The Blog Hawgs

The season officially started September 5th for the Arkansas Razorbacks, but let’s face it—the glorified walk through that resulted in a 48-10 thrashing of Missouri State in the opener at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock was merely the proverbial calm before the storm.

Bobby Petrino’s Hogs (1-0, 0-0) should get a real test Saturday night in Fayetteville in their conference and on-campus opener at Reynolds Razorback Stadium versus the Georgia Bulldogs.  UGA (1-1, 1-0) is ranked 20^th and 23^rd in the nation in the USA Today and Associated Press polls, respectively.

Here are five things to watch when the Hawgs and Dawgs kickoff at 6:45 in the nationally televised tilt on ESPN.

1.     How will the early season schedule affect the two teams?

A scheduling oddity for Arkansas makes the Razorbacks a bit of an unknown commodity at this point.  The Hogs destroyed a Missouri State team last week that, quite frankly, they could have disposed of without using their starters on either side of the ball. 

They will now run a gauntlet of 11 games in 11 weeks, including Saturday’s game with Georgia, a trip to Jerry World in Dallas to face Texas A&M and road games at college football powerhouses Alabama, Florida, and LSU as well as a blood feud game with a Houston Nutt-led Mississippi team that is currently in the Top 10.

Georgia, on the other hand, opened its season with a 24-10 loss in Stillwater, Oklahoma to a Oklahoma State squad that was ranked # 9 in the country.  The Bulldogs then narrowly avoided their first 0-2 start since 1996 and won a 41-37 slugfest over South Carolina in Athens last weekend that was not over until UGA linebacker Rennie Curran broke up a 4^th down pass by South Carolina’s Stephen Garcia at the goal line with 22 seconds left in the game.

One line of thinking is that Arkansas’ lack of early season competition as compared to Georgia’s, will leave the Hogs at a disadvantage Saturday night.  While this is certainly a possibility, the ill effects of Arkansas’ less-than-ideal open week will probably be felt much more down the stretch of the season. That is when the wear and tear of a grueling schedule can be expected to take a toll on the Hogs, particularly when virtually inevitable injuries hit.

For now, any issues stemming from the open date may be minimized by the fact that Arkansas should be the fresher, healthier team Saturday night.  Georgia lost starting left tackle Trinton Sturdivant to a season-ending knee injury in its opener, and also lost another starter, defensive end Rod Battle to a season-ending knee injury in Week 2.

Additionally, Petrino, who, even by his detractors is considered an offensive guru, has not hidden the fact that he has essentially been game-planning for Georgia throughout the off-season.  This is a luxury that Georgia Head Coach Mark Richt has not been afforded due to his team’s schedule.

2.     Will the Special Teams Units be the Difference in the Game?         

That blur you saw on your (hopefully HD) TV Saturday night was Georgia return man Brandon Boykin.  All he did was set a UGA record with a 100-yard kickoff return for a touchdown in addition to ripping off another 48-yard return on his way to a ridiculous 187 kickoff return yards versus South Carolina—the second most in school history.

Georgia defensive tackle DeAngelo Tyson also blocked a key extra point in the fourth quarter to help the Dawgs retain the lead after South Carolina All-Everything linebacker Eric Norwood nabbed a Joe Cox pass and returned it for a touchdown to make the score 38-37. Bulldogs placekicker Blair Walsh did his part, too, booting field goals of 42 and 50 yards.

All was not perfect for the UGA specials teams, though.  Heralded freshman cornerback Branden Smith tried to match Boykin’s record-setting effort and it backfired when he took a kickoff he should have downed for a touchback out of the end zone and promptly fumbled at the Georgia 8-yard line, leading to a South Carolina touchdown.  The Bulldogs also gave up a safety when a bad snap sailed over punter Drew Butler’s head and out of the end zone.  Georgia also gave up a 57-yard kickoff return to South Carolina speedster Chris Culliver.

Dennis Johnson lifted the lid on the Razorbacks season with a 91-yard kickoff return for a touchdown on the first play of the opener, but from there, the Hogs’ special teams were anything but special.  The Razorbacks gave Missouri State excellent field position throughout the day by failing to keep the kickoff in bounds on three different occasions. 

In addition to starting those drives at their own 40 yard line, the Bears also had a 57-yard kickoff return of their own, that could have been a touchdown but for a saving tackle by the Hogs’ directionally challenged placekicker, Alex Tejada, who was responsible for two of the team’s errant kickoffs.

Expect some new wrinkles in the kicking game from Arkansas special teams coach and former Michigan St. and Louisville Head Coach John L. Smith.  Smith was hired, in part, because of his reputation as a special teams savant.  He knows full well that Arkansas cannot afford to give Boykin and the Bulldogs’ other playmakers a chance to break open what should be a nip-and-tuck affair with an explosive special teams play.

3.     Will Arkansas be able to Protect the Quarterback?

To simply say that Arkansas’ offensive line struggled in pass protection last year would be a major understatement,  The transition from Nutt’s run-oriented offense to Petrino’s more balanced, pass-friendly attack resulted in a spate of sacks.  Arkansas allowed 46 sacks and was 118^th in the nation in that category, finishing ahead of only Hawaii.

With a year of experience under its belt, the Arkansas offensive line should be improved.  In the Missouri State opener, the Hogs did not allow a sack.  However, they will have a much tougher task Saturday, even though the defensive end position is one of the Bulldogs’ few question marks on defense.

The loss of the injury plagued Battle was a blow, but junior Justin Houston (6-3 259) returns from a two-game suspension and could be just what the doctor ordered for a defense that is out to prove it is one of the best in the SEC.

4.     Which UGA offense will show up?

The Georgia players and staff spent the offseason assuring their faithful that they should not expect the precipitous falloff in production forecast by the national media due to the loss of quarterback Matthew Stafford, the first pick in the NFL draft and fellow first-rounder, running back Knowshon Moreno.

The Bulldogs then mustered only 10 points in their opener against Oklahoma State, and looked to have their hands full with an inexperienced and ailing (flu, sore throwing arm) quarterback facing a normally stingy South Carolina defense.  Cox and company responded by making enough plays to put up 41 points last Saturday.

But, one has to wonder whether the UGA offense is still a work in progress.  After holding Georgia to 10 points, Oklahoma State gave up 55 points and over 500 total yards to the Houston Cougars of Conference USA.

And, a closer look at the South Carolina game also reflects that while the Bulldogs cashed in on their opportunities, they only notched a rather pedestrian 308 total yards of offense.  The unusually high number of kickoff return yards explains that stat to a degree. 

However, it does not change the fact that so far this season, UGA rushers have averaged just 3.4 yards per carry on 59 attempts while Cox has averaged 182 passing yards per game.

Nevertheless, the Arkansas defense should not strike fear in the hearts of Bulldogs fans.  The Razorbacks return 9 of 11 starters from a defense that was the worst in the SEC a year ago.  They feel they are vastly improved, but will have to show it on the field against quality opponents before their growth can be considered much more than the bliss of a  new season and the opportunity for redemption that it brings.

5.     Can Arkansas run the ball effectively in the red zone against the stout interior defense of UGA?

If there was an area of concern on the offensive side of the ball following Arkansas’ opener, it was the Hogs’ struggles on the ground in short yardage situations versus an inferior opponent.  The worry prone in Hog Nation undoubtedly fear that it is the continuation of a problem that became an Achilles’ Heel of sorts for Arkansas in 2008.

USC transfer and former Pulaski Academy star Broderick Green is expected to provide some much-needed goal line muscle this season, and he did just that with his first touchdown as a Razorback in the opener. 

But he was stymied on several occasions as well and will have to display better pad level and leg drive if is he is going to find paydirt against senior stalwart Geno Atkins (6-1 290) and the rest of the Georgia defensive line,