This season, pick who you think will win the Capital One Bowl Game of the Week and WIN! Answer the question on the Capital One Bowl Facebook page before Saturday's game. If you pick correctly, you'll be entered into a drawing to win two tickets to the Capital One Bowl on January 2, 2012!
Arkansas leads series 12-7 (last meeting: November 6, 2010; Arkansas 41, South Carolina 20)
The No. 7 Arkansas Razorbacks (7-1, 5-1 SEC) and the No. 9 South Carolina Gamecocks (7-1, 3-1 SEC) are barely trailing the lead in the Southeastern Conference with both teams suffering only one loss in conference play this season. The Gamecocks meet the Hogs in Fayetteville for their third straight road game looking to hold on to their lead in the eastern division.
The Razorbacks enter the week after barely escaping Nashville with a 31-28 win against Vanderbilt. The team rallied from a 14-point deficit in the second half to secure their fourth consecutive win. It’s the third time this season the Hogs trailed by double digits. With an offensive tandem in junior quarterback Tyler Wilson and senior receiver Jarius Wright, the Hogs rank third in the conference behind LSU and Alabama in scoring offense at 36.9 points per game and ranks second behind Alabama in total offense at 457.6 yards per game. Wilson leads the conference with 62.7 percent passing efficiency and throwing an average of 290 yards per game while Wright leads all SEC receivers with 101.3 yards per game. The Razorbacks are 5-0 at home with two wins over ranked opponents in Texas A&M and Auburn.
South Carolina meets the Razorbacks after a 14-3 win against Tennessee that extended their on the road record to 3-0. The Gamecocks lost sophomore running back Marcus Lattimore to a season-ending knee injury against Mississippi State in mid-October. He ranks second in the conference behind Alabama’s Trent Richardson in rushing with 116.9 yards per game and ten touchdowns. True freshman Brandon Wilds made his first college appearance against the Volunteers and earned SEC freshman of the week with 28 carries for 137 yards. Defensive coordinator Ellis Johnson has installed an aggressive unit in the Gamecocks as they rank third behind LSU and Alabama in scoring defense, allowing only 17.1 points per game. Freshman defensive end Jadeveon Clowney and senior linebacker Antonio Allen rank second and third in the conference have combined to force seven fumbles. The Gamecocks have won a school-record six consecutive road games and five consecutive SEC road games.
Extra point: Ellis Johnson was hired by Arkansas head coach Bobby Petrino after leaving Mississippi State in 2008. Johnson left to take the defensive coordinator position at South Carolina just two weeks after being hired. The only Gamecock win since being hired by the Gamecocks in 2008 was in his first season.
Expert Picks
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Michel Champagne currently serves as Chairman of Florida Citrus Sports, where his duties include leading Team Selection Committee. He is the Vice President of Operations and General Manager, Orlando Region for Bright House Networks. |
Pick: Arkansas
Season Record: 9-5 |
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Greg Warmoth spent 11 years as the weekend sports anchor for WFTV Channel 9 in Orlando before switching to the news desk in 1997. He currently anchors Eyewitness News Daybreak, Eyewitness News This Morning on TV-27 and Eyewitness News at Noon. |
Pick: Arkansas
Season Record: 7-7 |
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Marc Daniels hosts The Beat Of Sports on ESPN 1080 AM in Orlando every weekday morning from 9:00 - 11:00 a.m. Daniels has over 20 years of experience on the air and is most well known as "the Voice of the UCF Knights" for all football, men's basketball and baseball games on the UCF ISP Sports Network. |
Pick: Arkansas
Season Record: 8-6 |
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Jerry Greene spent 33 years as a sportswriter at Florida Today, the Pensacola News Journal and the Orlando Sentinel before retiring in 2009. He now co-hosts The Beat of Sports with Daniels and contributes to ESPN.com's Page 2 section. |
Pick: South Carolina
Season Record: 6-8 |