.vresize.36.36.medium.0.png){kind=small}
.vresize.36.36.medium.0.png){kind=small}
Bobby Petrino allowed his superstitious side to show a little this week.
The Arkansas coach, facing questions about his team's first-half woes, put an end to the line of questioning before it could get started.
It was Petrino's best attempt at a ''Don't ask, don't tell'' policy - one brought on by the fact the Razorbacks have been outscored 87-59 in the first half of their last four games.
''We're not talking about that anymore,'' Petrino said. ''We're going with the philosophy (of), you know when you have teams that are fumbling the ball and the more you talk about it, the more you fumble ... So, silence. Nothing about fast starts.''
Arkansas (7-1, 3-1 Southeastern Conference) has made up for its recent slow starts by outscoring teams 82-17 in the second half of its last four games - all wins. However, the No. 8 Razorbacks can't expect to keep living on the edge and surviving in the SEC.
Their latest challenge comes when No. 10 South Carolina (7-1, 5-1) comes to town on Saturday for only the second matchup of top-10 teams in Fayetteville since 1979. The Gamecocks have the No. 3 defense in the SEC, behind only powers Alabama and LSU, and - much to Arkansas' dislike - they haven't been outscored in the second half in any game this season.
Still, South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier is well aware of the Razorbacks' passing attack, tops in the SEC, and their propensity for comebacks. It's an easy trend for the coach to recognize, given that the Gamecocks have three fourth-quarter comeback wins of their own this season.
''If you get ahead of them, that doesn't mean anything,'' Spurrier said. ''They're such a good passing team and they believe they can come back and win the game. It will probably be a down-to-the-wire ball game, as most of ours are.''
South Carolina has won three in a row since a 16-13 loss to Auburn but has scored only 14 points in each of its last two games. The Gamecocks have struggled to find their rhythm in the passing game in each of those games, with sophomore quarterback Connor Shaw filling in following the dismissal of former quarterback Stephen Garcia on Oct. 11.
Making matters more difficult was the season-ending knee injury suffered by running back Marcus Lattimore against Mississippi State. Freshman Brandon Wilds stepped in last week in a 14-3 win over Tennessee, finishing with 137 yards on 28 carries.
Spurrier is counting on a similar performance against an Arkansas defense that is 10th in the SEC in allowing 188.1 yards per game on the ground.
''Brandon is an excellent runner with the ball, has good body lean, shakes some guys off, gets his pads down,'' Spurrier said. ''He's a very good back and he was able to show it last week, and hopefully we can make a bunch of yards again. We're not a great passing team, so we better run successfully.''
A win against the Razorbacks would move the Gamecocks one step closer to a second straight appearance in the SEC championship game.
Arkansas' season has had a very similar feel to it. Wins haven't always been pretty, but other than a 38-14 throttling at the hands of the Crimson Tide, the Razorbacks have found ways to win. They have faced deficits of 35-17, 17-0 and 21-7 in recent weeks - and have somehow found ways to come back in each game.
''When you look at our team right now, I don't feel like we're playing as well as I want to play,'' Petrino said. ''But I've had years where you play really well in a game and all the sudden you look up and you lost the game. So, although we haven't played as well as we want to the last two weeks, we have found a way to win the game and there's a lot to be said for that.''
Last week against Vanderbilt, Arkansas was on the verge of falling behind by two touchdowns in the fourth quarter when senior linebacker Jerry Franklin picked up a fumble and returned it 94 yards for a touchdown that tied the game. The Razorbacks eventually won on Zach Hocker's 42-yard field goal - and were aided when Commodores' kicker Carey Spear missed a 27-yard, game-tying attempt in the closing seconds.
It's been that kind of charmed life recently for the Razorbacks. Somehow they have found a way - and they aren't complaining about style points in the least.
''I feel we're 7-1, so I feel like we're doing a pretty decent job getting the job done,'' Franklin said.
