South Carolina at Arkansas Preview

The No. 10 South Carolina Gamecocks (7-1, 5-1) will travel to Fayettville, Ark. to take on the No. 8 Arkansas Razorbacks (7-1, 3-1) this Saturday night at Razorback Stadium.

The Gamecocks are coming into this game off of a 14-3 win at Tennessee last weekend.  Freshman running back Brandon Wilds made his first career start in place of injured running back Marcus Lattimore and filled in nicely, carrying the ball 28 times for 137 yards while also recording three catches for 31 yards.

"Brandon did a lot of good things in that Tennessee game," said Coach Steve Spurrier at his weekly press conference. "Some things happened that hopefully he can learn from also. Going out for passes a couple of times, he left Connor (Shaw) and sort of drifted on him a couple of times. We believe he can be better in certain areas, but he's a natural runner. Brandon is an excellent runner with the ball. He has a good body lean, shakes guys off. He has a knack. He was able to show it last week. Hopefully we can get a bunch of yards. We're not a great passing team so we better be able to run successfully."

Connor Shaw had a less than impressive performance, but did his job, managing the Gamecocks to a 11 point win in a place where they'd only won once before.  He finished the game 10-for-18, 87 yards and a touchdown, he also ran for a touchdown in the third quarter to cap a 98 yard drive.

The defense played another great game for Carolina, holding Tennessee to just three points.  This is the third time this season that the Gamecocks have held an opponent to a field goal.

"We've simplified a lot of our coverages to where we don't have that many and (commit) fewer mistakes," said Spurrier. "That's a big part of it. Just the guys playing hard, playing their assignments, playing with effort and getting a pretty consistent rush has been helpful. We have good athletes. When they know what to do and are in position, I know that's helped us this year compared to what we did last year."

Arkansas is coming in off of a scare, winning 31-28 at Vanderbilt last week, in which the difference in the game was a missed 27 yard field goal in the closing seconds.  Arkansas also escaped with a 29-23 victory at Ole Miss the week before.

If the Gamecocks are going to win this weekend at Arkansas, the first thing they will need to focus on is the Razorbacks' lethal passing attack, led by quarterback Tyler Wilson.  Arkansas ranks ninth in the country in passing offense, and leads the SEC in the category.

Spurrier acknowledged the impressive statistics that the Razorbacks have been able to put up this year in his Tuesday press conference.

"I really don't watch other teams' offenses that much," Spurrier said. "I try to watch the defense and see if we can find some ball plays to hit here and there. Obviously (Tyler Wilson's) statistics are very good. Watching him against Vandy, he stays and makes the throws. He got hit a bunch of times. He's a tough kid and plays with courage. He'll stay in the pocket and make the throws. I admire the way he plays certainly."

Arkansas doesn't match up well against the run, however, which could present some problems for them on defense.  They rank 89th in the country in rushing defense, whereas Carolina ranks in the top 25 in rushing offense, 2nd in the SEC, averaging over 200 yards per game on the ground.

The Gamecocks are also looking to avenge a 41-20 loss at home last season to Arkansas.  This promises to be a great game in which both teams both have shots at BCS bowls this upcoming postseason.

Prediction:
#10 South Carolina 28  #8 Arkansas 27