Sports

Friday, Nov. 06, 2009

Plenty on the line for Arkansas, South Carolina

One team is trying to prove it will be threat in the Southeastern Conference. The other hopes to avoid another late-season swoon.

When Arkansas hosts South Carolina (6-3, 3-3 SEC) on Saturday in Fayetteville, both coaches will have plenty to be anxious about. The Razorbacks are playing well offensively but have only one SEC win to show for it. The Gamecocks started 5-1 before losing two of their last three games.The Razorbacks were expected to improve after missing the postseason in 2008, and in many ways they have. Ryan Mallett leads the SEC in passing, and Arkansas has scored over 40 points in every home game.

Still, the Hogs (4-4, 1-4) have work to do if they want to assure themselves a bowl bid.

@BR Body bold Lede colon:Vanderbilt at Florida: Several days after top-ranked Florida secured a spot in the Southeastern Conference championship game, receiver David Nelson insisted some of his teammates didn’t even know they had clinched the Eastern Division.

Yeah, right.

The Gators (8-0, 6-0 SEC) spent the entire season talking about getting back to Atlanta, realizing it was the first step toward repeating as national champs. They celebrated last week’s 41-17 win over rival Georgia in frenzied fashion, then wrapped up the East a few hours later when Tennessee beat South Carolina.

Coach Urban Meyer would prefer that his players don’t even think about it, especially with four games remaining before the SEC title game. Florida’s challenge the rest of the month, beginning today against struggling Vanderbilt (2-7, 0-5), is to stay motivated and avoid a letdown.

@BR Body bold Lede colon:Memphis vs. Tennessee: Tennessee coach Lane Kiffin went through the record books to get familiar with the Memphis series.

What he saw were several close games in the interstate rivalry, including a Tigers win over a Volunteers team led by Peyton Manning. That’s why Kiffin knows Memphis will come to play, despite appearing mismatched against the Vols (4-4).

For a Memphis team that’s struggled all season, any win would be big. A win over Tennessee would probably get the Tigers (2-6) over their hump.

The win in 1996 over the sixth-ranked Manning-led squad at Memphis is the Tigers’ only victory in the series.

@BR Body bold Lede colon:Furman at Auburn: The Auburn Tigers try to keep both their 17-year string of homecoming wins and their good mood intact.

The Tigers (6-3) host Furman (4-4) of the Football Championship Subdivision for homecoming. They are fresh from a win over Ole Miss that made Auburn bowl eligible.

After this one, the Tigers play Georgia and then No. 3 Alabama, with their first open date in between.

The Paladins are playing two Football Bowl Subdivision teams in a season for the first time since 1982. The first one didn’t go well, resulting in a 52-12 loss to Missouri.

Furman has lost eight straight to FBS teams. Auburn and Furman haven’t met since 1956, but the Tigers won the previous three meetings by a combined 119-6.

Tennessee Tech at Georgia: Mark Richt says the ball simply has not bounced Georgia’s way this season.

Georgia ranks 119th of 120 FBS teams in turnover margin. Through eight games, the Bulldogs have recovered only one of their opponents’ 10 fumbles. They’ve lost eight of their 14 fumbles.