Gamecocks top Razorbacks, 38-20
South Carolina senior D.J. Swearinger was just trying to relieve some stress.
The Gamecocks as a whole were overcoming stress of their own — a devastating knee injury to tailback Marcus Lattimore, a slumping defense and three straight losses to Arkansas.
Swearinger’s interception return for a touchdown put the exclamation point on USC’s 38-20 win over the Razorbacks, and put the stress of the last two weeks to bed.
“It was a big play,” said sophomore defensive end Jadeveon Clowney. “They stopped playing after that pretty much.”
On the previous play, Swearinger was penalized for a helmet-to-helmet hit on Javontee Herndon, tacking on 15 yards to where the catch was made. He was also flagged for a personal foul two plays earlier.
Swearinger had been suspended for the Missouri game after a helmet-to-helmet hit on a UAB wide receiver, but said he doesn’t think he should be suspended for the hit on Herndon.
“I actually tried to turn and lead with my shoulder,” Swearinger said. “In the speed of the game, it’s always hard for the referees to see that.”
The secondary was reshuffled after allowing 381 passing yards to Tennessee, with Swearinger playing some at cornerback instead of free safety, but the defense struggled similarly against the prolific, pass-heavy Arkansas offense. Arkansas quarterback Tyler Wilson finished 26-of-41 with two touchdowns.
The Razorbacks looked poised to make it a one-touchdown game before Swearinger returned Wilson’s next pass after the unnecessary roughness penalty 69 yards for a touchdown. He tossed the ball into the stands as a celebration and drew another 15-yard penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct.
“It was a sort of a stress-reliever from both of the penalties,” Swearinger said. “I just got it in the end zone and it was just all having fun.”
The Gamecocks seemed to be having fun all afternoon, especially on offense, as they took advantage of a youthful pass defense. Battling “tolerable” pain from a foot sprain throughout the game, junior quarterback Connor Shaw was 14-of-22 with two passing touchdowns, a rushing touchdown and one interception.
USC had a four-point lead late in the second half, but on a fourth-and-5 on the Arkansas 42-yard-line, the Gamecocks went for it with less than two minutes left before halftime. Shaw connected with a wide-open Bruce Ellington, who split two freshman defenders to get into the end zone untouched.
In the first game this season without Lattimore in attendance, his record for career touchdowns was honored at the start of the first quarter. A video message from him played on the video board, thanking fans for cards and support.
“It’s different with him not on the field, physically and emotionally,” Shaw said. “Our guys were really amped up for this one. A lot of people had (Lattimore’s number) 21 written on them. D.J. had a game-ball afterwards and said it was for 21, so I think our guys came out and played for him today.”
USC ran for 104 yards, as freshman Mike Davis had 53 rushing yards and one touchdown. The Gamecocks nearly disappointed the more than 70,000 fans in attendance, almost not reaching the benchmark of 100 rushing yards for the free Rush’s hamburger promotion.
“Everybody got their free hamburger,” said coach Steve Spurrier. “We were worried about that.”
Heading into the game, USC had greater cause for concern than hamburgers, facing a team that beat them by 16 points last season.
Though the Gamecocks will watch Georgia, a team it beat 35-7 this year, play for the SEC Championship this season, Arkansas was the last major roadblock for USC’s goal of winning all of its home games. South Carolina hosts Wofford on Saturday at 1 p.m.
“I feel like we should have done a lot better than we did,” Clowney said. “I feel like we should have won the games to go to the SEC Championship, but we’ve been doing good at home. One of our goals was to win all of our home games and we’ve done that so far.”
Despite going 8-2 against the traditional East Division powers of Georgia, Tennessee and Florida, the senior class got its first win against the Razorbacks, and it came at a perfect time to blow off some steam.
“I think the last time we beat them (George W.) Bush was the President,” Spurrier said. “It’s been a long time."