KJ Jefferson and Rocket Sanders were too much for South Carolina.
Jefferson, the Arkansas quarterback, ran for a touchdown and passed for another while Sanders, the starting running back, ran for 156 yards and two scores, lifting the No. 16 Razorbacks to a 44-30 win over South Carolina in both teams’ SEC opener Saturday.
South Carolina had pulled to within five points, 21-16, erasing Arkansas’ early 21-3 lead, in the fourth quarter. But Jefferson ran in from two yards on the first play of the final frame and, after a South Carolina fumbled, found Warren Thompson in the back of the end zone for a second consecutive score that iced the game.
The touchdown catch was Thompson’s first of the year. Freshman running back Rashod Dubinion had the middle touchdown, his first at the college level and AJ Green added the final score of the game for Arkansas midway through the fourth.
Arkansas committed 10 penalties for 122 yards, helping South Carolina’s offense. But the Gamecocks couldn’t do much on their own. Spencer Rattler was 23 of 38 passing for 371 yards and a touchdown, though a fourth-quarter interception by Dwight McGlothern in the end zone sealed South Carolina’s fate.
Almost 200 of Rattler’s yards came in the fourth when the game was practically already decided.
Arkansas will host Bobby Petrino and Missouri State in Week 3.