The Hogs rush for 300 yards in the 50-30 win over the Gamecocks.
The No. 16 Razorbacks move to 2-0 following a strong showing in the 2nd half, defeating South Carolina 44-30 on Saturday.
Arkansas entered the locker room with a 21-9 lead over the Gamecocks, and played through a rather uneventful 3rd quarter. However, the Razorbacks outscored South Carolina 23-14 in the 4th quarter to earn the win.
Arkansas ended the game with 300 yards of total rushing, led by Raheim Sanders’ career-best 156 yards and two touchdowns.
Here’s a look at how the second half played out.
The Gamecocks struck first in the 2nd half. Arkansas forced South Carolina into a long 3rd-and-17 situation following a strip sack by Drew Sanders followed by a false start penalty. Following the penalty, Spencer Rattler threw to a wide-open Antwane Wells for a 65-yard touchdown pass. The successful extra point closed the Arkansas lead to 21-16 with 8:51 in the 3rd quarter.
Raheim Sanders picked up where he left off in the first half by rushing 46 yards on the first play of Arkansas’ ensuing drive. The rush pushed him over the 100-yard mark for the second week in a row. Unfortunately, the drive ended when KJ Jefferson’s sneak on fourth and short was stuffed.
The first sack of the game for Bumper Pool set up Arkansas’ next scoring drive. Following the Gamecock punt, the Razorbacks methodically marched down the field to open the 4th quarter with a touchdown. On the 14th play of the drive, Jefferson snuck into the end zone from a yard away to extend the lead to 28-16 with 14:55 remaining in the contest. The touchdown ended a 59-yard drive that ate 5:17 off of the clock.
On the next drive, South Carolina quickly coughed the football up. Latavious Brini and Bumper Pool forced Marshawn Lloyd to fumble the football, and Hudson Clark scooped up the football forcing the Gamecocks’ first turnover.
The fumble recovery allowed Arkansas to start their next possession at the South Carolina 41-yard line. The momentum shifted to Arkansas, and they were able to respond quickly. In just five plays, Arkansas extended their lead. Jefferson would toss his first touchdown pass of the game to Warren Thompson. He floated a pass 23-yards to the back of the end zone, where Thompson would jump high to pull down the pass, extending the Arkansas lead to 35-16 with 12:03 remaining.
Arkansas’ defense stood strong for the second drive in a row following the Razorback touchdown. South Carolina marched to the Arkansas 17-yard line before having their drive cut short when Rattler threw his third interception of the season to [autotag]Dwight McGlothern[/autotag] in the end zone. For the LSU transfer, he has recorded an interception in two straight games.
The Razorbacks can’t make anything happen following the interception and is forced to punt. The Gamecocks redeem themselves on their next drive by scoring on a three-play drive. Juju McDowell’s one-yard rush and a successful two-point conversion trimmed the score to 35-24 with 6:25 in the game.
Arkansas caught luck on their next possession. After Bumper Pool returned South Carolina’s onside kick attempt to the Gamecock 8-yard line, Jefferson rushed toward the pylon on the left side of the end zone, where he attempted to extend the football into the end zone. However, he fumbled the football out of bounds. The play was reviewed as the ball appeared to cross the goal line and exit out of bounds, which would have resulted in a touchback for South Carolina.
Following the video review, it was determined that Jefferson stepped out of bounds before fumbling the football. On the next play, AJ Green scored on a one-yard carry to extend Arkansas’ lead to 42-24 with 6:00 to go in the football game.
South Carolina has refused to go away, as they quickly scored on their next possession. Jaheim Bell scored from one-yard out to cut Arkansas’ lead to 42-30 with 3:21 remaining in the game. The score was set up by a 38-yard pass from Rattler to Austin Stogner that placed the Gamecocks at the Arkansas one-yard line.
Arkansas used their next drive to chew some clock and would punt away. The Gamecocks began their next drive at their own 10-yard line and would pad Arkansas’ lead on the first play. In a shotgun set, Spencer Rattler elected to throw the ball away to avoid being sacked in the end zone. However, the officiating crew called Rattler for intentional grounding. Because the foul was called in the end zone, it was deemed a safety. The extra two points moved Arkansas to a 44-30 lead inside two minutes to go.
The final drive of the game for South Carolina ended in grueling fashion. Rattler was sacked on the final two plays of the game, with the final snap resulting in a fumble recovery for Arkansas.
Arkansas moves to 2-0, while South Carolina drops to 1-1. Next up for Arkansas is a home date with Missouri State next Saturday at 6 p.m. CT.
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