Razorbacks gain plenty, not enough

FAYETTEVILLE — Going back to Arkansas' first football game in 1894, a 42-0 victory over Fort Smith High School, the Razorbacks had been 139-1 when they scored 40 or more points.

Make that 139-2.

Georgia ruined Arkansas' 2009 SEC opener by winning 52-41 on Saturday night at Reynolds Razorback Stadium.

The only other game in which the Razorbacks scored 40 or more points and lost was in 1990, when Texas Tech beat them 49-44 on homecoming.

Arkansas records of 408 passing yards and five touchdowns by sophomore quarterback Ryan Mallett weren't enough for the Razorbacks against Georgia, which overcame deficits of 21-10, 28-27 and 35-34.

"We made plays. They made plays," Mallett said. "They just made more than we did tonight."

Georgia senior quarterback Joe Cox matched Mallett's five touchdown passes, and the Bulldogs also got an 80-yard run by Richard Samuel as they outgained the Razorbacks 530-485 in total offense.

The competitive nature of the game was far different than Arkansas' 2008 SEC opener, when the Razorbacks lost at home to Alabama 49-14.

"Well, we're better," said Bobby Petrino, who is 6-8 in his second season as Arkansas' coach. "But we're not good enough to win that game yet.

"I think the first thing we have to do is not hurt ourselves, not beat ourselves, and then you have a better opportunity to beat somebody else."

The Razorbacks were penalized 11 times for 100 yards, including an unsportsmanlike penalty on Petrino in the second quarter because he protested to an official about the penalties being called on Arkansas.

Arkansas also was hurt by converting 3 of 14 third-down plays and being held to an average of 3.2 yards on its 24 rushing attempts.

"We did some good things on offense, particularly early in the game. We made a lot of good plays," Petrino said. "But I think the thing we'll learn is ... when you're in a shootout like that, you can't take a play off.

"You can't not focus and not do what you're supposed to do."

Arkansas defensive coordinator Willy Robinson said the Razorbacks have to get better, but said he's not discouraged, pointing out that Arkansas has 10 games remaining on the schedule and that Georgia was a talented offensive team.

"We're going to look back at that thing, and we're going to be able to say, 'We just need to do a little better and we're going to be fine,' " he sad.

The Razorbacks, who opened with a 48-10 victory over Missouri State on Sept. 5 before having an open date last week, had been gearing up for Georgia going back to last spring.

here," said sophomore receiver Greg Childs, who caught two touchdown passes. "We grind every single day, so this is just another grind for us.

"We're going to come back and have the mind-set that we're going to Alabama and win."

Now Arkansas (1-1, 0-1 SEC) has to regroup and play at No. 3 Alabama (3-0) this Saturday.

"I think our guys will bounce back," Petrino said. "It's tough, it hurts, but as I told them in the locker room, they all need to keep their head up.

"I don't want to see anyone with their head down, because we prepared well, we went out and played hard. We just didn't do enough things to win the game."

Petrino said the Razorbacks would watch the game tape Sunday and "be very critical of ourselves," then do some running and put the Georgia loss behind them and start focusing on Alabama.

"We have a tough team