Razorback rushers romp way to 5 TDs in win over South Carolina
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FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — As the clock winds down on a 44-30 Razorback win, the South Carolina pep band plays Rage Against The Machine’s “Bulls On Parade.”
It is an apt choice by the Gamecock drum major, as the bulls — KJ Jefferson and the Arkansas running backs — finish off a 295-yard, five-touchdown parade.
“Everything we've seen, we were prepared for,” redshirt senior right tackle Dalton Wagner said. “Obviously, protection's got to get better still, you know, gotta make sure KJ is comfortable back there throwing, but I think the run game, we couldn't ask for a better game.”
After surrendering 200 yards to Georgia State on the ground last week, the Gamecock run defense was no match for the Hogs’ rushing attack, which led all Power Five schools in 2021 and posted 224 yards in the season opener against a Cincinnati team fresh off a College Football Playoff appearance.
Sophomore Raheim “Rocket” Sanders led the charge Saturday with 24 carries for 156 yards and two scores. He joined Darren McFadden and Felix Jones as the only Arkansas running backs to hang 150 yards and two touchdowns on the Gamecocks in a single game.
“I want to be better than those guys,” Sanders said. “That’s my goal. But it feels great.”
The dual-threat quarterback Jefferson racked up 67 yards on 19 of his own rushing attempts, including a touchdown early in the fourth quarter to re-establish the Hogs’ two-possession lead.
Jefferson, known for his unwillingness to slide as a runner, also took a hit to the head on a first down carry in the first half. The play earned the Gamecock defender a targeting call on the field, although it was overturned after replay review.
“I didn’t even know I got hit in the head,” Jefferson said. “I just know I got hit. My mentality is when I’m running the ball, one man can’t tackle me.”
The Arkansas run game featured two more running backs — freshman Rashod Dubinion and sophomore AJ Green — who found paydirt in the 14-point defeat of the Gamecocks. The former punched it in for his first collegiate touchdown on one of his eight attempts for 15 yards, and the latter racked up nine carries for 43 yards and six points.
Until the final snap of the game, the Razorbacks boasted 300 yards on the ground. A 5-yard kneeldown cost them their fourth such game in the Sam Pittman era.
“Coach Pitt — what was it, Monday or Tuesday? — pretty much called out the O-Line and D-Line and said the game’s on our backs,” Wagner said. “The game will be won in the trenches by us. And the O-Line took it really personally this week to make sure we could run the ball.”
Arkansas will aim to continue its hot start in the rushing game next week against FCS foe Missouri State.