Razorbacks rewind

FAYETTEVILLE — Defense takes big step back

Arkansas' defense was self-touted as bigger, stronger, faster and more knowledgeable of its schemes this season, but the Razorbacks looked overmatched by the Georgia offense in Saturday's 52-41 loss.

Georgia quarterback Joe Cox, enjoying time to make decisions in the pocket, picked Arkansas apart with 18 of 26 passing for 375 yards and 5 touchdowns. The Hogs sacked Cox just once, had another sack nullified by an offside penalty, and could not generate pressure with a four-man rush.

When Arkansas blitzed, the Bulldogs generally picked it up and Cox had even more space to make connections.

"They have so many weapons on offense," Arkansas defensive coordinator Willy Robinson said. "They hit us on those postroutes where we're rolling on him. ... We've got to have a better understanding of what we're doing, obviously."

The Bulldogs averaged 20.8 yards per pass completion Saturday, striking deep with regularity on sideline passes and over the middle. Sophomore A.J.

Green burned the Hogs with 7 catches for 137 yards and 2 touchdowns.

"Going into the game we wanted to take 8 [Green] out of the game, and we weren't able to do that," Arkansas Coach Bobby Petrino said.

"And we weren't able to get enough pressure with the four-man rush. We had some assignment errors." Efficiency

Ryan Mallett continues to lead the NCAA in passing efficiency after his record breaking performance in the Hogs' loss to Georgia.

Mallett's rating dropped slightly to 193.49 after completing 21 of 39 passes for 408 yards and 5 touchdowns. But he still leads the NCAA by almost five points, ahead of Notre Dame's Jimmy Clausen (188.55), Miami's Jacory Harris (184.07), Houston's Case Keenum (180.26), and Hawaii's Greg Alexander (178.76). Florida's Tim Tebow (170.45) is second in the SEC and seventh nationally.

Mallett ranks fifth nationally with 361.5 yards per game in total offense.

Stat chat

Sophomore Jarius Wright had his second 100-yard receiving effort of the season and now ranks sixth in the NCAA with 123.5 yards per game. Sophomore Greg Childs caught 140 yards worth of passes and ranks 23rd in the nation with 95 receiving yards per game.

Safety Tramain Thomas has intercepted passes in each of the first two games and ranks tied for fifth in the country with one interception per game.

Also tied for fifth is junior Alex Tejada, who is averaging two field goals per game. Tejada is 14th in the nation with 11.5 points per game.

Defensively, Malcolm Sheppard is tied for 23rd with 1.75 tackles for loss per game, and tied for 50th with 0.75 sacks per game.

Punt deficit

The Razorbacks lost a significant amount of yardage simply on the exchange of punts.

Georgia's Drew Butler, the son of former Bulldogs All-American and NFL kicker Kevin Butler, averaged 55.2 yards on four punts, with a net average of 53.0. Arkansas had one return for 9 yards. Two of Butler's punts sailed over the head of Arkansas punt returner Jerell Norton, the last of which came on a 64-yarder that pinned the Hogs at the 9 on their last legitimate shot at getting back in the game. Arkansas' average starting field position after the four punts was its 18. The Razorbacks' average starting position for the game on 16 possessions was its 32. The Hogs' overall field position was helped by the recovery of two fumbles deep in Georgia territory and a kick return to the Georgia 48,

Arkansas freshman Dylan Breeding, meanwhile, averaged 37.3 yards on his seven punts and put one inside the 20-yard line.

Georgia had no return yardage on the seven punts, leaving Breeding's net average at 37.3 yards. But Georgia's average starting position was its 36 after the seven Arkansas punts. The Bulldogs' average starting position on 17 offensive possessions was also at the 36.

Two for one

The Razorbacks showed an affinity for aggressive play-calling with two one play scoring drives in the first half.

The first touchdown came after Cobi Hamilton took a handoff from Dennis Johnson on a kickoff return and returned it 50 yards.

Ryan Mallett connected with Jarius Wright for a 48-yard touchdown straight up a seam beyond safety Bryan Evans.

Minutes later, after Adrian Davis pounced on a fumble by Georgia tailback Richard Samuel, Mallett went for the big play again. This time, Greg Childs ran past cornerback Brendan Smith and laid out almost horizontal to catch a 30-yard touchdown.The play was reviewed and confirmed, as Childs managed to have his hands under the ball as he slammed onto the new synthetic surface.

Worth noting

The Razorbacks have lost their past four SEC games at Razorback Stadium, dating back to a 48-36 victory over South Carolina on Nov. 3, 2007. Arkansas has won two league games over Mississippi State and LSU in Little Rock and has road victories at LSU and Auburn in that time.

Safety Elton Ford was held out for a second week with an ankle sprain. Ford has been dressing for practices but apparently has not healed enough to make it onto the field. Since suffering three broken bones in his neck last season, Ford has missed six consecutive games.

Look for Georgia quarterback Joe Cox to earn SEC offensive player of the week honors today after throwing for 375 yards and 5 touchdowns on 18 of 26 passing.

PLAYERS OF

THE WEEKOffense

RYAN MALLETT AND GREG CHILDS

Quarterback Mallett and receiver Childs share this honor. Childs caught 5 passes for a career-high 140 yards and 2 TDs, including a 30-yard score on a diving catch in the right corner of the end zone. Mallet passed for Arkansas single-game records of 408 yards and 5 TDs.

Defense ADRIAN DAVIS

Defensive end Davis pounced on a Richard Samuel fumble in the first quarter, leading to an Arkansas touchdown, and the senior accounted for 3 unassisted tackles and 7 total stops on the night.