Five Things We Learned From The Arkansas Game
posted by Scott Hood, Monday, November 09, 2009
1. A Solid Running Game Is A Quarterback’s Best Friend: The final statistics say Arkansas rushed for 76 yards in 36 attempts, an average of 2.1 yards per rush. But those numbers don’t tell the story of the third quarter when the Razorbacks turned to its power running game to take the lead for good. Taking over after USC had hit the long TD pass to Alshon Jeffery, Arkansas promptly drove 73 yards in 11 plays for the go-ahead TD. The Razorbacks ran the ball eight times on the drive for 29 yards and hit a couple of big pass plays. Minutes later, Arkansas rushed four times for 18 yards in a seven-play, 80-yard drive that pushed the lead to 24-16. The third quarter rushing statistics for the Razorbacks weren’t earth-shattering (13 carries for 42 yards) but they were able to do just enough to keep the USC defense honest. As a result, they were able to hit a couple of long pass plays and seize control of the game.
2. Ball Distribution Is An Issue: The post-game comments by USC tight end Weslye Saunders complaining about not getting enough passes thrown in his direction raises the possibility that there is a fracture developing within the receiving corps about ball distribution. There is little question the emergence of freshman Alshon Jeffery starting with the Kentucky game when he had 3 TD receptions has changed the equation. It doesn’t take a genius to see that the fade pass to Jeffery has become a staple of the USC offense, although the one USC threw Saturday resulted in disaster when an Arkansas cornerback picked the ball off. Saunders is clearly frustrated because his role in the USC offense has diminished considerably since the Georgia loss almost two months ago. In the ensuing eight games (he missed the UK game), Saunders has 11 receptions.
3. You Always Go Full Speed Until The Clock Reads Zero: The play was probably forgotten because Arkansas dominated the second half, but the 69-yard completion on a pass in the flat in the waning seconds of the first half turned out to be a big play in the game. Poor tackling by USC on the play helped the success of the play, which led to a short field goal and a tie score (10-10) at intermission. The play was big because when USC scored on the 80-yard bomb to Jeffery on the first snap of the second half, it gave USC only a 16-10 lead (the extra point was missed). Had Arkansas conceded and simply run out the clock at the end of the first half, they would have trailed by two scores at that point (16-7). They might have turned to a different strategy and the second half could have turned out differently.
4. Brian Maddox Still Has Life: More than a few Gamecock fans probably has given up on Brian Maddox prior to the Arkansas game. He entered the contest with 163 yards on 61 carries, but less than 100 total yards since the season opener at NC State. In the four games previous to Arkansas, Maddox had carried nine times for a grand total of one yard. Of course, his numbers against the Razorbacks weren’t grandiose (4 carries for 16 yards) but it represented the most yards for the Anderson native since the SC State game and, hopefully, a medium step forward in a disappointing season for him. Steve Spurrier praised Maddox for coming into the game and running hard. He entered the game for the first time midway through the second quarter and promptly ripped off an eight-yard gain on a key third-and-3 play for a first down. He added a six-yard run on second-and-2 later in the same drive. Thus, both his carries on the possession registered first downs.
5. No Forced Turnovers Means No Victories: Looking for an important reason USC has struggled in recent games to pull out wins? Lack of turnovers forced by the Gamecock defense. In the last five games, USC has forced just four turnovers and all of them came in the Alabama loss. Saturday’s loss at Arkansas marked the third straight game USC has failed to force a turnover by the opponent. Not surprisingly, USC has been outscored 78-39 (a 2-to-1 margin) in the last three games. Due to the lack of turnovers forced by the USC defense, the Gamecocks have fallen to ninth in the SEC in the turnover margin category. Once among the top three or four teams, USC has fallen to minus-1 (13-14) in turnover margin after remaining in positive or even territory for the entire season. This weekend’s opponent, Florida, is fourth in the SEC with a plus-4 turnover margin. Obviously, USC must force multiple turnovers from the Florida offense in order to harbor any realistic hopes of an upset.
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South Carolina didn’t fare well on their biannual weekend trip to the Ozarks as they were outscored, 23-6, in the second half by Arkansas and eventually lost, 33-16, at Reynolds Razorback Stadium. What did we learn from the game? Here are five things:
1. A Solid Running Game Is A Quarterback’s Best Friend: The final statistics say Arkansas rushed for 76 yards in 36 attempts, an average of 2.1 yards per rush. But those numbers don’t tell the story of the third quarter when the Razorbacks turned to its power running game to take the lead for good. Taking over after USC had hit the long TD pass to Alshon Jeffery, Arkansas promptly drove 73 yards in 11 plays for the go-ahead TD. The Razorbacks ran the ball eight times on the drive for 29 yards and hit a couple of big pass plays. Minutes later, Arkansas rushed four times for 18 yards in a seven-play, 80-yard drive that pushed the lead to 24-16. The third quarter rushing statistics for the Razorbacks weren’t earth-shattering (13 carries for 42 yards) but they were able to do just enough to keep the USC defense honest. As a result, they were able to hit a couple of long pass plays and seize control of the game.
2. Ball Distribution Is An Issue: The post-game comments by USC tight end Weslye Saunders complaining about not getting enough passes thrown in his direction raises the possibility that there is a fracture developing within the receiving corps about ball distribution. There is little question the emergence of freshman Alshon Jeffery starting with the Kentucky game when he had 3 TD receptions has changed the equation. It doesn’t take a genius to see that the fade pass to Jeffery has become a staple of the USC offense, although the one USC threw Saturday resulted in disaster when an Arkansas cornerback picked the ball off. Saunders is clearly frustrated because his role in the USC offense has diminished considerably since the Georgia loss almost two months ago. In the ensuing eight games (he missed the UK game), Saunders has 11 receptions.
3. You Always Go Full Speed Until The Clock Reads Zero: The play was probably forgotten because Arkansas dominated the second half, but the 69-yard completion on a pass in the flat in the waning seconds of the first half turned out to be a big play in the game. Poor tackling by USC on the play helped the success of the play, which led to a short field goal and a tie score (10-10) at intermission. The play was big because when USC scored on the 80-yard bomb to Jeffery on the first snap of the second half, it gave USC only a 16-10 lead (the extra point was missed). Had Arkansas conceded and simply run out the clock at the end of the first half, they would have trailed by two scores at that point (16-7). They might have turned to a different strategy and the second half could have turned out differently.
4. Brian Maddox Still Has Life: More than a few Gamecock fans probably has given up on Brian Maddox prior to the Arkansas game. He entered the contest with 163 yards on 61 carries, but less than 100 total yards since the season opener at NC State. In the four games previous to Arkansas, Maddox had carried nine times for a grand total of one yard. Of course, his numbers against the Razorbacks weren’t grandiose (4 carries for 16 yards) but it represented the most yards for the Anderson native since the SC State game and, hopefully, a medium step forward in a disappointing season for him. Steve Spurrier praised Maddox for coming into the game and running hard. He entered the game for the first time midway through the second quarter and promptly ripped off an eight-yard gain on a key third-and-3 play for a first down. He added a six-yard run on second-and-2 later in the same drive. Thus, both his carries on the possession registered first downs.
5. No Forced Turnovers Means No Victories: Looking for an important reason USC has struggled in recent games to pull out wins? Lack of turnovers forced by the Gamecock defense. In the last five games, USC has forced just four turnovers and all of them came in the Alabama loss. Saturday’s loss at Arkansas marked the third straight game USC has failed to force a turnover by the opponent. Not surprisingly, USC has been outscored 78-39 (a 2-to-1 margin) in the last three games. Due to the lack of turnovers forced by the USC defense, the Gamecocks have fallen to ninth in the SEC in the turnover margin category. Once among the top three or four teams, USC has fallen to minus-1 (13-14) in turnover margin after remaining in positive or even territory for the entire season. This weekend’s opponent, Florida, is fourth in the SEC with a plus-4 turnover margin. Obviously, USC must force multiple turnovers from the Florida offense in order to harbor any realistic hopes of an upset.
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Scott Hood. Since February of 2005, Scott has covered the South Carolina football, men's basketball and baseball programs for GamecockCentral. He may be reached by email at scottblog(at)gamecockcentral.com. Replace (at) with @.