Arkansas stuns No. 17 South Carolina, ending Gamecocks’ Playoff hopes with 4th loss
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Arkansas only had 1 SEC victory coming into Saturday night, but that didn’t matter.
South Carolina had ripped off 4 straight victories coming into Saturday night to barnstorm its way into the rankings, but that didn’t matter either.
Because in primetime of Week 11, the home team from Fayetteville looked the part and the road team from Columbia that entered so red hot fell apart amid the hot lights on SEC Network.
With a poisoning barrage of penalties and turnovers, No. 17 South Carolina fell flat with its College Football Playoff hopes hanging in the balance, as it fell hard to the Razorbacks in a 34-6 beatdown that effectively ended those faint Playoff hopes.
The Gamecocks’ winning streak was over with a vengeance as they fell to 6-4 overall and 4-4 in the SEC, the Hogs had that elusive 2nd SEC victory and it was going to be a long trip home to Columbia for Shane Beamer‘s team, which turned it over 4 times and committed a whopping 12 penalties.
Arkansas football’s social media account was having all the fun late Saturday night with this winning post:
With South Carolina starting freshman Cutter Woods at quarterback in place of the injured LaNorris Sellers, the handwriting was on the wall that this might be a dangerous affair for the Gamecocks.
It certainly was, with Woods tossing 3 interceptions while failing to throw a touchdown pass. South Carolina only managed 1 touchdown of any kind all night, and by the time Jabree Coleman scored on a 3-yard run with 7:15 left in the 3rd quarter, Arkansas had already taken a 17-0 halftime alead.
The Gamecocks went for 2 points and the conversion pass failed, and that was it for South Carolina all night on the scoreboard.
It was all Arkansas before that touchdown and it was all Hogs after that, with Sutton Smith finishing it off for the Razorbacks with this 7-yard run with 1:50 left in the game that created the final margin.
While Smith ran for 60 yards and that touchdown, and while Arkansas quarterback KJ Jackson played a clean game with 188 yards passing, 2 touchdown passes and 0 interceptions, the Hogs’ defense devoured South Carolina’s offense all night.
The Gamecocks’ last gasp, down 24-6 in the 4th quarter and with the ball at midfield, was short-circuited with Woods getting picked off by linebacker Ben Bogle.
Defensive back Joker Johnson had the other 2 interceptions for the dominant Razorbacks defense, helping Arkansas improve to 4-6 overall and 2-5 in the SEC.
Arkansas made it a long Saturday night in Fayetteville for South Carolina, and the Gamecocks showed they weren’t ready for primetime, especially without their starting quarterback.
Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.
