Arkansas Razorbacks Football: It's woe-and-2 in SEC all over again

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Arkansas finds itself in a familiar hole to open SEC play.

The Razorbacks are 0-2 for the third consecutive season and seventh time in 11 years after losing to No. 18 Georgia 52-41 and at No. 3 Alabama 35-7.

Arkansas (1-2), with its lone victory over Missouri State, wants to stop the bleeding when it takes on former Southwest Conference rival Texas A&M (3-0) on Saturday night at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

"We've got to go win the game, no doubt," Arkansas Coach Bobby Petrino said.

The Razorbacks need to beat Texas A&M, because their next three games are against resurgent Auburn (4-0), at No. 1 Florida (4-0) and at No. 21 Ole Miss (2-1) before Eastern Michigan (0-3) visits Fayetteville for homecoming on Oct. 31.

Arkansas also needs to beat Texas A&M to restore confidence that Petrino said the Razorbacks lacked at Alabama.

Petrino said after the game the players didn't believe they could win at Alabama - for which he accepted responsibility - and that helped lead to numerous mistakes on both sides of the ball that cost the Razorbacks a chance to pull the upset.

"I think this loss is going to motivate everybody," Arkansas senior defensive tackle Malcolm Sheppard said. "We're just going to get geared up for Texas A&M.

"We're hungry for a win right now."

Sophomore quarterback Ryan Mallett said the Razorbacks will have no trouble regrouping to prepare for the Aggies.

"It's a football season," Mallett said. "You're going to go to work every week, ready to go. Get ready to get a win."

The Aggies are unbeaten, winning at home over New Mexico (41-6), Utah State (38-30) and Alabama-Birmingham (56-19).

Those teams are a combined 2-9.

Texas A&M will face tougher challenges against Arkansas on a neutral field and against Oklahoma State in the Big 12 Conference opener on Oct. 10.

"We have a lot of things to get better at before we play those folks," Aggies Coach Mike Sherman told media after the Alabama-Birmingham game.

The Razorbacks know they need to get better, too, if they want to keep a two-game losing streak from snowballing into a season killer.

"We're going to need to come out and play to the best of our abilities," said sophomore receiver Greg Childs, who scored Arkansas' lone touchdown at Alabama on an 18-yard catch from Mallett. "We don't have to play above ourselves. We've just got to play as good as we are."