The Bulldogs lost a tough one to Arkansas today Between the Hedges when Ryan Mallett hit Greg Childs for a 40-yard touchdown pass with 15 seconds remaining. It was just the latest in a series of blown coverages by the secondary that occurred through the steamy afternoon.
An Aaron Murray “Hail Mary” was tipped by an Arkansas defender and nearly caught by Aron White, but the ball fell harmlessly to the turf.
It was the second consecutive SEC loss for the Dawgs, who have started 0-2 in the SEC for the first time in the Mark Richt era and the first time overall since 1993.
“We got better today, but we just didn’t finish,” said Richt. “We got back into it, the crowd got into it. We had all we could hope for with time offensively, but we didn’t get any points on the board. We had a chance to stop them, but we didn’t. We punted them down and they had a long way to go, but they got it done and we didn’t.”
Mallett feasted on the Bulldog defense all afternoon, completing 21 of 33 passes for 380 yards and three touchdowns. The Texarkana native threw scoring passes of 57, 22 and 40, but all three were to wide open receivers against a very confused Georgia secondary.
“Arkansas has an outstanding passing team,” said Richt. “At times, we got some pressure on them, but they did a very nice job of spreading it around. They’ve got a lot of weapons and a great understanding of how to do it.”
Despite the heartbreaking loss, Georgia fans had to take pride in their team’s fight. The Dawgs rallied from a 14-point deficit with less than eight minutes remaining to tie the game and seemingly force overtime. Murray hit Tavarres King over the middle to draw the Bulldogs to within seven. Then, with 3:55 left, Washaun Ealey ran in the tying touchdown from three yards out.
But then it was Mallett time.
NOTES:
- The win was Arkansas’ first against UGA since 1993, also in Sanford Stadium. Georgia now leads the all-time series 9-4.
- Georgia will have to rebound to face Miss. St next week in Starkville. The last time the Bulldogs began a season 0-3 in SEC play was 1993.
- Kris Durham caught five balls for 101 yards, a career-high.
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