Georgia Football is heading into week five of the college football season against arguably their toughest opponent of the year. If an SEC matchup isn’t enough to get you excited, Arkansas being ranked No. 8 in the nation should grab your full attention.
The Razorbacks will be Georgia’s second top 10 ranked opponent of the early season, and to be honest, there hasn’t been much to stress over since beating Clemson 10-3 the opening weekend. The Dawgs have handled their other three games with ease.
The Georgia defense has been everything fans expected them to be, if not more. The Dawgs lead the country in points allowed, holding opponents to an average of 5.8 points per game. They also lead the nation in yards allowed per week at 181.8. In addition, the defense has 14 sacks on the season and seven interceptions, two of which resulted in touchdowns.
While the Georgia offense has been more than impressive, we are yet to see the unit on the field at full strength for an entire game. Still, the Bulldogs are averaging 42 points per contest and 454.5 yards, with 177.3 of them coming on the ground. As a result, Georgia fans have every reason to wake up excited on Saturday mornings.
As great as the numbers look on paper for the Bulldogs, there’s still reason for concern this Saturday at noon. Arkansas has just as much to prove as Georgia does, if not more. They will be in a hostile environment, regardless of how early it is, and a 4-0 start and being ranked in the top 10 was something no realistic Hog fan expected at the start of the season.
So here are the three Razorbacks I believe Georgia players and fans alike will need to keep their eyes on.
Treylon Burks leads Arkansas in receiving yards with 373. The junior wide receiver has 19 receptions with two touchdowns after four games. His longest catch of the year went for 91 yards in week three against Georgia Southern.
Last week, against Texas A&M, Burkes had a season-high six receptions, one of which was for 85 yards. He finished the game with 167 receiving yards, averaging 27.8 yards per reception.
Burks looked just as impressive the week before against Georgia Southern. He only had three receptions in week three, but he averaged 42.3 yards a catch and was able to find the endzone.
His numbers weren’t as impressive the first two games of the season, with five grabs for 37 yards against Texas and five for 42 against Rice.
Still, his numbers have looked better each week. The kid has definitely been making some noise, and the Georgia secondary will need to make sure they account for him every snap of the game.
With receptions of 85 and 91 yards in his last two weeks, Burks only needs one pass to make a defense pay for making a mistake.
The Dawgs need to put Kelee Ringo on him as he has slowly emerged as one of Georgia’s shut-down corners. Regardless of who covers him, they need to be on their toes and ready at a moment’s notice.
Sophomore Jalen Catalon has been a stud on the defensive side of the ball for Arkansas through four games this season.
The defensive back leads the team with 16 solo tackles and is one of two players with two interceptions this year, one of which he returned for 44 yards.
If those numbers aren’t impressive enough, keep in mind that Catalan has two interceptions and only had to defend three passes so far. Catalan knows what he is doing back there, and Georgia will have to be smart with him.
Texas A&M was smart enough not to throw the ball his way. He was only thrown towards once against Texas and twice when Arkansas played Georgia Southern. Georgia may need to choose the same route the Aggies took, but at the same time, the Dawgs have talented wideouts. They just need to make sure they can create space and catch the ball.
JT Daniels has plenty of options to play catch with, including getting back the big-man himself this week in Darnell Washington. Just last week, the Dawgs had four different players with at least three receptions. Still, I don’t know if Georgia has played a defensive back with the talent Catalon has.
If I were a betting man, I’d say he will more than likely be defending the best receiver Georgia has on the field. Regardless of who is under center for the Dawgs, they will need to know where this defensive back is at all times.
Let’s just call it for what it is. You don’t earn the name “Baby Cam” for nothing.
Sophomore quarterback KJ Jefferson has already been compared to Cam Newton. I’m not referring to the Newton who was released by the New England Patriots a few weeks ago. I mean Newton, who won the Heisman Trophy back in 2010.
Through the season’s first four games, Jefferson has completed 46 of 78 passes for 844 yards. If you don’t have a calculator handy, that’s averaging over 10 yards per completion, with six touchdowns, only two interceptions, and a QBR of 170.1. No, not the best numbers in the country, but wait, there’s more.
Jefferson is also Arkansas’ second-leading rusher. He’s pulled the old tuck and run 32 times through four games for a total of 230 yards and two rushing touchdowns. He is averaging 7.2 yards per carry, with his longest run being 38 yards. So Georgia needs to be ready for him to make plays, whether through the air on with his legs.
Yes, the Dawgs have one of, if not the best, defenses in the country. Still, in my opinion, they haven’t lined up against a quarterback this talented so far, so we will finally get to see them get a real test.
Jefferson is one of those quarterbacks that, as soon as you think you have him in your grasp, slips away and runs the ball for a first down. The Georgia defense will definitely need to bring their A-game to keep the Arkansas quarterback in check.