FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Marcus Lattimore is out for the season, Stephen Garcia was kicked off the team and now Connor Shaw has a concussion.
Missing many of its most dangerous weapons, South Carolina is really sputtering on offense.
Tyler Wilson threw for 299 yards and two touchdowns to Jarius Wright, and Dennis Johnson added a 98-yard kickoff return as No. 8 Arkansas pulled away late for a 44-28 win over the 10th-ranked Gamecocks on Saturday night.
"Arkansas played very well and they were a lot better than we were tonight certainly on offense, defense and special teams," South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier said.
Despite all its problems, South Carolina (7-2, 5-2 Southeastern Conference) stayed within striking distance against the Razorbacks (8-1, 4-1). Devin Taylor had a 48-yard interception return for a touchdown to give the Gamecocks a 14-10 lead early in the second quarter, and Shaw had a pair of second-half touchdown runs. His second brought South Carolina within 30-28 early in the fourth, but that was as close as the Gamecocks got.
Shaw, playing in his third game at quarterback since Garcia was dismissed from the team, struggled throughout against an Arkansas defense that had five sacks. The sophomore was finally knocked out of the game late with a concussion after Jake Bequette sacked him for the third time.
The Gamecocks scored 14 points in each of their previous two games, both wins, and they continued to struggle offensively against the Razorbacks — gaining only 49 yards on 25 plays by halftime.
Shaw led South Carolina with 24 yards rushing on 14 carries. Freshman running back Brandon Wilds, who had 137 yards last week in his first start following a season-ending injury to Lattimore, was held to 21 yards on 10 carries.
"They just had a good defense," Wilds said. "They did a lot of slanting, so it was just good defense."
Arkansas, meanwhile, finally put together two solid halves of football.
The Razorbacks entered the game having been outscored 87-59 in the first half of their last four games. They had rallied in the second half each time, but they had no such slow start against the Gamecocks.
Arkansas led 24-14 at halftime, holding South Carolina to 49 yards of total offense. The Razorbacks then overcame several offensive miscues in the second half and a challenge from the Gamecocks to win their fifth straight and keep their hopes of a return trip to a BCS bowl alive.
"It's big," Wilson said. "It was a big win against the No. (10)-ranked team in the country. I think it gives us some credibility moving forward. We've got Tennessee next week, and it will be right out here."
Arkansas moved the ball consistently against the SEC's third-best defense, but it continually bogged down near the goal line. The Razorbacks were held to five field goal attempts, and kicker Zach Hocker missed a pair in the first half.
His second miss was with 4 seconds remaining in the half, and it followed a dropped pass in the end zone by Arkansas' Cobi Hamilton.
Still, after trailing 14-10, the normally slow-starting Razorbacks likely weren't complaining too much about the 24-14 halftime lead.
"We didn't start as fast as we would like it," Wright said. "It was good to get out there and start a little bit faster than usual."
Wilson answered Taylor's interception return with a 68-yard touchdown pass to Wright on Arkansas' first play following the South Carolina score to go up 17-14. The interception was the first Wilson had thrown after 184 attempts, a school record. He later found Wright again for a 16-yard touchdown before halftime.
It was the second time the Razorbacks answered a Gamecocks score on the first play. The first came when Johnson followed Wild's first-quarter touchdown run with his kickoff return. It was Johnson's third kickoff return for a touchdown, his first since the opening game of the 2009 season against Missouri State.
"I thought it was huge," Arkansas coach Bobby Petrino said. "Even when we threw the interception for a touchdown, we came out the next play and answered with a big touchdown. So that's what you have to do as an offense, is be able to answer whenever they get a touchdown, a field goal or whatever it is.
"You have to come back and answer and respond in a positive way, and our guys did that all night long."