Smart: UGA not facing the same Arkansas as last year
Nearly a year ago to the day, the Georgia Bulldogs stumbled and bumbled offensively through much of their college football opener at Arkansas.
D’Wan Mathis started at quarterback before being replaced by Stetson Bennett, yet they still cruised to a 3710 victory behind a defensive effort that included a safety and an interception return for a touchdown. That outcome has little relevance to this week’s showdown between the No. 2 Bulldogs and the No. 8 Razorbacks inside Sanford Stadium, according to Bulldogs coach Kirby Smart.
“Make no mistake about it, this is not the Arkansas that we played last year,” Smart said Monday in a news conference. “Those guys up front defensively — they’ve got three transfers, two from Missouri and one from Illinois State — play extremely hard. They are extremely physical, and they create an immense amount of problems for the people they play. They will not be taken lightly by this group, because they are doing an incredible job of creating problems for offenses.
“Just look at what they’ve done with the two big games that everyone knows about, but really they’ve done it in every game.”
Those two big games for the Razorbacks have been their shocking, double-digit triumphs over No. 15 Texas (40-21) on Sept. 11 and No. 7 Texas A&M (20-10) this past weekend. Arkansas was suffocating on each occasion, limiting the Longhorns to 256 total yards and the Aggies to 272.
Heading the Hogs defensively is second-year coordinator Barry Odom, who was Missouri’s head coach from 2016-19 and guided the Tigers to a 25-25 record.
“Barry is one of the few people you could say takes what he has and gets what he has to work really well,” Smart said. “He’s been different at different places. He has not been the same guy everywhere he’s been. He’s morphed, and he’s changed with college football. He’s innovative.
“He goes and looks and studies what other people are doing. He forces your hand to maybe play lefthanded. You can’t do some of the things you want to do. He’s really good at that, and he has some really good players doing it.”
Arkansas second-year head coach Sam Pittman, who was Smart’s offensive line coach with the Bulldogs from 2016-19, returned a roster containing 23 seniors, including 11 “super seniors” who are using the NCAA’s extra year of eligibility that resulted from the outbreak of the coronavirus.
“When you have kids come back, there is a twofold deal there,” Pittman said Monday. “You have some experience coming back, but you want them to come back better. I think our kids who played last year are playing better right now.”
Said Smart: “Those guys are like Justin Shaffer and Devonte Wyatt for us. They’re two of our better, more experienced players, and you multiply that times four or five, and that’s what they’ve got.”
Although Pittman had never been a coordinator before his Fayetteville hiring, Smart is not surprised by his success. The Razorbacks went 3-7 last season in Pittman’s debut, but that followed a three-year stretch in which Arkansas was a wretched 1-23 in Southeastern Conference games.
“He’s a tremendous leader of men, and that’s the number one discipline we are charged with,” Smart said. “How do you lead your men and how much do they believe in you? He’s got the ultimate going on with that right now. Those men in that locker room believe in Sam Pittman and what he tells them.
“They believe it, and they go out and play like it.”
Arkansas will be playing its first road game with full capacity since Pittman took their reins. Sophomore quarterback KJ Jefferson and junior receiver Treylon Burks
were banged up against the Aggies and were expected to be limited Monday, according to Pittman, who expects both will be fine this weekend.
The magnitude of this game is reflected by ESPN’s “College GameDay” traveling to Athens and with Chris Fowler and Kirk Herbstreit doing the broadcast. Last year’s opener was in the middle of the afternoon on the SEC Network.
“They are not the same Arkansas team we faced last year,” Bulldogs linebacker Nakobi Dean said. “They are way more physical. This is the kind of game that we here at Georgia look for — a game that we can be physical. We pride ourselves on our toughness and physicality.
“I am sure everyone on the team is excited for this game.”
Dawg bites
Georgia is allowing 5.8 points per game, which leads the nation . ... Sophomore tight end Darnell Washington and junior defensive back Tykee Smith didn’t travel to Saturday’s 62-0 thrashing of Vanderbilt, but they are back in drills, and Smart hopes to have them available this weekend . ... The Bulldogs hold an 11-4 series edge.