FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. --- Even after his best receiving game of the season, people kept giving D.J. Williams grief.

Williams caught seven passes for 137 yards Saturday in Arkansas' 33-16 win over South Carolina, but everyone wanted to know how he stumbled at the end of a 69-yard catch late in the second quarter, just a few yards from the end zone.

"I was talking to the ref -- I told him to throw a flag on that 5-yard line, because (it) reached up and grabbed me," Williams said. "He said he missed it. He'll get it next time."

Williams actually went down at the South Carolina 7, so maybe the 10-yard line was what tripped him. Either way, the reception led to a field goal, and Arkansas eventually pulled away in the second half.

Ryan Mallett went 23 of 27 for 329 yards for Arkansas (5-4, 2-4 Southeastern Conference), which needs only one more win to become bowl eligible. Razorbacks coach Bobby Petrino had called this game a must-win.

"We wanted the pressure. We need to get into big games that are must-wins," Petrino said. "I really feel like we passed the test."

Williams, a tight end, caught a team-high 61 passes last season, but he had only 16 receptions this season entering Saturday. Trailing 10-7, Arkansas had the ball on its own 24 with 22 seconds left in the first half. Williams caught a short pass, eluded a couple tacklers and raced down the sideline. With the Gamecocks desperately trying to grab him, Williams cut back and then lost his balance.

Alex Tejada's 24-yard field goal tied it on the last play of the half after Mallett threw incomplete.

In the second half, Mallett went 12 of 13, and Williams caught four more passes.

Stephen Garcia passed for 327 yards with a touchdown and an interception for the Gamecocks (6-4, 3-4), who have lost three of four and are in danger of a third consecutive late-season fade. Mallett and Garcia entered the game ranked 1-2 in the SEC in passing.

South Carolina scored on its first play of the second half when Garcia threw an 80-yard touchdown pass to Alshon Jeffery, but it was all downhill from there for the Gamecocks. First, they botched the extra point. Then, Arkansas took a 17-16 lead on Mallett's 1-yard scoring run.

Jerell Norton intercepted Garcia in the end zone on South Carolina's next possession, and Broderick Green put Arkansas ahead by eight with a 2-yard touchdown run. Less than 90 seconds later, the Razorbacks added a safety on a play that began at the South Carolina 32. A shotgun snap sailed past Garcia, and although the quarterback tried to fall on the ball near his own 5, it skipped into the end zone. South Carolina recovered, but the two points gave Arkansas a 26-16 advantage.

"We are just not real good right now. I don't know how else to say it," Gamecocks coach Steve Spurrier said. "Maybe all of the good fortune we had earlier is catching up with us a bit."

South Carolina is trying to avoid another difficult finish after starting 5-1. South Carolina was 7-3 before losing its final three games of last season, and dropped its final five games of 2007 to finish 6-6.