Razorbacks and Gamecocks in Battle of SEC Powerhouses

November 5, 2011

All of the hype over the last two weeks has been regarding the match-up of the week…..month…….year…..decade……no no no make that the century!!! It never ceases to amaze me how much a game can be blown out of proportion, but that’s exactly what has happened with the Alabama/ LSU match-up. It will certainly be a good game that has BCS Championship implications, but it would take a miracle for it to live up to what’s been made out of it. Personally, I’m far more interested in another SEC game on Saturday.

The South Carolina Gamecocks may not be a highly touted team by college football experts, but they have a tremendous defense, and the ability to move the ball on offense with the addition of sophomore Connor Shaw at quarterback. Shaw took over the offense after the Gamecocks only loss of the season to Auburn, and has done nothing but win. He’s been a breath of fresh air to Steve Spurrier who had been spoiled with a handful of talented quarterbacks in his time as head coach of Florida. Not having Marcus Lattimore in the backfield will be a hard hurdle to overcome for the remainder of the season, but thus far they have passed the test.

In terms of resume’ the Arkansas Razorbacks may look to be the better team as they have taken down Texas A&M and Auburn in back to back weeks earlier this year. However, the Hogs have had trouble with teams that should have rolled over, and will need to play far better Saturday if they expect to take down the 9th ranked team in the country. NCAA football handicappers have the Razorbacks listed as 5.5 point favorites at home for this game. With an offense that has the potential to light up the scoreboard, the Hogs should be solid favs at home, but their defense is scary and could make this one much closer than they’d like it.

Giving up 28 points to Vanderbilt and 24 to Ole Miss in the last 2 weeks doesn’t fair well for the moral of the Arkansas defense heading into this one. You can be sure that if they allow 28 to the Gamecocks they’ll more than likely lose. USC is 14th in the country at points allowed per game, and has done so against some solid competition. Tyler Wilson is having a phenomenal season and will make it hard for the Gamecocks to hold down this offense for 4 quarters, but inevitably it will be up to the Arkansas defense to win or lose this contest.

Tune in Saturday as two of the most talented and under-rated teams in the conference and country square off in what should be an entertaining game.

Written by Glenn Andrew · Filed Under NCAA Football

Comments

Got something to say?