COMMENTARY

Razorbacks again suffer slump in second half

COLUMBIA, S.C. — Football doesn't change. Yes, The Xs and Os change, but it's still a game won and lost at the line of scrimmage.

The Bret Bielema formula is simple: run the ball and eliminate turnovers. It was missing for the Razorbacks in the first true road test at Williams-Brice Stadium.

South Carolina dominated up front on both sides of the ball in a 48-22 rout to put the Razorbacks in a deep hole one game short of the midpoint of the football season. The Gamecocks took advantage of four turnovers, returning three for touchdowns.

The Gamecocks broke free from a 10-10 tie with an 18-yard touchdown pass with four seconds left in the first half. They scored 31 straight points to lead 41-10 three minutes into the fourth quarter.

It all seemed to fall apart when the Gamecocks drove 69 yards on eight plays over the final 1:58 of the half.

Oddly, South Carolina fans (announced at 79,416) were uneasy at the start of the drive just before halftime that brought momentum to the home team. There was a smattering of boos when the Gamecocks ran for 4, 4 and 7 yards to move the chains to start the drive.

It followed an Arkansas three-and-out possession that used only 74 seconds. The Gamecocks didn’t need any timeouts to get the clock stopped on the last two plays, an incomplete Austin Allen pass and then a third down completion to Jonathan Nance that went out of bounds after just three yards.

Arkansas had the ball first in the second half, but running back Devwah Whaley lost a net of 3 yards on the first two plays. Allen’s thirdand-13 pass was deflected at the line of scrimmage.

The Gamecocks ran it for 7, 10 and 9 yards on their first three plays, running right at the heart of the UA defense. That netted a field goal, then the defense scored a pair of touchdowns on a pick six and a sack and fumble return.

“We never got the run game going,” Bielema said. “When we can’t run it effectively, nothing else will work.”

On Carolina’s 159-106 advantage in the run game, Bielema added, “In the meat of the game, when we needed a stop, they ran it. In that third quarter, they had three or four big runs in a row.”

South Carolina coach Will Muschamp said, “We wore them down in the third quarter. We ran the ball well.”

It was the fourth straight SEC loss for the Hogs dating to last season and the sixth straight against Power 5 teams. The second half collapses are the common denominator in all of them.

The bad news is that the SEC’s grim reaper awaits. The Hogs visit Tuscaloosa looking for answers in both the offensive and defensive fronts.

A South Carolina offensive line with three starters out to injuries blocked creases for backs that had struggled for most of their first five games.

The Arkansas offensive line — with new starter Paul Ramirez at tackle — wasn’t a match for the Gamecocks defensive front. The best play for the Hogs was a 23-yard off tackle burst by Carolina transfer David Williams on the first play of the second possession for the visitors.

Williams topped the UA rushing charts with 32 yards on seven carries. Chase Hayden had nine for 28. Whaley, the starter, was minus-3 on his six tries.

“They wanted it more than we did,” Williams said. “They came out in the second half and put their will on us.”

UA captain Santos Ramirez was asked about the “avalanche” of 31 straight Carolina points.

“We’ve got to change that,” he said. “We are known not to finish.

“We’ve got to get over some stuff. Yeah, they scored some points (on defense), but we still let them score (as a defense) when they were on the goal line.”

Ramirez was on target with his opening comments, especially the way the Hogs slumped in the second half after giving up the touchdown to end the first half.

“We can’t let up,” he said. “We’ve got to compete our butts off. We’ve got to fight with all 150 percent.

“They came out and outworked us. There is no finger pointing. You have got to have a dog mentality. You can’t hang your heads when that happens.”

Ramirez said he thought Kamren Curl, targeted on the last two plays of the first half, was in good position on both plays. The first was a pass interference call, the second was one-on-one coverage in the corner of the end zone against Bryan Edwards.

“I can’t fault Kamren on those two plays,” Ramirez said. “I can’t fault him on the pass interference. We just can’t let those be deflating plays. We can’t have that mindset.”

Turnovers put the game out of reach.

“I told Bret at the end, you can’t win with those turnovers and turnovers with scores off of that,” Muschamp said.

The Hogs also gave up a field goal after a Cheyenne O’Grady fumble to start the game. Carolina turned in a perfect stat sheet: zero turnovers, only seven yards of lost yardage plays. It was one of those that Bielema shook his head in frustration afterwards.

“There were some crazy plays in the first half,” he said. “We just couldn’t catch a break. Randy Ramsey got the quarterback, knocked the ball loose. It bounced off the quarterback’s shoulder pads and right back to him.”

The Hogs lost some reviews, but won some, too. A South Carolina scoop and score was erased when Hayden was ruled down. Allen’s sack and fumble (for a scoop and score) was not over turned by replay.

“We have to make sure he’s protected,” said Frank Ragnow on the pressures that eventually knocked Allen out of the game.

“He’s a competitor and he deserves better.”

Bielema said Allen tried to “do too much” in the third quarter. He said he didn’t pull the senior quarterback. The trainer said he was “no longer cleared.” Whether that was because of a shoulder hit Allen took earlier in the game was not clear.

Bielema said he was frustrated not to get the targeting call or a late hit when Allen was decked on that first quarter play.

“I think he got frustrated,” Bielema said. “It started after the intentional grounding. He threw one up for grabs.”

Cole Kelley finished the game at quarterback, but Bielema said Allen was still “the guy” if he is cleared to play.

As far as Allen’s play, Bielema said, “No one was great out there. I thought he had his best week of practice.”

Bielema was asked about the second half collapses.

“The biggest thing, you have to do all the little things better for four quarters,” he said, noting that there were lapses in all three phases.

“I wish I could point to one or two things. It was an accumulation of things. There were a couple of issues on offense, defense and the special teams, but I was happy with how we fought until the last two minutes of the first half.

“That pass play was huge for momentum.”

There were no questions about the Alabama game next week in Tuscaloosa. It was all about how Bielema would try to avert “talk” about problems with his team.

“I get the question,” he said. “What we do in house is easier than you think. The kids will hear things on social media, their class mates and their family. You are going to hear it. That’s reasonable.

“But how we respond as coaches is what they see most. It’s what I have to do, how I conduct myself that means the most with them.”

There were several players who did not finish the game. Johnny Gibson sustained a knee injury in the fourth quarter, but it was not believed to be serious. Henre’ Toliver and Curl both exited with cramps.

There were few positives. Ragnow, one of the top leaders on the team, was short in his visit with the media.

“I wish I had some answers,” he said. “You can only say so much. At the end of the day, pride has to be there. You have to have pride and play for the last name that’s on your jersey. We are down, but you have no one to look at but yourself.”

Clay Henry can be reached at [email protected] .

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