Razorbacks play with Bulldogs for a half the game
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — In a year full of twists and turns (and COVID-19), one would surmise it wasn’t surprising that Arkansas came out and played Georgia off its feet for a half on Saturday.
The problem is that football is two halves, and the Bulldogs’ superior depth and talent won out in a season opening 37-10 victory over the Razorbacks.
Sam Pittman, who was making his Arkansas debut after taking over for the fired Chad Morris, had been on the opposing sideline for the previous four seasons as Georgia had won a Southeastern Conference title and made a
trip to the College Football Playoff national championship game.
A crowd of 16,500 watched Pittman’s Hogs take a 7-5 halftime lead that could’ve been 10-5 if not for special teams miscues in the final seconds.
They actually did take a 10-5 lead early in the second half on a short field goal, but gave up 32 unanswered the remainder of the contest.
“I was really proud of our defense,” Pittman said. “Coach (Barry) Odom had a great game plan and we played really hard, we just didn’t have enough juice to keep up with them.”
BACK TO BASICS
Running the ball and fixing the offensive line mistakes will most likely need to be key points of emphasis in practice this week.
Arkansas managed only 77 yards rushing on 28 carries, the majority of those yards coming in garbage time late against Georgia reserves.
“We were really sloppy with our formations and our alignments,” Pittman said. “We’ve got to get that cleaned up.”
NEW SIGNAL CALLER
Quarterback play has been an issue for the Razorbacks the last three seasons.
After playing five players at the position in 2019, they settled on graduate transfer Feleipe Franks from Florida for this year. He lost the job to Kyle Trask after suffering an injury in the third game a year ago.
Franks played well at times, but threw two interceptions, including one that was a back breaker midway through the third quarter that was returned for a touchdown.
His 49-yard scoring strike to Treylon Burks in the first quarter was about as good a ball as could be thrown. It also happened to be Burks’ first touchdown as a Razorback.
“Feleipe has to be more conscious of the ball,” Pittman said. “He played well but he’s got to take care of it better. On the pick-6, our wide receivers ran into each other.”
ON THE HORIZON
Arkansas, which is coming off back-to-back 2-10 seasons, at least looks like it will be competitive against a treacherous 10-game SEC schedule.
Unfortunately it doesn’t get any time to lick its wounds, as the Razorbacks travel to Mississippi State next week, an upset winner over No. 6 LSU, 44-34, on Saturday as quarterback K.J. Costello threw for 623 yards and five touchdowns in Baton Rouge, La.