NCAA football preview: South Carolina looking to stay ahead of the pack
Saturday 6 November has the no. 18 Arkansas Razorbacks travelling to the no. 19 University of South Carolina Gamecocks for a battle between South Eastern Conference (SEC) foes. Arkansas is coming off an
explosive win over unranked Vanderbilt, while the Gamecocks are coming off a victory over unranked Tennessee.
Arkansas's previous games
The 6-2 Razorbacks have had an easy schedule so far this season, facing only two ranked teams, which were Alabama and Auburn. The Razorbacks lost both of those games, allowing 65 points to the high powered
offence of Auburn.
The Razorback offence, lead by junior quarterback Ryan Mallett, has scored more than 30 points in six games. On the defensive side they are ranked 46th in the country in points allowed though,
at 22.3 per game. However in the Razorbacks past two games, against Ole Miss and Vanderbilt, the defence allowed only 38 points combined.
South Carolina’s previous games
After the Auburn Tigers were victorious over South Carolina, the Gamecocks surprised the college football world with their victory over no. 1 ranked Alabama on 9 October, but after that they lost to the
unranked Kentucky Wildcats, 31-28 the very next weekend. This puts their record at 6-2 and the Gamecocks currently are in first place in the east division of the SEC.
The Gamecocks are a well rounded team, sitting in the middle of the pack in most categories, including passing yards and points against. The offence started the season with a 41 point performance against
Southern Mississippi, but since then they have been quite pedestrian averaging only 30.6 points per game.
Keys to the game
Razorbacks quarterback Ryan Mallett will be without his top receiver in Greg Childs, due to a patella tendon injury which he sustained against Vanderbilt. This means that Mallett will have to count his
other receivers to pick up the slack as it comes to down the stretch time.
"That's definitely tough for us because Greg is an awesome player," defensive end Damario Ambrose said to espn.go.com. "He's very dynamic, fast and can jump out the gym. It's tough to be losing him, but we
have tons of other receivers on our team that can step up."
Junior wide receiver Joe Adams will become the number one target for Mallet. He has 30 receptions for 544 yards and four touchdowns.
Steve Spurrier’s Gamecocks can wrap up the east division title with a victory over the Razorbacks on Saturday if the Florida Gators lose to Vanderbilt. Recent Gamecock seasons have them starting out strong
like they have this year, but this is the time when the wheels fall off and the Gamecocks get nowhere in the SEC.
"It's in the back of all our minds, especially senior guys because it's our last year and we've done something so special so far," tight end Patrick DiMarco said to espn.go.com. "We're not going to let things
slip out of hands, though. We're going to keep driving to reach team goals."
It becomes very important that the South Carolina defence keep their eye on the ball and the second ranked air attack from the Razorbacks. The corner backs and safeties will have to be on their toes not
to bite on any play-action fakes by the Arkansas offence. If they can do this, the Gamecocks may find themselves in a SEC title game.
Something to think about
The Arkansas Razorbacks’ remaining four games include three against ranked opponents, starting with no.19 South Carolina, no.20 Mississippi State and no. 10 LSU. After their two previous losses against
ranked opponents, it will be interesting to see how this team will do with adversity staring them down.
Prediction: Gamecocks 28-27 Razorbacks
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