ATHENS, Ga. – For all their trouble throughout the fourth quarter, Arkansas’ defense made the right plays at the right times Saturday.
While Greg Childs will deservedly make most of the highlight reels for his 40-yard game-winning touchdown catch with 15 seconds remaining, it was Jake Bequette’s sack on Georgia quarterback Aaron Murray on a third down with less than a minute remaining that gave the Razorbacks offense an opportunity. The sack came after the Razorbacks had given up back-to-back touchdown drives that allowed the Bulldogs to tie the game with less than four minutes remaining.
“Jake had come over to the sideline earlier and felt like we could beat their tackles,” Arkansas defensive coordinator Willy Robinson said. “They slid their protection away from Jake and put the back on him. The back tried to cut him and Jake just stepped right over the top and got back there. The coverage held up and Jake was able to hit him. Shoot, it was a great play and a great job of executing a good call.”
It was one of six sacks on the afternoon for the No. 12 Razorbacks (3-0, 1-0 SEC), including two on that drive.
“We had to hold on when our offense sputtered a little bit and then all of a sudden when this team operates on both sides of the ball, this is an unmanageable football team, to be honest,” Robinson said. “It’s tough to compete against us when we’re rolling on both sides of the ball. Obviously in a big game like this there is going to be ebb and flow and that’s what you saw today.”
The defense, which ranked in the top five nationally of several statistical categories entering the game, held firm for much of the game. Georgia made things look easy on its first drive, which went 73 yards for a score. But the Hogs held firm after that, giving up just 62 more yards before halftime.
That gave Arkansas’ offense an opportunity to create some space. Knile Davis’ 1-yard touchdown early in the second quarter gave Arkansas the lead and Zach Hocker added to that with a 48-yard field goal four seconds before halftime to give the Razorbacks a 17-7 advantage at the break.
After a Georgia field goal, the Razorbacks added to the lead on a 22-yard touchdown pass from Mallett to Ronnie Wingo late in the third quarter and it looked like Arkansas might have put the game away when it kept Georgia from converting a fourth down early in the fourth quarter.
But the inability to run the ball hurt the Razorbacks, who finished with just 53 yards on the ground. Arkansas only ran 1:18 off the clock following the fourth down stand.
“We’re not happy about that,” Arkansas coach Bobby Petrino said. “None of our offensive players are happy about that. We still have to be more physical running the football. We have to go move the ball there. You’d like to go down, eat up 7 or 8 minutes of the clock and game over.”
Georgia scored on each of its next two possessions from 62 and 52 yards away, respectively. Washaun Ealey’s 3-yard plunge with 3:55 remaining tied it 24-24.
The Razorbacks couldn’t score on their next possession but were helped by a great punt from Dylan Breeding. His 57-yard boot back Georgia up to its own 34. Bequette’s sack gave the ball back and the Hogs responded with their best drive of the year. D.J. Williams had a pair of tough catches before Childs made his way into Razorback lore.
“With the 11 guys we had on the field we all felt confident we were going to go out and score,” said Arkansas receiver Joe Adams, who finished with six catches for 130 yards. “When it’s a two-minute drive, Coach Petrino expects us to score and won’t have it any other way.”
Mallett made a strong early-season Heisman Trophy case with the last-minute drive. He finished Saturday’s game 21-for-33 passing for 380 yards and three touchdowns.
“You saw his maturity and his knowledge,” Petrino said. “He knew he missed a couple early in the third quarter that maybe would have helped us extend the lead there. He was poised on the sideline. I think our experience showed up because we had great communication on the sideline between him and the receivers and (coaches). We kept our poise and we’re very confident in the two-minute drive.”
The win makes next week’s home date against No. 1 Alabama even more anticipated. The Crimson Tide will enter Fayetteville on a 27-game regular season winning streak.
“We started two-a-days and you’re saying we’ve got to be a mature football team,” Petrino said. “We’ve had to No.1 go and win at Georgia and then we get to make a big game in Fayetteville. So we’re really looking forward to it.”
For more visit WholeHogSports.com. You can follow Matt Jones on Twitter @NWAMatt.
Ill take the w any day. Play your cards right and we could be talking about this next week for a long time
Meanwhile, look what Ole Miss has figured out about Nutt:
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/466631-houtston-nutt-takes-ole-miss-from-2009-contenders-to-worse-team-in-sec
This is really fascinating, You are an excessively professional blogger. I’ve joined your feed and stay up for in quest of extra of your great post. Also, I have shared your website in my social networks!
In the year 1935, “geycat†was used to refer to a homosexual boy, and by 1966, “gay†had been used in the context of how it is used today. It is believed that P. Wildeblood was the first to use the word “gay†to mean homosexuals in his notes in Against Law. However, there’s no certainty to this, as male homosexuals could have been using the word already even long before it was publicized and popularized.