USC's offense handles QB changes, defense steps up to handle Arkansas
COLUMBIA -- Steve Spurrier said he'd play two quarterbacks. No one figured he meant every other play.
But once again South Carolina's coach shuffled things up and once again, it worked as Chris Smelley and Stephen Garcia subbed for each other nearly play-by-play on the way to a 34-21 victory over Arkansas on Saturday.
"We need to calculate if we logged a few miles running on and off the field there," Smelley said with a smile.
Neither one of them put up stellar stats. But with South Carolina's defense posting another strong showing, they didn't have to.
Smelley and Garcia each threw a touchdown, while Garcia added a 14-yard run that capped South Carolina's opening drive.
The defense posted six sacks and grabbed three interceptions, including a game-changer by defensive lineman Jordin Lindsey in the third quarter.
The Gamecocks (7-3, 4-3) have won four of their past five Southeastern Conference games since starting 0-2 in the league, snapped a two-game losing streak to Arkansas (4-6, 1-5) and put themselves in position for a New Year's Day bowl game.
They accomplished it through one of Spurrier's quirkiest trademarks.
The former Heisman Trophy winner is known as being tough on quarterbacks. Only a short time after Garcia threw two touchdowns to bring South Carolina its first home win over Tennessee in 16 years last week, Spurrier complained that Garcia was ill equipped to lead the offense.
Spurrier kept everyone guessing about the quarterbacks this week.
"I said we were going to play both," Spurrier said. "Why not just send them in the play?"
And that's what Spurrier did in just about every situation.
Smelley got the first chance, overthrowing receiver Jason Barnes. Then Garcia entered and hit Kenny McKinley with a 30-yard pass to the Arkansas 14. After Smelley threw incomplete on the next play, Garcia rushed past the Razorbacks for his touchdown run.
Spurrier continued the pattern much of the game: Smelley, a sophomore, would start the sequence, with Garcia, a redshirt freshman, coming in every other play.
The two shared time in leading a drive that ended with Ryan Succop's 54-yard field goal -- missing the senior's career mark by 1 yard.
It was Smelley who found Jared Cook for a 66-yard touchdown pass and a 17-7 lead.
It's far from the first time Spurrier's gone through such QB issues.
The most famous coming the season after Florida's national title in 1996, when Spurrier rotated Doug Johnson and Noah Brindise.
The result? A satisfying 32-29 victory over rival Florida State.
For awhile, though, it looked like Spurrier's plan might backfire as the Gamecocks stalled and Arkansas pulled to 20-14 after a 15-play, 8-minute drive that ended Casey Dick's 4-yard touchdown pass to Mitchell Bailey.
Dick had the Razorbacks driving again moments later when Lindsey stretched to snag the interception and take it 40 yards to the Arkansas 15.
"I tried," Lindsey said. "I don't have the best vert, but I got up there as high as I could and took it as far as I could."
Two plays later, Garcia lofted a pretty fade pass into the waiting hands of McKinley to put the Gamecocks up 27-14.
Garcia, who had started the previous two games, said the offense practiced the rotation most of the week. "It was fine with me and Smelley. We were joking around on the sidelines," Garcia said. "It was entertaining. It was fun."
Smelley was more productive at 9 of 19 for 148 yards, one touchdown and no interceptions. Garcia was 4 of 11 for 71 yards and an interception for South Carolina's lone turnover.
McKinley had seven catches for 130 yards and, with 2,602 yards, surpassed Sterling Sharpe as the school's career yardage leader.
South Carolina was run over by Arkansas and its backfield stars of Darren McFadden and Felix Jones the past two years. McFadden had one of last season's top performances, rushing for 321 yards in Arkansas' 48-36 win over the Gamecocks.
But with McFadden and Jones both gone to the NFL, South Carolina's SEC-leading defense bottled up Arkansas.
"We heard about that all week," Lindsey said. "We were ready."
The Razorbacks rushed for 54 yards. It didn't help when Michael Smith, the SEC leader at 123 yards a game, left with a shoulder injury right before halftime. He had just 25 yards on seven carries.
The Razorbacks, who upended 19th-ranked Tulsa a week ago, have lost six of their past eight games in coach Bobby Petrino's first season.
"That's a disappointing game to me," Petrino said.
Arkansas tried an onside kick in the final minutes after drawing within 34-21 and players from both sides threw punches. Gamecocks safety Chris Culliver, a starter, was ejected and faces missing time at Florida next week.
The Razorbacks take next week off before finishing at Mississippi State and against LSU. They'll need to win both for a chance at a bowl.
"We have put ourselves in the corner," Arkansas defensive tackle Malcolm Sheppard said.
This story was originally published November 8, 2008 at 11:31 PM with the headline "USC's offense handles QB changes, defense steps up to handle Arkansas."