Arkansas too much for USC

By Noah Trister - The Associated Press

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. -- Even after his best receiving game of the season, people kept giving D.J. Williams grief.

Williams caught seven passes for 137 yards Saturday in Arkansas' 33-16 win over South Carolina, but everyone wanted to know how he stumbled at the end of a 69-yard catch late in the second quarter, just a few yards from the end zone.

“I was talking to the ref — I told him to throw a flag on that 5-yard line, because (it) reached up and grabbed me,” Williams said. “He said he missed it. He'll get it next time.”

Williams actually went down at the USC 7, so maybe the 10-yard line was what tripped him. Either way, the reception led to a field goal, and Arkansas eventually pulled away in the second half.

Ryan Mallett went 23 of 27 for 329 yards for Arkansas (5-4, 2-4 Southeastern Conference), which needs only one more win to become bowl eligible. Razorbacks coach Bobby Petrino had called this game a must-win.

“We wanted the pressure. We need to get into big games that are must-wins,” Petrino said. “I really feel like we passed the test.”

Williams, a tight end, caught a team-high 61 passes last season, but he had only 16 receptions this season entering Saturday. Trailing 10-7, Arkansas had the ball on its own 24 with 22 seconds left in the first half. Williams caught a short pass, eluded a couple tacklers and raced down the sideline. With the Gamecocks desperately trying to grab him, Williams cut back toward the middle and then lost his balance.

“He's kind of clumsy or I'd have a touchdown right now,” Mallett said.

There was still time for another offensive play, and Mallett nearly threw an interception. Alex Tejada's 24-yard field goal tied it on the last play of the half.

In the second half, Mallett went 12 of 13, and Williams caught four more passes.

“They were playing a safety about 12 yards off. That's what I like to see,” Williams said. “They were blitzing through the middle, so I had the outside and middle to work with. We just read it good.”

Stephen Garcia passed for 327 yards with a touchdown and an interception for the Gamecocks (6-4, 3-4), who have lost three of four and are in danger of a third straight late-season fade. Mallett and Garcia entered the game ranked 1-2 in the SEC in passing.

USC scored on its first play of the second half when Garcia threw an 80-yard touchdown pass to Alshon Jeffery, but it was all downhill from there for the Gamecocks. First, they botched the extra point. Then, Arkansas took a 17-16 lead on Mallett's 1-yard scoring run.

Jerell Norton intercepted Garcia in the end zone on USC's next possession, and Broderick Green put Arkansas ahead by eight with a 2-yard touchdown run. Less than 90 seconds later, the Razorbacks added a safety on a play that began at the USC 32. A shotgun snap sailed past Garcia, and although the quarterback tried to fall on the ball near his own 5, it skipped into the end zone. USC recovered, but the two points gave Arkansas a 26-16 advantage.

“We are just not real good right now. I don't know how else to say it,” Gamecocks coach Steve Spurrier said. “Maybe all of the good fortune we had earlier is catching up with us a bit.”

Green added a 3-yard touchdown run with 4:31 left in the fourth quarter.

USC is trying to avoid another difficult finish after starting 5-1. South Carolina was 7-3 before losing its final three games of last season, and dropped its final five games of 2007 to finish 6-6.

The Gamecocks wasted an opportunity on their very first possession. On fourth-and-1 from the Arkansas 6, they called two timeouts before Garcia finally ran for a first down. Moments later, USC was ready to go for it again on fourth down from the 1, but a delay-of-game penalty forced the Gamecocks to settle for a field goal.

Joe Adams put Arkansas ahead 7-3 with a touchdown on an 18-yard end-around.

USC took a 10-7 lead on Garcia's 1-yard touchdown run after the Gamecocks stopped a fake punt in Arkansas territory.