FAYETTEVILLE — Injury issues for both starting quarterbacks will accompany the No. 8 Arkansas Razorbacks into their showdown at No. 2 Georgia on Saturday in Athens, Ga.
University of Arkansas sophomore KJ Jefferson has worn a brace this week after landing on his left knee in the second half of last week’s 20-10 win over No. 7 Texas A&M. Jefferson missed 20 offensive reps in the game but returned for the final two series and conducted postgame interviews.
The 6-3, 245-pounder is the only SEC quarterback with 800-plus passing yards and 200-plus rushing yards. Jefferson ranks 15th in FBS passing efficiency with a 170.12 rating that includes an NCAA-best 18.3 yards per completion.
Jefferson was gimpy on the first snap of Arkansas’ third series in the first quarter last week and came out of the game, but he returned to spin and drive through Texas A&M safety Leon O’Neal for the clinching 10-yard run on a second-and-9 snap late in the game.
Pittman did not address a question about Jefferson’s health on Wednesday.
Georgia starter JT Daniels is dealing with a lat muscle injury in his back after an oblique injury kept him out of the Bulldogs’ 56-7 win over Alabama-Birmingham on Sept. 11.
“His oblique is fine,” Georgia Coach Kirby Smart said. “He’s been having a little bit of a lat issue that bothered him some last week. He’s done a good job. He’s sharp, watches all his tape and gets all his reps and does a good job. We’re hoping he can stay that way.
Daniels is second in the country with a 76.1% completion rate on 54-of-71 passing for 567 yards, and his efficiency rating of 160.8 ranks 30th in the FBS.
Arkansas redshirt freshman Malik Hornsby got 20 reps last week. Georgia senior reserve Stetson Bennett engineered the Bulldogs’ 37-10 comeback win at Arkansas last season. Bennett (22 of 30, 443 yards, 6 TDs, 2 INTs) has a 250.04 efficiency rating.
Beating the best
Sam Pittman became the first Arkansas coach to beat three ranked opponents in his first 14 games in 44 years with last week’s 20-10 upset of No. 7 Texas A&M.
Pittman’s Razorbacks beat No. 16 Mississippi State 21-14 in Week 2 last year and No. 15 Texas 40-21 in Week 2 this year. Arkansas was denied a win at No. 13 Auburn last season by an errant officiating decision.
Lou Holtz’s 1977 team turned the feat with a 28-6 win over No. 15 Oklahoma State, a 26-20 win at No. 11 Texas A&M and a 31-6 rout of No. 2 Oklahoma in the Orange Bowl during an 11-1 season.
Early game
The Razorbacks will have their first 11 a.m. game of the season, which will be noon in Athens, Ga.
Coach Sam Pittman said the coaches devoted several days in a row to early practices during camp to condition the players to what morning meals and game prep would feel like.
“Not a lot is going to change on Saturday except we’re going to have a little less time between our pregame meal and our walkthroughs,” Pittman said. “It’s going to take maybe up to 90 minutes … to get to the stadium on Saturday. It depends on traffic. So that’s going to speed up a little bit.”
Pittman said the team would hold its chapel services on Friday night at the hotel in Atlanta rather than on game day.
“Other than that, that’s why we practice those four or five days in a row early in the morning so our kids would know they have to get up, get ready and I think we’ll be able to do that,” Pittman said.
Down Dawgs
The Razorbacks have put forth good defensive game plans and Sam Pittman expects no less against the powerful Bulldogs.
“We have to play hard. We have to be us,” Pittman said. “We can’t give up any type of big plays on them. That stadium will go crazy you know. We have to make them earn everything.
“To be honest with you, I told the team yesterday we have to be the best tacklers that we’ve been all year. We have to be able to get these big backs on the ground. We’re going to be in some one-on-one situations and we’ve got to get them on the ground.”
Roster blend
The Razorbacks have a roster composed of a few veterans who date back to the Bret Bielema era (2013-17), a segment in the middle from the Chad Morris years (2018-19) and two classes of Sam Pittman’s regime. Each of the groups has key contributors.
While the Morris squads struggled with team-building and game-planning, the staff’s recruiting, coordinated by ex-Razorback Barry Lunney Jr., delivered numerous key contributors to the Hogs’ 4-0 start.
Among the top signees during that period: Wide receiver Treylon Burks, quarterback KJ Jefferson, running back Trelon Smith, offensive line starters Myron Cunningham, Ricky Stromberg, Brady Latham and Beaux Limmer, tight end Hudson Henry, safeties Jalen Catalon and Simeon Blair, defensive backs Greg Brooks Jr., LaDarrius Bishop and Hudson Clark, and defensive linemen Isaiah Nichols, Zach Williams, Mataio Soli, Eric Gregory and Taurean Carter.
Hogs-Dawgs
Georgia owns an 11-4 advantage in the all-time series, but Arkansas notched a win in the last game played “between the hedges” in Athens, Ga.
The 2010 Razorbacks avenged a 52-41 shootout loss to the Bulldogs the year before with a 31-24 victory at Sanford Stadium on Sept. 18, 2010. Greg Childs caught the game-winning touchdown, a 40-yard pass from Ryan Mallett with 15 seconds remaining, after the Razorbacks had squandered a 24-10 lead midway through the fourth quarter.
Arkansas had six sacks of Aaron Murray in that game, two by Damario Ambrose and a key 8-yard sack by Jake Bequette late in the fourth quarter.
Georgia holds a 3-2 lead in games played in Athens. The Bulldogs have not lost a game to Arkansas in the Natural State, holding a 5-0 edge in games played in Fayetteville and a 1-0 lead in Little Rock.
Hornsby’s range
Sam Pittman said the Razorbacks need to expand backup quarterback Malik Hornsby’s repertoire as a passer for his future appearances.
Hornsby was in on 20 plays in the third and fourth quarters of Saturday’s 20-10 win over Texas A&M with the game still on the line.
“It was big-time beneficial,” Pittman said of Hornsby playing at a critical time. “He had been in a game or two before that, but not in those circumstances. The other thing is we’ve got to throw the ball when he’s in there.”
The redshirt freshman was 1 of 3 passing for 7 yards. The Razorbacks had at least a couple of more passes called with Hornsby in the game but he pulled the ball down and ran on some of those. Tight end Blake Kern did not bring down a high pass in the end zone that would have been Hornsby’s first touchdown pass.
The Razorbacks settled for Cam Little’s 24-yard field goal and out-scored the Aggies 3-0 with Hornsby in the game.
“It was a big role for Malik to come in and step up the way he did,” Arkansas receiver Treylon Burks said. “You know, led us to a field goal which was big, put us up by 10.”
Tailback Trelon Smith said he gave Hornsby some encouraging words as he entered.
“This was a moment he was ready for,” Smith said. “There were a few busted plays, but he escaped out of there and made the best of them.
“Then at the end, he tried to get in the end zone, lowered his shoulder, beating up the defender on the 1-yard line. It was a dropped pass in the end zone, but he got the ball there. That could have been his first throwing touchdown.”
The Razorbacks had 16 carries for 80 yards with Hornsby at quarterback. Hornsby had a 16-yard run on his first snap and he finished with 12 net yards, which included 13 yards in losses.
Top ‘D’
For the second consecutive week the Razorbacks will face the nation’s top defensive unit in points allowed.
Georgia took over the national lead in that department, and total defense, after shutting out Vanderbilt 62-0 last Saturday on 77 total yards and four first downs.
Georgia is allowing 185.3 yards and 5.8 points per game. Their total defense average is 25 yards per game lower than Wisconsin, which ranks second in the country.
Texas A&M held the FBS lead in defensive scoring (5.7) and ranked ninth in total defense (239.3) heading into last week, but the Aggies dropped to second and 23rd, respectively, after giving up 443 total yards to Arkansas.
Georgia has given up 23 points, seven of them off an Alabama-Birmingham pick six, and only one offensive touchdown, a 36-yard pass from South Carolina’s Luke Doty to Josh Vann early in the fourth quarter with the Bulldogs leading 40-6.