With Arkansas on tap, Shane Beamer recounts Darren McFadden’s wild day vs. USC in 2007
Shane Beamer has plenty of memories of facing Arkansas.
He went to Arkansas, first as a graduate assistant at Tennessee in 2001 — the Volunteers’ last game before the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Beamer followed that with a handful of matchups scattered between coaching stops at Mississippi State and South Carolina.
One game he’s trying to forget? That’d be USC’s 2007 trip to Fayetteville.
“(Darren) McFadden, Peyton Hillis and Felix Jones,” Beamer said, referencing the Razorbacks’ dynamic backfield at the time — all who went on to star in the NFL. “I think they each ran for like 500 yards a piece.”
South Carolina, then in its third year under Spurrier, started the season on a tear. It began the year 6-1 with wins over then-No. 11 Georgia, No. 8 Kentucky and a nonconference victory over North Carolina.
USC reached a season-high of No. 6 in The Associated Press poll following the Oct. 13 win over UNC. Their lone loss to that point had come against an LSU team that would beat Ohio State in the national championship game.
Then the slide started.
By the time South Carolina headed to Fayetteville on Nov. 3, it had lost its last two games en route to a 6-6 finish and missing a bowl game entirely. Arkansas running McFadden expedited that process.
McFadden — nicknamed Run DMC — ran for 321 yards on 34 touches. He added an 80-yard touchdown scamper with eight minutes remaining to push the Razorbacks back out to a two-score lead following a Cory Boyd touchdown run for USC.
Following a handful of gashing earlier runs, Beamer recounted overhearing defensive coordinator Tyrone Nix chatting with another South Carolina assistant on the headset in the press box.
“Hang on a second. Just don’t say anything. I’m up here drawing,” the unnamed coach in the box said, as Beamer recalled.
“You’re up there drawing?” Nix queried.
“Yeah, I’m putting together a plan here that we can do some stuff to try and stop them,” he said.
“I’m like, ‘Oh crap, if we’re up there drawing stuff up on paper right now in the middle of the first quarter, we’re in for a long night.”
Jones added 13 carries for 166 yards and three touchdowns. Arkansas finished with 542 rushing yards.
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On Saturday, South Carolina heads to Fayetteville for the first meeting between the two teams since 2013. And while he won’t face a Razorback backfield that includes McFadden, Jones and Hillis, Arkansas has its share of dynamic runners.
Head coach Sam Pittman’s squad finished the 2021 season ranked as No. 7 nationally in rushing offense and first in the Southeastern Conference a season ago — churning out 227.77 yards per game on the ground.
Star runner Raheim “Rocket” Sanders raced for 117 yards on 20 touches last week against a Cincinnati defense that allowed just four 100-yard rushers all of last season.
Quarterback K.J. Jefferson is also back in the fold, and presents all sorts of matchup nightmares for opposing defenses. The 6-foot-3, 242 pound signal-caller has a rare combination of size and athleticism combined with a rocket arm and dynamic running ability.
South Carolina had its moments in the Week 1 win over Georgia State, but Clayton White’s unit backed up months of talk about the defense improving against the run.
The Gamecocks held the talented tailback tandem of Tucker Gregg and Jamyest Williams to 100 yards on 24 carries — albeit that was helped by Williams’ 41-yard scamper on the second play from scrimmage.
Georgia State finished the game with 200 yards over its 40 combined touches on the ground. Sixty of those yards spread over six carries came with South Carolina already up by two touchdowns.
Differently put, the Panthers — a squad that ranked eighth nationally in rushing in 2021 — recorded just 140 yards on 34 rush attempts over the game’s first 48 minutes.
“You’ve got KJ who can run — he can pass, too. He’s good on both sides,” linebacker Mo Kaba said. “And you’ve got a running back that’s good. He’s got good balance, good power, good speed. We face that every day in practice, so we’re just going to gameplan against it and get ready for them.”
South Carolina has won the last three meetings against Arkansas. Its held the Razorbacks to 135.6 yards rushing over those victories dating back to 2012 — including a 106-yard effort in 2017.
If Beamer has his way, no Arkansas player will do any kind of McFadden impression come Saturday.
This story was originally published September 7, 2022 at 8:50 AM.
