15 years ago, but South Carolina Coach Shane Beamer had no trouble remembering the details.
Gory details from the Gamecocks’ standpoint.
Beamer was in his first season as the outside linebackers coach and special teams coordinator at South Carolina when the No. 23 Gamecocks visited Reynolds Razorback Stadium on Nov. 3, 2007, to play the University of Arkansas.
Asked Tuesday about his recollections of the game, Beamer quickly rattled off the names of Arkansas running backs Darren McFadden, Felix Jones and Peyton Hillis.
“I think they each ran for, like, 500 yards apiece,” Beamer said.
Beamer was exaggerating, of course, but the Razorbacks did seem to run at will against South Carolina’s defense.
Arkansas rushed 58 times for 542 yards and won 48-36 before a raucous crowd of 70,742 on a night when the field was named in honor of former coach and athletic director Frank Broyles.
McFadden rushed 34 times for 321 yards to tie an SEC record and also threw a touchdown pass to Robert Johnson. Jones rushed 13 times for 166 yards. Hillis had 35 yards on six carries.
In taking a 21-3 lead in the first quarter, Arkansas rushed for 196 yards on 15 attempts, including touchdown runs for 40 and 72 yards by Jones.
“I’m a young coach, it’s my first year on the staff,” Beamer said “I’m taking a backseat to the older coaches on that defensive staff.
“I’ll never forget — this was after they’ve gone up and down the field on us — and I don’t want to name names, but the defensive coordinator [Tyrone Nix] is on the field, and he’s talking to one of the coaches in the press box.
“I think it was still in the first quarter, and we can’t stop them. It’s obvious … And the coach in the box is like, ‘Hang on a second. Just don’t say anything. I’m up here drawing.’
“And the coordinator’s like, ‘You’re up there drawing?’ He’s like, ‘Yeah, I’m putting together a plan here that we can do some stuff to try and stop them.’
“And I’m like, ‘Oh crap, if we’re drawing stuff up on paper right now in the middle of the first quarter, we’re in for a long night.’ And we were. That was a long night in Fayetteville, and hopefully we play a lot better defensively than what we did that night.”
Beamer will bring South Carolina (1-0) back to Fayetteville to take on No. 16 Arkansas (1-0) at 11 a.m. on Saturday in the SEC opener for both teams. ESPN will telecast the game, just as it did the 2007 matchup.
McFadden, Jones and Hillis have long since retired from the NFL, but the Razorbacks again have a potent rushing attack led by quarterback KJ Jefferson and running back Raheim Sanders working behind an experienced offensive line.
“They’re big, they’re physical,” Beamer said of his review of the Razorbacks’ 31-24 victory over Cincinnati last Saturday. “With their size up front, they’re able to cover people up.
“You watch that Cincinnati game — I’m watching the end zone copy yesterday — and the ball is snapped, and you pause it after a second, and you can’t see any of the Cincinnati defensive linemen on the tape, because they’re covered up by double-teams.
“Then there’s just gaps for the running backs and the quarterback to run through.
“So they do a great job coaching technique and fundamentals, but then they do a great job schematically as well, the offensive staff.
“They use tempo, so you’ve got to be able to handle that. They’ll get in multiple formations, they’ve got motions. You’ve got to be disciplined with your eyes against these guys, because they’re big and physical, but they’re also going fast.”
Beamer, whose previous coaching stops included being an assistant at Georgia and Oklahoma, singled out Arkansas linebackers Bumper Pool and Drew Sanders for praise when assessing the defense.
Pool had 13 tackles against Cincinnati, while Sanders had a sack among his five tackles.
“Bumper Pool is just a fabulous player,” Beamer said. “Drew Sanders, I can remember being at Georgia and Drew was a freshman in high school [in Denton, Texas].
“We had him at our camp in Georgia and knew he was going to be an absolute freak once he graduated, and that’s what he was. We recruited the heck out of him at Oklahoma and were crushed when we didn’t get him.”
Beamer’s time as a Sooners assistant from 2018-20 helped him land Oklahoma quarterback Spencer Rattler in the transfer portal.
After entering last season as one of the favorites to win the Heisman Trophy, Rattler lost his starting job to freshman Caleb Williams, who is now at Southern California, and decided to rejoin Beamer with the Gamecocks.
Rattler completed 23 of 37 passes for 227 yards and 1 touchdown with 2 interceptions against Georgia State.
“I like him,” Arkansas Coach Sam Pittman said. “He plays like a guy that’s played before. Experienced, got a lot of poise.
“You just can feel his confidence through the film. … They believe in him, and he runs the show well.”
Beamer said Rattler showed his athleticism.
“He was able to get out of the pocket and make some plays with his feet and get the ball downfield,” Beamer said, “Give credit to him now.”
In their opener, the Gamecocks’ best offense was their special teams, which blocked two punts that were returned for touchdowns and executed a fake field goal that led to another touchdown.
“We have a lot to improve before we go out to Arkansas,” Beamer said. “To not play great and to win against a really good football team by three touchdowns, we are going to celebrate the hell out of that.
“We aren’t ever apologizing for winning around here. That is an excited, joyful locker room. Those kids deserve it for all the work they put in since January.”