Confused and Bewildered: Arkansas' Offense Shut Down by Georgia
Arkansas' offense started off baffled against Georgia's stifling defense Saturday.
The result was a 37-0 loss for the Hogs in a game where they gave up more yards in penalties than either passing or running.
Yes, it was that bad. Maybe worse.
The offense only had 62 more yards total than the penalty yardage they handed a Georgia team that probably didn't need anything Arkansas wanted to just give them.
"Our big deal the whole week was we need to start fast and punch a bully in the mouth and try to take the crowd out of it," Sam Pittman said later, "and we did totally the opposite."
By the time the Hogs had more than a yard of total offense, the Bulldogs had run up a 21-0 lead and spent the rest of the game just having a nice little scrimmage in front of a crowd and a band.
READ MORE: Hogs' Defense Dominated by Georgia's Offensive Attack
Georgia obviously wanted to limit the Hogs' running attack that had gashed Texas and Texas A&M plus keep Treylon Burks in check.
Arkansas got just 75 yards on the ground. That was the biggest key in racing to a 4-0 start (eighth in the country) and becoming the cinderella team in college football after knocking off then-No. 7 Texas A&M last week.
The Bulldogs also weren't going to let Burks pop a big play. The junior wide receiver from Warren had broken big catch-and-runs for 90 and 80 yards in the previous two games.
His biggest catch against the Bulldogs was for 5 yards. He had just three receptions for 10 yards.
It was the lowest offensive output for the Hogs since 2012 when the John L. Smith clown show was running things after Bobby Petrino had flown through the handlebars.
Against the Bulldogs, the Hogs couldn't get first downs. Seven of their 10 possessions were three-and-out.
"We couldn't get any rhythm on offense," Pittman said.
That was an understatement.
Part of that may have been KJ Jefferson's knee. He suffered what Pittman called last week a "bruise," but it apparently affected his practice time.
"You’ll have to ask him," Pittman said "He wasn’t really good this week until Wednesday, maybe a little Thursday. That’s why we didn’t use him quite as much today. Just didn’t know how healthy he was.
"There were times in there we talked about maybe putting Malik (Hornsby) in earlier. But KJ didn’t seem to be hurting so we decided to go with him."
READ MORE: Hogs Mauled by No. 2 Bulldogs, 37-0
Then again, though, it probably really wouldn't have mattered. The Hogs' offensive line that drew so much praise the last few weeks got shoved all over the stadium.
"They physically whipped us," Pittman said.
Now the question is what the Hogs do for a response.
Ole Miss is coming up ... fast. The Rebels got rolled by Alabama, 42-21, on Saturday and this is a game both teams will probably feel they have to win.
Who responds best is going to be interesting.
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