ATHENS, Ga. — Georgia probably wasted a lot of time this week in practice.
The No. 2 Bulldogs did not need a passing game or a red zone defense to stuff No. 8 Arkansas 37-0 at Sanford Stadium on Saturday.
Just like Texas A&M never snapped a ball in the red zone against the Razorbacks last week, the visitors didn’t put any pressure on a great Georgia defense. The Hogs got to the UGA 20 in the first half before missing a field goal and hit a 19-yard pass to the 15 to end the game.
The Bulldogs played what Arkansas coach Sam Pittman called “bully ball” to manhandle what had been a good defense against the run. They flipped the script on an Arkansas team that had dominated in the running game in a 4-0 start.
Georgia rolled to 273 yards on the ground, throwing only 11 passes in a smash-mouth scheme that was mostly designed with runs between the tackles.
“They dominated us,” Pittman said.
And that was both sides of the ball. The Hogs made just 156 total yards, 45 on the final drive of the game when the Bulldogs were playing a few reserves.
“They just whipped us physically,” Pittman said. “It was not guys in the backfield turned loose and we couldn’t get off blocks.
“It was bully ball and they made us like it. I didn’t like it, but there was nothing we could do about it.”
Arkansas stopped the run in the first four games with a defensive alignment that appeared to offer soft spots. Georgia exposed those soft spots.
It was after the Texas A&M victory that Pittman noted, “When we line up, it looks like you can run the ball against it. But we run to the ball like crazy. We have three down, then everyone else is scattered around...our linebackers can race to the ball.”
Arkansas senior linebacker Grant Morgan, the team leader with 12 tackles, described that scheme and how the Bulldogs attacked it.
“They found our pockets,” he said. “We’d line up and they would flip the back and the tight end, then hit our bubble. They made me play two gaps. It was a really good job of scheming us up
“I was surprised at how easily they scored. After the first two drives we did better. But their running backs were hitting the 'A' gap and bouncing to the 'C' gap. It’s hard for a defensive back that is playing pass come up and make the tackle.
“We’d stand up the back and then their offensive line was pushing them forward. We have to tackle better.”
Unlike what had happened in the first four games, Georgia’s interior lineman got movement against the three-man front of nose tackle John Ridgeway and ends Tre Williams and Markell Utsey. Linebackers Bumper Pool, Hayden Henry and Morgan were forced to shed blockers and reach for the runners.
The Bulldogs ran it 29 times for 139 yards in the first half, while the Hogs had 40 yards on 14 runs.
Pittman credited Georgia coach Kirby Smart for “having his team ready and I didn’t. That’s the bottom line. We made a lot of mistakes. We are not where we need to be physically and they dominated us.”
Nothing Pittman said was wrong. The crew led by referee Jason Autrey threw flags from all angles, too often with multiple fouls on the same play. Morgan said Autrey told him once there could have been “one more on one play.”
Pittman became frustrated when asked about the drive in which the Hogs drew five penalties on two plays.
“I don’t know what’s the answer,” he said. “Don’t jump offside, don’t hold and don’t interfere on a pass. Hell, I don’t know.”
Later he described the penalties as pouring dirt on a wound.
There was a point in the game where the Hogs had 105 yards on offense and had been flagged for 100 yards. There were 13 penalties assessed against the Hogs, but four more flagged and two more that didn’t count because Georgia was also flagged.
“There is a lot of stuff we have to fix, but that’s why I’m the coach,” Pittman said.
The Bulldogs hammered straight ahead against that three-man front for two early touchdowns, then rode the kicking game for two more scores to take a 24-0 halftime lead.
Georgia ran six times for 39 yards on a 9-play, 75-yard touchdown march to open the game. Quarterback Stetson Bennett, subbing for the injured JT Daniels, circled right end to open that march. But most of the runs were plunges between the tackles by tailbacks Zamir White and James Cook.
The Bulldogs faced only one third down in that opening march, a third-and-1 at the Arkansas 3. White powered off left tackle to score standing up. It was 7-0 at 10:46 of the first quarter.
The Hogs committed six penalties in the first quarter, two on their first drive when linemen Dalton Wagner and Brady Latham moved before the snap. The Hogs were trying to operate in front of a loud UGA student section.
Those two penalties put the first UA start at its own 7-yard line. The Hogs could not find any running room against the big, fast Bulldogs. They snapped the ball from inside its 10-yard line on their first six plays, netting a minus-4 yards.
Georgia rolled 56 yards in nine plays to make it 14-0 at 4:34 of the first quarter. White made three yards off right tackle on fourth-and-1 from the UA 35. Kendall Milton powered over left guard for a 1-yard touchdown run.
A fumbled kickoff on a fair catch forced the Hogs to start at their own 8-yard line. There was a completion on second down, but a lineman was down field. Jefferson lost one yard on a third-and-8 draw to force a punt. Defensive back Dan Jackson slipped untouched through the middle to block Reid Bauer’s punt. White recovered for a touchdown.
The Hogs answered with a 12-play march with Jefferson popping free on two runs and Raheim "Rocket" Sanders breaking a tackle on a swing pass for 22. But Jefferson was stuffed for no gain on third-and-5 before Cam Little missed a 37-yard field goal. It was the first miss in nine tries this season for the freshman.
The Bulldogs returned to inside running on a 9-play, 51-yard march for Jack Podlesny’s 46-yard field goal. There were seven straight running plays before the Hogs began to blitz. It was 24-0 at 7:38 of the second quarter.
The Hogs made 55 yards on their drive for the missed field goal, but they had only 23 yards on the 11 plays in their other four possessions of the first half. Georgia led in total yards at the intermission, 193-78.
The second half started in much the same manner. After two penalties (one declined) and a three-and-out on the first UA possession, Georgia ran the ball nine straight times before Podlesny booted a 30-yard field goal to make it 27-0. None of the UGA runs on that drive were longer than six yards, but that was fine with the patient Bulldogs.
Georgia ran it nine times on an 11-play, 93-yard TD march to extend the lead to 34-0 at the 12:12 mark of the fourth quarter. The last six plays were via the run. There were two third-down plays on the drive, conversions thanks to five Arkansas penalties.
The first UGA conversion in that possession came on third-and-4 when the Hogs were flagged for offside, holding and pass interference. On third-and-9, there were two UA penalties, an offsides and a holding.
White kept his balance at the 5-yard line on a 15-yard touchdown run, bouncing inside after finding room at right tackle.
There were eight straight Georgia runs to start a march to a 38-yard Podlesny field goal for a 37-0 lead at 3:46. The Hogs made it tougher by bringing in an extra defensive lineman for the first time on a solid possession.
The Hogs turned to backup quarterback Malik Hornsby for the last two possessions. Hornby's deep pass with under one minute to play that went through the hands of receiver Jaquayln Crawford was the only time the Hogs went deep.
Jefferson completed just 8 of 13 passes for 65 yards. He was sacked three times and finished with a net of five yards rushing. The Hogs had a long play of 22 yards, the swing pass to Sanders. Star receiver Treylon Burks had just three catches for 10 yards.
Pittman, a former Georgia assistant, was asked if this was the best team fielded by Smart.
“It’s the best defensive front seven I’ve seen,” Pittman said. “They can really roll guys. They have got guys on the second team that would start for other defenses in the country or anyone in the SEC.”
Pittman said the play calling at times revolved around the healthy of Jefferson, slowed in practice this week after sustaining a bruised knee against Texas A&M.
“He was really good after Wednesday,” Pittman said. “We didn’t use him as much (running) today and we talked about putting Malik in earlier. But we didn’t think KJ was hurting.”
The Hogs didn’t appear to sustain any new injuries against the Bulldogs. They will travel to play Ole Miss this week. Pittman said a rebound would not be difficult. He said all goals are still attainable.
“We didn’t lose any (goals) today,” Pittman said. “We have a chance to get back and play Georgia again. Our pride got crushed, our ego got crushed, but it was just one game against the East.”