Mark Buffalo • Stephens Media
By Robbie Neiswanger
Arkansas News Bureau • rneiswanger@arkansasnews.com
ATHENS, Ga. — Arkansas coach Bobby Petrino and the Razorbacks have gone on and on about finding ways to win on the road in the fourth quarter since the end of 2009.
The goal was to toughen up both mentally and physically in the offseason. Play with confidence, poise and passion. Get in position to win with the performance early on, but wrap things up with dominance at the end.
Arkansas’ 31-24 in against Georgia in front of an announced crowd of 92,746 in Sanford Stadium didn’t really go as the Razorbacks planned Saturday. But when it was over, they could say one thing: Mission accomplished.
Quarterback Ryan Mallett executed a game-winning drive to perfection in the final minute, guiding the No. 12 Razorbacks 73 yards in 32 seconds to hand the Bulldogs (1-2, 0-2 in SEC) a stunning defeat. It was an unbelievable ending, considering Arkansas had squandered a two-touchdown lead before Mallett connected with receiver Greg Childs for a 40-yard touchdown with 15 seconds remaining.
No matter how it happened, Arkansas (3-0, 1-0 in SEC) earned some much-needed validation and snapped its seven-game road losing streak. It was the Razorbacks first road win since beating Auburn 25-22 in 2008 and, clearly, the most important under Petrino.
“Any time you can come in the SEC in somebody’s house and win, that’s obviously a benchmark for you,” Arkansas defensive coordinator Willy Robinson said. “We did that.
“That’s a major stepping stone for us.”
The dramatic win sets up a big battle against defending national champion and top-ranked Alabama in Fayetteville next week. But the Razorbacks weren’t thinking about it Saturday. Instead, they were breathing a sigh of relief after delivering game-winning plays to beat Georgia.
“It definitely was a rough game,” Arkansas cornerback Ramon Broadway said. “But we kept swinging. It seemed like stuff was not going our way, but you’ve got to stay focused and say I’m going to go out and make this play.”
Arkansas did almost everything right through three quarters Saturday. The offense scored on its opening drive with Mallett’s 57-yard touchdown pass to Chris Gragg on a third-and-4 play-action pass. The run game struggled (53 yards on 23 attempts), but Arkansas still scored points.
Defensively, the Razorbacks were aggressive. They gave up a few big plays and missed some tackles, but put pressure on Georgia quarterback Aaron Murray (15 of 27, 253 yards, 1 touchdown, 1 interception). The Bulldogs — who played without leading receiver A.J. Green and running back Caleb King — scored on their first drive before struggling to crack Arkansas’ defense until late in the game.
It all culminated in Arkansas’ 24-10 lead. But that was before everything unraveled in the fourth quarter.
“We knew going in the game it was going to be very difficult,” Petrino said. “It was going to be tough. It was going to be a fourth quarter win and you’ve got to respond. We stuttered a little bit in the fourth quarter and we put our defense in a bad situation.”
Murray led the Bulldogs on a 62-yard scoring drive to close the deficit to 24-17 with 7:52 remaining. Arkansas’ offense sputtered and gave the ball back after three plays. Then, Georgia tied the game with a 52-yard drive that was capped by Washaun Ealey’s 3-yard run.
“It kind of seemed like all was lost there for a minute,” Arkansas defensive end Jake Bequette said. “But there was not one moment on the sidelines where we gave up or we thought they were going to win the game.”
Arkansas made a series of plays — following the series of blunders — that proved critical in the win.
Mark Buffalo • Stephens Media
First, Arkansas punter Dylan Breeding delivered a 57-yard punt from his own end zone with the game tied and little more than two minutes remaining. It kept the Bulldogs off the Razorbacks side of the field before their final drive.
Georgia gained 11 yards on its first play after Breeding’s punt, but the defense buckled down. With the Bulldogs at midfield and facing third-and-4, Bequette sacked Georgia quarterback Aaron Murray (and even ripped off his helmet on the play) to put an end to Georgia’s threat.
“They had all the momentum at that point,” said Bequette, who had one of Arkansas’ six sacks in the game. “As a defensive unit, we had to make a big play somehow. We had to find it within ourselves to just dig deep and do something and I was lucky enough to make a play.”
Arkansas took the ball at its own 27 after a punt and Mallett began the game-winning march with 47 seconds left.
He opened the drive by finding D.J. Williams for an 18-yard gain. Then Mallett hit Williams again for 15 more on plays Petrino described as “bread and butter” ones.
Then Mallett hit Childs near the sideline. The junior avoided a tackle attempt by Georgia’s Shawn Williams and cruised into the end zone with his arms stretched out.
“They got it done. We didn’t,” Georgia coach Mark Richt said. “We turned things around and got momentum in our favor, but we did not finish.”
Arkansas knows the feeling after falling short in road losses at Florida and LSU last year. Even further back, the Razorbacks squandered a fourth quarter lead at Kentucky in 2008, giving up two touchdowns late in a loss.
“This is a really surreal feeling,” Mallett said. “It’s something I’ve never experienced before. This has got to be the greatest moment I’ve felt since I’ve played the game of football. It so rarely comes down to the wire like this. It’s sometimes gone the other way for us, but now I know how it feels to get the win.”
Mallett also may have announced his entry into the Heisman Trophy race with the drive. Despite struggling through most of the second half, he completed 21 of 33 for 380 yards with 3 touchdowns in the win. Childs caught three passes for 82 yards and a touchdown. Receiver Joe Adams had another big game with six catches for 130 yards.
Arkansas’ elation was evident when Murray’s final pass fell to the turf in the end zone. The team celebrated at midfield, then rang the bell that travels with them to every road game as they slipped to the locker room.
Once there, the team called injured running back Dennis Johnson, who is out after suffering a bowel injury last week, to include him in on the fun. Petrino said the Razorbacks dedicated the game to Johnson and he was part of what Petrino described an “emotional” moment.
Earning a road win — and taking the first step toward their preseason goal of an SEC championship — certainly wasn’t easy. Or flawless. Or dominant for Arkansas.
But it didn’t matter to the Razorbacks.
“We won,” Robinson said. “We responded to negative situations. We came back. We fought hard. …
“We’re going to celebrate this win.”
