Arkansas Sports 360 - ArkansasSports360.com

11/6/2010 at 10:32pm

Image by Mark Wagner

Arkansas tailback Knile Davis ran for 110 yards and three touchdowns. He stayed in balance along the sidelines for a 21-yard in the first half.

Arkansas 41, South Carolina 20

Why Arkansas Won
Without question the Razorbacks played their most complete game of the season. Arkansas imposed its will on the South Carolina defense and used momentum-shifting plays on defense and special teams to easily win a road game against a quality team. Shortly after the Razorbacks went up 31-10, fans began filing out of the stadium. Shortly thereafter Gamecocks players seemed to deflate. Nearly every time the Razorbacks had an opportunity, they capitalized.

Gamebreaker
No longer is the Arkansas offensive line a liability. That unit helped the Razorbacks dominate the line of scrimmage and turn in a balanced performance. Ryan Mallett was given plenty of time to throw and there were plenty of running lanes for Knile Davis as the Razorbacks piled up 443 yards of total offense. Mallett was 21 of 30 for 303 yards and one touchdown. He was sacked just once and had plenty of time to throw on his one interception, but forced a throw that was tipped. Overall, it was a dominating performance by the offensive line.

Feature Back
Bobby Petrino has been reluctant to use the term “feature back” when discussing Knile Davis. Surely, he can’t hold out much longer.

Davis had 22 carries for 110 yards and three touchdowns. He did not have any negative yards rushing and scored on runs of 2, 21 and 1 yards, outshining South Carolina’s highly touted Marcus Lattimore, who finished with 11 rushes for 30 yards and what school officials termed a “bruised knee.”

Petrino tried to spread out the carries earlier in the season. Davis has since established himself as a back worthy of carrying the load.

Now if only people will stop calling him "Kniles."

Bad Idea
South Carolina was desperate for a spark. There’s just no other explanation for a fake punt call by Coach Steve Spurrier.

And it backfired. Big time.

Arkansas’ Elton Ford stopped the fake punt and set up a short field for the Razorbacks’ potent offense. It took just three plays for Arkansas to score and make the Gamecocks pay for the decision.

Knile Davis had an impressive 21-yard touchdown run down the sideline to cap the drive. Arkansas went up 24-7 on the play.

Record Setter
Zach Hocker has been impressive in his first season as the Razorbacks’ kicker. He only added to his reputation on Saturday with a 51-yard field goal in the third quarter.

Hocker became the first Razorback since 1992 (Todd Wright) to hit a kick from beyond 50 yards. He also had a 41-yarder in the first half and improved to 11 of 12 for the season.

Personnel Update         
*Cornerback Ramon Broadway was carried off the field in the first quarter. He could put no weight on his right knee. No status update was immediately available.

*Wide receiver Joe Adams played sparingly after missing last week with a severe ankle sprain. Adams had three catches for 27 yards.

*Defensive tackle DD Jones played and finished with two tackles after being suspended last week. Jones was arrested last month for misdemeanor possession of marijuana.

*Wide receiver Greg Childs did not travel with the team after undergoing knee surgery on Friday. Childs did call the team and help “count the score” with the team as part of their postgame celebration.

Quotable
“I felt like we knew we were going to win. They knew we were going to win. It was like we were playing to get the game over with.”
— Arkansas running back Knile Davis on sensing the game’s momentum shift in the Razorbacks’ favor in the third quarter. Arkansas held a 34-10 lead entering the final quarter.

Tagged: Arkansas Razorbacks, Knile Davis, South Carolina Gamecocks