South Carolina carries SEC streak into Arkansas

01 · The NewsSouth Carolina Carries SEC Streak Into Arkansas

South Carolina carries a four-game SEC winning streak to Arkansas on Saturday at 7:45 p.m. ET in Fayetteville, chasing its first victory there since 2013 against a 3-6 team Shane Beamer says is better than its record.

Beamer issued that warning Tuesday ahead of Saturday’s game.

“We got a big challenge coming up on Saturday night. We will need to be a lot better than what we were last Saturday in all three areas. This is a team that just continues to get better. Coach [Ryan] Silverfield has these guys playing hard and believing. All you got to do is turn on the tape. I think you guys just look at scores and look at records and just make up your own conclusions. Watch the tape, and all you got to do is watch the tape and see that against Auburn the other day, at Auburn, they had Auburn down 10 to zero, and with 30 seconds left in the game, it is a tie game, and Auburn kicks a field goal to win it. Nobody wants to talk about their game against Tennessee, where it was a tie game with two minutes left in the game, and we know what kind of team Tennessee is also. They're playing hard,” Beamer said.

Arkansas showed the late-game threat Beamer described against Auburn on Nov. 7. The Razorbacks led 10-0, tied the game 23-23 with 1:54 left and lost 26-23 on a 43-yard field goal with 33 seconds remaining. On Oct. 10, Tennessee broke a 17-17 tie with 1:57 left and won 24-17 in Fayetteville.

South Carolina’s latest reported win was close, too. The Gamecocks beat Texas A&M 17-9 on Nov. 7 after Malik Orsan’s 43-yard field goal put them ahead for good with 8:14 left. LaNorris Sellers then ran 41 yards for the clinching touchdown in the final two minutes after throwing for 251 yards and a score. He played through an ankle injury on the run.

The trip is South Carolina’s last SEC road game of the regular season. Arkansas leads the all-time series 14-10, but the larger pressure is on the Gamecocks’ new conference record. Their record changed; Arkansas wants to make them prove it again.

02 · The StakesThe Stakes

South Carolina has won every SEC game since an 0-3 start, moving to 4-3 in the league after finishing 1-7 in conference play last season. A fifth straight conference win would keep that surge moving and end the Gamecocks’ road skid at Arkansas; a loss to the 1-5 Razorbacks would interrupt it.

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