South Carolina completed their road trip at Arkansas and fell to the 7th ranked Razorbacks 44-28.

Breaking it Down...1st Quarter...South Carolina won the toss and elected to kick the ball.  Arkansas received the kick and moved into South Carolina territory.  The Hogs bogged down and had to settle for a 44 yard field goal.  The South Carolina offense then went three and out, and Arkansas again moved the ball into field goal range, but the 45 yard attempt missed wide left.  South Carolina's offense then got on track.  The Gamecocks moved 72 yards on 9 plays to take the lead 7-3.  Brandon Wilds ran the ball in on a sweep to the left side from 4 yards out.  A quieted home crowd quickly came back to life when Dennis Johnson returned the ensuing kickoff for a touchdown and a 10-7 Hog lead.  The Gamecock offense responded by going three and out.

Here are game highlights of the South Carolina versus Arkansas game that resulted in a loss for the Gamecocks, check it out:

The South Carolina Gamecocks loss to Arkansas but there was one great play to remember from the game. It was Devin Taylor's interception and no matter our thoughts or impressions from the game Taylor's TD was simply amazing, check this out:

Sunday mornings are never good after a South Carolina loss in football, whether in London, England or Columbia, South Carolina.
 
On reflection, it was the first time this year we were truly outplayed on both sides of the ball, (we should have beaten Auburn) so hats off to Arkansas. South Carolina fought hard but Arkansas had the pedal to the metal all night long and were stellar across the board.  The Hogs mixed up their offense and kept the pressure on Carolina for a hard fought defeat for us in Fayetteville. 
 
Arkansas quarterback Tyler Wilson was impressive, throwing for 299 yards and more importantly, spreading his targets across seven Arkansas recievers who averaged 15 yards per reception. He picked apart our secondary with ease and moved the ball all night.  Our special teams were terrible, allowing an average of 44.5 yards of returns.  We turned the ball over four times, you can not do that in the SEC and expect to win. Connor Shaw played well but just could not get any support from the offensive line.  I hope for a speedy recovery for him and his concussion, that was a nasty hit. The rushing game was abysmal, with Arkansas again dominating the line of scrimmage.

I agree across the the board with Flounder and his "Quick Postgame Impressions," so no need to rehash there - we were simply outplayed.

Going a step further....

The South Carolina Gamecocks lost to the Arkansas Razorbacks by the score of 44-28.  The loss was one that was tough to watch for so many reasons.  Must regroup going forward as there is plenty of football to be played as goals for the team are still reachable.

Here are some quick impressions:

Take a listen to Coach Steve Spurrier discuss the Arkansas game -

The No. 10 South Carolina Gamecocks (7-1, 5-1) will travel to Fayetteville, 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. 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. Just reading this, you know it will be a great game and either team can come out victorious.

Let’s look at what it will take for South Carolina to win:

Thinking about South Carolina football on a Friday afternoon?  Our friend Steve was and provided some good things to make you go "hmmm" concerning Brandon Wilds and Connor Shaw.  Enjoy this guest blog.....

Marcus Lattimore has rushed for a total of 2,015 yards in what amounts to about 18 full games (I'm counting last year's UK & Troy games as "one" full game because he didn't play in the second half of either and not even including the Chik-fil-A Bowl, he got injured so early in that one). This works out to about 111.9 yards per game over his career and 116.9 yards per game this season. His totals and per game averages are both great. We miss him, look forward to having him back after he's fully recovered, and look forward to at least one more year of watching him in a Gamecocks jersey.

All that said (other than a 102 yard game against Kentucky between Auburn and Mississippi State), Lattimore was somehow being increasingly neutralized in 3 of his last 4 games (77 yards against Vandy, 66 against Auburn, and only 39 against Mississippi State).

Based on his cutting ability and natural instincts as a runner, I was encouraged by what Brandon Wilds might be able to do and looked forward to what he might be able to do if given his chance. Granted, Wilds rushed against a Vols teams still seeking an SEC victory, but it was still against talent that arguably surpassed that of ECU, Navy, Vandy, Kentucky, and Mississippi State.

University of Arkansas

Location: Fayetteville, Arkansas

Students: 23,199 (undergrad 18,863)

Stadium: Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium, capacity 72,000

Mascot: Tusk

Head Coach: Bobby Petrino, 4th year at Arkansas, 30-16 overall record. 

2011 Record:  7-1, 3-1 SEC

Overall record vs. USC: Arkansas leads the series 12-7

Famous Alumni: Pat Summerall (Sportscaster), Jerry Jones (owner of Cowboys), Walter Keller (inventor of Pacemaker), Cliff Lee (MLB), and Darren McFadden (NFL).

Lets break the game down:

This past weekend we traveled to Knoxville for the Tennessee game.  It was my fourth trip to Knoxville, but in my previous trips I had stayed in North Carolina and just driven over for the games.  This year we decided we wanted to experience more of Knoxville, so we booked a hotel close by and drove up on Friday.

Friday night we headed to the strip.  The Strip is a series of restaurants and bars centered around Cumberland Avenue.  It is very similar to five points in Columbia or the strips in Tuscaloosa and Gainesville.  The bars are typical of college towns, and we spent the night at several.  (Tin Roof, Cool Beans, The Goal Post and Half Barrel)  We didn't run into any hostile fans, but we didn't run into too many who were eager to talk about the game.  I don't know if they would have liked to talk about the game if their team was better or if the people we ran into were just interested in hanging out with their own friends.

More than once on Friday night / Saturday early morning the power went out.  The bartenders became agitated with this because the credit card machines and registers had to be reset.  I don't know how often it happens, but the reactions of the bartenders would lead me to believe it is not uncommon.

Read more after the break.