Hogs' high-powered passing game stars in win over Gamecocks
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. —Over the next two weeks, though, the 15th-ranked Gamecocks will be doing a tremendous amount of scoreboard watching.
USC no longer controls its own destiny or first place in the Southeastern Conference's Eastern Division. At 5-2 in the league to Georgia's 5-1, USC has to beat Florida at home Saturday and hope the Bulldogs fall to Auburn or Kentucky if it wants to return to the SEC Championship Game.
"It's not in our hands anymore," said linebacker Damario Jeffery. "Now we have to hope that another team can do what we couldn't."
The Gamecocks trailed by only two points, 30-28, with 10:30 left in the game and held leads of 7-3 and 14-10 in the first half. But every time USC made a move, the No. 8 Razorbacks responded, ultimately rattling off 14 unanswered points in the final minutes to pull away in front of 73,804 fans.
"They outplayed us, outcoached us, outsmarted us," said coach Steve Spurrier. "Certainly, they were deserving to win the game."
Quarterback Tyler Wilson starred for Arkansas, going 20-of-37 for 299 yards and two touchdown passes against a USC pass defense that entered the night as the third-best such unit in the nation but struggled without linebacker Antonio Allen, who sat with muscle spasms in his neck, and safety DeVonte Holloman, who suffered a concussion during the game.
"Sometimes, somebody's just better than you are," said associate head coach for defense Ellis Johnson. "There were a lot of routes out there that got open just because they were just better than we were."
And for as good as Arkansas was, Carolina's offense sputtered. USC got three offensive touchdowns, but two scoring drives were heavily aided by penalty and return yardage, and the passing game was ineffective again.
USC was outgained 435-207, with quarterback Connor Shaw throwing for just 128 yards on 16-of-25 passing before leaving the game with a concussion late in the fourth quarter. It was on the play Shaw suffered the concussion that things got away from the Gamecocks.
Down 37-28 and facing a first-and-20 at the USC 14 after a 24-yard completion to Alshon Jeffery was negated by a holding penalty, Shaw was hit hard by Razorback defender Jake Bequette and fumbled. Arkansas recovered, sealing the victory soon after on a 1-yard touchdown run by Broderick Green.
The Gamecocks got their leads on a 4-yard run by freshman Brandon Wilds after 25 Arkansas penalty yards helped move the ball downfield and a 48-yard interception return for a touchdown by defensive end Devin Taylor.
But both lasted seconds. After Wilds' run, Dennis Johnson ran the ensuing kickoff back 98 yards for Arkansas. And after Taylor's score, Wilson threw a 68-yard touchdown strike to Jarius Wright on the first play from scrimmage after the turnover, later adding a 16-yard scoring pass to Wright before halftime.
"I don't think any idiot could watch the game and not tell that [Wilson] was a very good player," Johnson said. "When guys got open ... he doesn't miss them very often."
After a 55-yard kickoff return by Victor Hampton to start the first drive of the second half, USC marched 45 yards and scored on a 9-yard run by Shaw to make it 24-21. But two field goals from Zach Hocker, with a fumble by Wilds on a botched handoff in between, gave the Razorbacks (8-1, 4-1) a nine-point lead through three quarters before Shaw's 1-yard touchdown run brought USC as close as it would get.
"He went the wrong way. He went off left tackle instead of right tackle," said Spurrier of Wilds' fumble, which came on what appeared to be a promising drive and was the first of USC's four turnovers. Shaw also had an interception, and Hampton fumbled the kickoff return after Arkansas' last score.
"Give those guys credit," Spurrier said. "They had a lot of yards and a lot of offense. And their special teams were better than ours tonight."
After being adamant in saying they weren't paying attention to Georgia in recent days, the Gamecocks (7-2 overall) can no longer afford to ignore the Bulldogs. Both Georgia's remaining SEC games will be played in Athens. USC doesn't consider a Kentucky win over the 'Dogs on Nov. 19 realistic given UK's poor play this fall. So it comes down to Saturday and Auburn, the defending national champion and only other team USC has lost to this season.
"We know where we are," Spurrier said. "We've got to hope Auburn beats Georgia and we beat Florida. Simple as that."
Both Alshon and Damario Jeffery are friends with Auburn lineman and former USC commit Eric Mack, a high school teammate of Alshon Jeffery's. Damario Jeffery said he doesn't plan on contacting Mack to offer inspiration.
"They know what they got to do," he said. "I'm pretty sure they don't plan to go there and lose."
If the Gamecocks want to play in the Georgia Dome on Dec. 3, they'd better hope so.