COLUMBIA, S.C.—If the Razorbacks advance to a bowl, they almost always must beat South Carolina to get there.

Certainly that seems the case besetting them today.

Arkansas,4-5, 1-4 SEC West) and needing to win two of these last 3 games to be bowl eligible, visits the Gamecocks, (6-3, 3-3 SEC East) at noon today on ESPN GamePlan pay-per view TV at Williams-Brice Stadium.

Since Arkansas and South Carolina together joined the SEC in 1992 as annual opponents, the Razorbacks have gone bowling nine times.

Only once, in 2000 when the eventual 6-6 Las Vegas Bowl Hogs lost the game and three quarterbacks to injury in Columbia, did Arkansas advance beyond a South Carolina defeat into the postseason.

Not all these Hogs may know South Carolina’s historical importance as an Arkansas gateway to a bowl game, but they are unanimous to the present urgency linking South Carolina to beyond the Nov. 28 regular-season closer with LSU in Little Rock.

“We’re definitely taking it one game at a time, but that underlining fuel, that fire for a bowl game is definitely is in our sights,” junior safety Matt Harris said.

The Hogs late week were deemed 11-point underdogs versus the Gamecocks. After an open date they visit Mississippi State and close with reigning national champion LSU.

However, first-year coach Bobby Petrino’s Hogs have played much better defense of late after a rocky start. They beat Tulsa, 30-23, last Saturday in Fayetteville.

South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier took note of all that.

“Arkansas had a big win over a Tulsa team that was undefeated. We expect a down to the wire game here Saturday,” Spurrier said.

While the Hogs grasp at straws for any bowl game, the Gamecocks, with fourth-ranked Florida and instate nonconference rival Clemson remaining, angle for a top tier bowl destination. They have won 5 of their last 6 including 27-6 last week over Tennessee in Columbia.

However it’s not all fun for Spurrier, famed for his “Fun and Gun” offense that won championships at Florida including a national title.

“We’ve sputtered a little bit on offense this year and don’t have a good running game,” he said.

USC quarterbacks Chris Smelley and Stephen Garcia both have passed well, but folks forget how much the run, particularly if his team led into the fourth quarter, contributed to Spurrier’s great Florida offenses too often recalled just for their wide open passing game.

Some of the great offenses Petrino coached in his four years at Louisville also didn’t get deserved credit for their ground game.

That’s why Bobby Petrino and offensive coordinator Paul Petrino are concerned that though senior quarterback Casey Dick netted a career high 385 passing yards against Tulsa, Arkansas was held to 50 net rushing yards held Michael Smith, the SEC’s leading rusher, to 67 yards on 23 carries.

The Petrinos know the Hogs can’t be one-dimensional in Columbia though last year’s Gamecock defense was ravaged for a combined 484 rushing yards by Darren McFadden and Felix Jones.

“It looked like a Division III team playing a SEC team. I think the Division III team could have made more plays than we did,” Spurrier said.

New South Carolina defensive coordinator Ellis Johnson, who left Arkansas last January to join Spurrier’s staff, has turned the Gamecocks from the bottom to the top, the SEC’s leader in total defense.

“Our defense has played extremely well,” Spurrier said.