South Carolina Preview: By The Numbers

The Hogs’ offense will be severely tested on Saturday against Ellis Johnson’s Gamecock defense.  Bobby Petrino matching wits with his first choice for defensive coordinator should be quite a show.  I expect the game to be a defensive struggle.  Their defense is great…ours is improving rapidly.

It’s interesting that the story with South Carolina is defense.  Visor boy Steve Spurrier, of the ‘juggling quarterbacks’ visor boys, offered Ellis Johnson some ‘home cooking’ instead of just coffee and magically the Gamecocks became the third-best team in the country in total defense.

By contrast, Spurrier’s offense ranks 86th nationally — 27 spots below Arkansas at 59th.  So much for the genius that is the ‘head ball coach.’  (For those keeping complete records, Mississippi State’s defense currently ranks 20th, LSU ranks 21st, and the Hogs hit the charts at number 78 with a bullet.)

South Carolina tops the Hogs in red zone efficiency, coming in at 26th while the Hogs lag in the 88th position.  However, scoring offense comes in at 23 points per game for South Carolina versus 20 points for the Hogs.  Very close.

The Hogs rank 22nd nationally in net punting.  South Carolina is 62nd.  For the year, Arkansas and South Carolina are about even in turnover margin.

The Hogs are still haunted by injuries on both the offensive and defensive line.  They need to find some way to pick up short yardage with the running game.  And providing Casey Dick with maximum protection will be key again this weekend.

But when it comes down to it, this game will be decided by special teams and turnovers.  Win those battles and you win the ball game.