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South Carolina at Arkansas
SEC Football Betting Line and Analysis
11/7/09
This Arkansas football team can look so good at times, but also can look so
bad at times. The Razorbacks are 4-4 on the year, but the good news is they are
through the toughest part of their schedule. In a 6 game stretch Arkansas played
Georgia, Alabama, Texas A&M, Auburn, Florida, and Ole Miss without a bye week.
It would be hard to find a harder 6 game stretch then that. Arkansas is in their
2nd year under Head Coach Bobby Petrino, and he has this program moving in the
right direction, but they really need to close out this year strong.
This game against South Carolina has almost become a must win for the Hogs, but
it is a game that the Gamecocks also need badly. South Carolina started their
year 5-1 with their lone loss coming against Georgia in a shootout that they had
every opportunity to win. Since then they are 1-2 with a 20-6 loss to Alabama,
and an embarrassing 31-13 loss to Tennessee. They really need to bounce back
after that performance against Tennessee, or the wheels could fall of this South
Carolina football team.
PRIMETIME MATCHUP
This Arkansas passing attack led by QB Ryan Mallett has been very impressive all
year. They have 3 very good sophomore WR’s in Joe Adams, Jarius Wright, and Greg
Childs that give defensive coordinators problems, because all three are threats
to score from anywhere on the field. Mallett has thrown for 2151 yards on the
year with 18 TD and just 3 INT. This Arkansas offense is 2nd in the SEC in total
offense averaging 438 yards per game and in scoring offense averaging 36 points
per game.
The South Carolina defense has got to get pressure on Mallett and make him
uncomfortable, because if they don’t he can really hurt you. The problem for
this South Carolina defense is they are not at full strength. Their starting
strong safety Chris Culliver and starting defensive end Cliff Matthews are both
out for Saturday’s game leaving South Carolina with just three defensive players
who have started every game. Throw in the fact that this Gamecock defense is
forced to play with a very young secondary, and that is not good news when you
are going up against the SEC’s #1 pass offense.
While Mallett has looked great for most of the year, we have seen that when you
get pressure on him consistently that his accuracy does go down. South Carolina
is going to have to send more blitzes then usual with the injuries to their
defensive line, so linebacker Eric Norwood is going to be very important.
Norwood is one of the best defensive players in the country, and it is going to
be very important for him to get pressure on Mallett, because if they are unable
to get pressure on him this Razorback offense has too many weapons and will put
up points in a hurry.
THE FINAL VERDICT
Coach Steve Spurrier and Defensive Coordinator Ellis Johnson are having a year
that they would like to forget on the defensive side of the ball. This is a very
good defense when healthy, but they have been hit with the injury bug all year.
Losing starting SS Chris Culliver and DE Cliff Matthews is a big blow to this
Gamecock defense. South Carolina is going to need some young players to step up
big time, because this Arkansas offense is very explosive led by QB Ryan Mallett.
If you give Mallett time he will pick you apart all day long, but like we saw in
the games against Alabama and Ole Miss if you get pressure on him his accuracy
does go down, and you can slow down this Arkansas offense.
When you have this many players injured it makes it very difficult to continue to have success defensively. We believe this Arkansas offense with Mallett and WR’s Joe Adams, Jarius Wright, and Greg Childs will be just too much for this young South Carolina secondary, and Arkansas gets the much needed win. Arkansas -7
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