Gameday forecast for Arkansas

Speaking with reporters after Thursday’s practice, Ellis Johnson downplayed the loss of free safety Chris Culliver, who was benched because of a shoulder injury and an incident Monday when he walked out of practice.

“Cully didn’t play well last week,” said Johnson, USC’s assistant head coach for defense. “So you say we’re going to miss him. We ain’t going to miss him with a bad shoulder.”

Johnson did not try to minimize the absence of defensive end Cliff Matthews.

No one around the Gamecocks’ program has tried to.

USC will wake up Saturday morning in Fayetteville, roll out of bed for the 11:21 a.m. local kickoff, and prepare to face a quarterback Johnson called the SEC’s best pocket passer running a “well-conceived” offense – again, Johnson’s words – that averages just under 300 passing yards a game.

And the Gamecocks’ highest-energy player has had his arm in a sling all week.

USC has plenty of capable defensive players besides Matthews. The talents of linebacker Eric Norwood need no further rehashing, and defensive backs old (Darian Stewart) and young (Stephon Gilmore, C.C. Whitlock, Akeem Auguste) have helped the Gamecocks maintain the nation’s third-ranked pass defense.

But you’d feel a lot better as a Gamecock fan knowing Matthews would be screaming off the edge Saturday at Ryan Mallett, or chasing down a ball-carrier on the opposite side of the field with his short-cropped hair on fire.

But Matthews is out until at least the Clemson game, so it will fall on other players to take a stand Saturday – namely, Stephen Garcia and the five big guys in front of him.

It says here the Gamecocks will need 30-plus points to win Saturday – a number certainly within reach given the Razorbacks’ struggles defending the pass. If an offensive line missing left tackle Jarriel King (post-concussion) can give Garcia time, the right-hander should have a big day.

If the Gamecocks’ defense can contribute a score or at least shorten the field by forcing a turnover in Hog territory, all the better.

But will it be enough?

The lead-up to this game feels like the Gamecocks’ 2007 trip to Arkansas. As is the case this year, USC’s ’07 defense was beginning to wear down by the first week in November, with injuries to a couple of key players (cornerback Captain Munnerlyn made it only a couple of snaps that night before sitting down with a foot injury).

What transpired was an SEC record-tying performance by Darren McFadden, who gashed the Gamecocks for an incredible 323 rushing yards in the Hogs’ 48-36 victory.

The Razorbacks won’t have a 300-yard rusher this year. But they might have a 300-yard passer.

Arkansas 31, USC 27

Spurrier does not let Culliver walk over team

USC is getting ready to face the SEC’s top-ranked passing offense and No. 1 passer.

If there was a game the Gamecocks could have used their starting free safety, this Arkansas game certainly qualifies.

But Steve Spurrier was right to bench Chris Culliver this week before Culliver’s attitude problem festered into something more detrimental that could disrupt the Gamecocks’ locker room during this key, three-game stretch to close the regular season.

Culliver walked out of Monday night’s practice after an argument with an assistant coach, according to sources.

Lorenzo Ward, Culliver’s position coach, told 1400 The Team on Wednesday that Culliver would not accept a move from safety to corner, and responded with a poor attitude. Ward said Culliver’s shoulder injury made him a better fit at corner, where there is less hitting required.

Culliver apparently re-injured his left shoulder warming up for the Tennessee game, in which he whiffed on several tackles and appeared to give minimal effort on some plays.

Spurrier need only look back to last year to see how a couple of individuals can destroy team chemistry. Strong safety Emanuel Cook mailed it in academically the second half of the season after deciding he’d go pro early, and was ineligible for the Outback Bowl.

Spurrier also thought a couple of other underclassmen had one foot out the door – and not just the NFL prospects. Remember that two quarterbacks who started games last season transferred with eligibility remaining.

Culliver has given no indication he plans to leave early, but he has always marched to his own drum beat. He was suspended for the first half of last year’s Florida game after taking a swing at an Arkansas player near the end of the Gamecocks’ win in Columbia.

After the Alabama game this year, Culliver stood in front of a microphone and questioned the defensive scheme Ellis Johnson employed late in the game.

Culliver is a good athlete who usually plays hard. And the Gamecocks are better with him in the lineup.

But Spurrier sent a message this week that no individual is above the team. Whether that message reaches Culliver remains to be seen.

Canning the Orange Crush

USC does not have to worry about getting overwhelmed by the “Orange Crush” next season.

That “Orange Crush” portion of the schedule – so named because of the school colors (roughly in two cases) of Tennessee, Arkansas, Florida and Clemson – will be interrupted by a visit from Troy to Williams-Brice Stadium the week before the Clemson game.

Moving the Troy game and placing the open date earlier (the fifth week) in 2010 were part of the changes that came about after North Carolina pulled out of next year’s game at USC in order to play LSU in the kickoff game at the Georgia Dome.

The lineup for USC’s homestretch next year will look similar to 2006, when the Gamecocks pummeled Middle Tennessee 52-7 a week before traveling to Clemson. That year also was the only time in four tries that Steve Spurrier has beaten Clemson.

Coincidence?

Maybe not.

“Three years ago we actually had Middle Tennessee as one of our next-to-last games. They’re a good team, don’t get me wrong. But it’s not an SEC team,” Spurrier said Wednesday during the SEC teleconference.

“We were fortunate enough to beat them and then beat Clemson the next week, the only year we beat Clemson. So I think there is some advantage to having an out-of-conference game late in the year.”

Nine of the SEC’s 12 schools have November games this season against a team from a non-BCS conference. The only ones that don’t: USC, Vanderbilt and Mississippi State.

Seems like smart scheduling that USC should continue to push for after the ’10 season.

Hit this link to see the entire ‘10 schedule.

UT aftermath: Spurrier questions Culliver effort

No game balls after a loss.

A couple of tidbits from Steve Spurrier’s teleconference this afternoon:

–DE Cliff Matthews (shoulder) is out for this week’s Arkansas game, and maybe longer. That’s a big loss any time, even more so while preparing to face the SEC’s best passing offense and the No. 1 passer in Ryan Mallett.

Important week for Devin Taylor and Clifton Geathers.

–Spurrier did not necessarily agree with Moe Brown and Stephen Garcia’s contention that the Gamecocks need to pick up the practice intensity/pace. Spurrier was more concerned about the effort level at UT.

Asked about FS Chris Culliver, who had a couple of glaring missed/half-hearted tackles, Spurrier said: “His tackling effort was not good enough. So we’re going to try to address that the next day or two.”

Let’s not jump the gun and start making comparisons to Captain Munnerlyn and Emanuel Cook. Culliver had 11 tackles two weeks ago at Alabama. If he has a couple more games like Saturday’s, then the NFL questions are relevant.

–Nine weeks into the season, and USC still does not have an offensive line it can trust to keep Garcia off his back.

The latest player to take his turn up front? Garrett Chisolm.

The transfer from Division II Pikeville stepped in at left guard during the second half against the Vols and played well enough that he could get his first start this week.

Gameday forecast for Tennessee

I’ve had my fill of the gas-pumping saga.

Enough talk about Lane Kiffin, I-40 rockslides, David Reaves’ recruiting tactics, and the other UT/USC storylines – few of which have any real bearing on Saturday’s game in Knoxville.

Time for some good, ol’ rompin’, stompin’ SEC football. Halloween night on Rocky Top.

And you thought you saw a lot of orange at Clemson last year?

Tennessee seems like a spitting image of Alabama, with a fast, physical defense, a so-so quarterback and a tackle-breaking tailback who has the benefit of playing behind an experienced line.

It’s that last part that should concern USC fans.

Montario Hardesty is not on the same level as Alabama’s Mark Ingram, but he’s no slouch. Hardesty is averaging 102.9 rushing yards a game, while freshman Bryce Brown gives the Vols a nice change-of-pace back.

Ellis Johnson will try to crowd the line of scrimmage and force QB Jonathan Crompton to make plays. Though Crompton has played better of late, this is sound strategy considering Crompton’s entire body of work.

The problem is: USC knew the run was coming at Alabama – the Tide didn’t exactly disguise it when they direct-snapped to Ingram four or five times in the fourth quarter – and still couldn’t stop it.

But at least the Gamecocks kept the ‘Bama offense out of the end zone for the first 55 minutes. If USC can force field goals, Daniel Lincoln has shown he is far from automatic.

Offensively, I can’t see USC being able to run the ball effectively. The Vols held Ingram under 100 yards last week and are third in the SEC at stopping the run.

So it will be up to Stephen Garcia to avoid any game-changing turnovers, keep plays alive with his feet and hit a couple of long throws to Alshon Jeffery or Tori Gurley, who figure to be on the field together for the first time Saturday.

I don’t think the Gamecocks are going to go up and down the field against Eric Berry and Co. Garcia will be sacked several times and Spencer Lanning will do his share of punting.

But Garcia and the offense will do just enough and, like the last two trips to Knoxville, this one will come down to a field goal.

This time Lanning’s the hero.

USC 20, Tennessee 17