A big one in Athens: Anonymous coach feedback on Arkansas-Georgia

By the end of Saturday, at least two of the SEC’s five unbeaten teams no longer will be undefeated.

No. 1 Alabama plays host to No. 12 Ole Miss and No. 2 Georgia welcomes in No. 8 Arkansas. So what should you expect from these two big SEC showdowns? To get you a better feel, On3 asked for feedback from eight coaches and team staffers who have either seen tape or been in games against Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia and/or Ole Miss. 

Here are their views on Arkansas-Georgia. We had a breakdown of Alabama-Ole Miss on Wednesday.

General background

Not since the days of Ken Hatfield has Arkansas gotten off to this kind of start.

For the first time since Hatfield’s third season as Razorbacks coach, in 1986, Arkansas has opened with four consecutive double-digit wins. Making it even more impressive for second-year coach Sam Pittman and his team is that it comes just one year after the Razorbacks were in the midst of a 20-game SEC losing streak.

Nevertheless, this will be the biggest challenge for Arkansas, which beat then-No. 15 Texas 40-21 in Week 2 and then-No. 7 Texas A&M 20-10 last week.

Georgia, which opened the season with a 10-3 win over then-No. 3 Clemson, improved to 4-0 last week with a 62-0 victory over Vanderbilt during which the Bulldogs nearly had as many points as Vandy had yards (77).

Georgia is an 18.5-point favorite.

Not a lot of confidence in Arkansas

One of the personnel figures polled by On3 expressed confidence in Arkansas being able to stick with Georgia and possibly pull out a win.

Everyone else? Not so much. “I think Georgia’s going to beat the shit out of them,” one SEC personnel official said.

While Arkansas has All-SEC wide receiver Treylon Burks and the SEC’s third-ranked rushing offense, Georgia has what looks to opposing coaches like one of the best SEC defenses of the past five or so years. The Bulldogs are ranked No. 1 nationally in total defense (185.3 yards per game), yards per play (3.34) and scoring defense (5.8 points per game).

NFL scouts have told On3 that they have first-round grades on 6-foot-6, 340-pound defensive tackle Jordan Davis. Outside linebacker Adam Anderson, who has three sacks and nine additional quarterback hurries, is another first-round prospect. Others, like linebacker Nakobe Dean, are highly thought of by NFL scouts and SEC coaches.

“They’re impressive up front, to say the least,” an SEC personnel staffer said. “Jordan Davis looks like he was created in a lab somewhere. Adam Anderson and guys like Quay Walker — when it comes to pass-rush ability, they’re elite. They’re really good players. Their secondary, I’d say it’s above average. They don’t have a whole bunch of first-round draft picks back there right now to my knowledge, but they’re good players.”

“They’ve got, no lie, like four edge rushers and they’ve got like six interior d-linemen they can put in there,” an SEC defensive coach said. “Those dudes are freaks. ‘99’ (Davis) gets a lot of hype and he’s good, but ‘95’ (Devonte Wyatt) and ‘88’ (Jalen Carter) — ‘88’s going to be special. He was my favorite player in 2020 out of all the defensive players in the country (in that recruiting class). That kid can play football, man. He’s playing real good. ‘95’s playing real good, too. He doesn’t look as imposing as ‘99’ and ‘88,’ but he probably makes the most plays out of the interior d-linemen. And then, of course, they’ve got those edge rushers, and Nakobe Dean’s playing really good.”

It doesn’t help the Razorbacks that Burks and QB K.J. Jefferson are dealing with injuries, although Pittman expects both to be available Saturday.

“I’d be very surprised if they won,” an SEC team official said of Arkansas. “I just think Georgia’s too talented. I just think it’s not even close, especially on defense. I think Georgia’s defense will just suffocate them. And Arkansas has kind of had a gauntlet, too. They had to play a full game versus Texas even though they won handily, and then had to play a full game versus A&M. Georgia’s going to be fresh. They’re going to be ready to go. They haven’t had to play a full game other than the Clemson game. I would be surprised if it’s close.”

“It wouldn’t surprise me if Georgia beat them 37-17 or something like that,” another SEC staffer said. “I think if Arkansas and Ole Miss played right now that Ole Miss would beat ’em. Arkansas’ going to lose in my opinion — based off personnel, they’ll lose to Georgia, they’ll lose to Ole Miss, they’ll lose to Alabama, and they may drop one more. I still think Arkansas is far from being an SEC West contender.”

Georgia’s offense will be tested

Georgia doesn’t have the only highly ranked defense in this matchup.

Led by coordinator Barry Odom, whose work draws raves from those in the coaching world, the Razorbacks’ defense is 12th-best nationally (267.3 yards per game) and tied for eighth in yards per play (4.1).

In the Week 2 upset of Texas, Arkansas held the Longhorns to 118 passing yards and limited star running back Bijan Robinson to 73 scrimmage yards (69 rushing, four receiving) and an average of 3.6 yards per carry. Robinson has averaged 169.3 scrimmage yards and 7.2 yards per carry in Texas’ other three games.

“Arkansas has a really good front,” an SEC personnel figure said. “They do the ‘rush three and drop eight,’ and they can get pressure with three. And I think Georgia has a good o-line, but it’s not what you’re used to in the Kirby Smart era with the o-line at Georgia. I think their o-line is good. It’s not first-rounders and draft picks everywhere like they’ve had in the past. If they can get into some man-coverage situations, the receivers at Georgia can win, but Arkansas does a good job of understanding zone coverage and baiting you into throws. But I would say the Georgia o-line versus the Arkansas d-line would be a matchup that Arkansas has a little bit of an advantage.”

Defensive end Tre Williams, a Missouri transfer, has been a difference-maker for the Razorbacks. He’s tied for second in the SEC with four sacks, including two in Arkansas’ win over Texas A&M to go along with three quarterback hurries.

“I thought Tre Williams had his best game against A&M,” an SEC staffer said. “He caused a lot of holdings and created pressure.”

As for Georgia, the offensive line isn’t the only aspect of the Bulldogs’ offense that opposing SEC staffers described as being solid but not elite. Wide receiver is another.

“The big knock I would say on them is that they don’t have anybody in that receiver room that’s super scary to me,” a personnel official said.

And there are at least some around the conference who put QB J.T. Daniels in that same “solid but not elite” category. While Daniels is 32-of-41 for 432 yards and five touchdown passes in Georgia’s past two games, it was pointed out by an SEC defensive coach that he threw for just 135 yards with an interception in Georgia’s 10-3 season-opening win over Clemson.

“One of the biggest question marks with Georgia is at quarterback,” a personnel figure said. “Daniels has shown that he’s good enough at times. But how good is he? And can he win the game if they need him to win a game?”

The same personnel figure is impressed with Odom, who was Missouri’s coach for four seasons prior to joining Pittman’s staff at Arkansas. “He’s been one of the toughest guys to go against, including obviously with Ole Miss last year (Matt Corral threw six picks in a loss to the Hogs),” he said. “And what they’ve been able to do on the defensive line and up front with a bunch of those transfers and a lot of those guys playing really well. … I think that’s probably one of the bigger storylines, (Georgia offensive coordinator) Todd Monken versus Barry Odom and who’s going to win that chess match.”

“J.T.’s a really good distributor of the football, manages the game very, very well, and you see him doing a lot of checks at the line of scrimmage and making sure they’re in the right slide protection on pass pro and identifying certain key players on the defense,” another personnel figure said. “He’s a pretty smart kid. But they don’t put anything too crazy on him. Todd does a good job of not making things too advanced or too complicated.

“But if you can get a pass rush at all, J.T. is kind of a sitting duck. That is one negative about him. There’s little to no escapability in that body. He ain’t going anywhere other than to the ground if you can get heat on him.”

Arkansas staff continues to impress

Regardless of the outcome, there’s a ton of respect around the SEC for the job Pittman, Odom, offensive coordinator Kendal Briles and the rest of the staff has done in rebuilding the program after Arkansas went 8-28 from 2017-19, including a 1-23 mark in SEC play.

“It’s incredible what they’ve done, just the way they’re playing,” an SEC team official said. “It’s the same guys that they had before, basically. They’re just playing really well. You saw flashes of it last year, but it’s like a different team (compared to the Chad Morris era).”

The 2021 success comes after Arkansas won three SEC games last season and came within three points of winning three others.

“They’re overachieving a little bit, but I think that goes back to Coach Pittman and that offensive and defensive coordinator,” an SEC assistant said. “Those guys do a really good job. They put together a great game plan every single week. Week in and week out, they’re very prepared. They don’t try to overcomplicate things, which lets the kids play fast, and they get ’em ready to play. There’s a lot to be said about that.”

“They’re a tough team,” a personnel figure said. “The quarterback (Jefferson) is playing really well for what he does. He’s not a thrower. He doesn’t throw it particularly well, but he’s thrown it well enough when they need to. Briles, I think, has done a really good job with that kid. They’ve been able to really run the ball. Their front seven on defense has been phenomenal. And the o-line has played really well. They’ve got a good mix of backs. And they play hard. Probably take on a little bit of the personality of the head coach in terms of what Pittman’s done. They’re a tough team just because they’re tough on the o- and d-line, and they’re well-coached on both sides of the ball.”