UGA Wins Wild Rendezvous Over Arkansas, 52-41

QB Joe Cox tossed for 375 yards and a school-record five touchdowns, while No. 23 Georgia (2-1)  pulled away for a very wild 52-41 victory over Arkansas (1-1) on Saturday night.

Cox tied a school record with the five touchdown passes. His predecessor, Matthew Stafford, is one of three other Georgia players to throw as many.

In a playground game of seesaw, the lead changed hands four times in the third quarter alone.The Razorbacks led 35-34 in the third quarter, but the Bulldogs' defense held Arkansas to two short field goals the remainder of the game. 

This track meet was the second consecutive high-scoring win for Georgia, which outlasted South Carolina 41-37 last weekend. The 6'7" QB Ryan Mallett, a transfer from Michigan making his SEC debut, set two school records for Arkansas, throwing for 408 yards and five touchdowns.

With a total of 93 points, the squads fell short of the SEC record of 104 points in a non-overtime game, set when South Carolina romped Mississippi State 65-39 in 1995. After  Mallett's  two-yard touchdown pass to D.J. Williams placed Arkansas ahead 35-34, Georgia needed only two plays to take the lead for the rest of the game when Cox chunked a 44-yard scoring pass to Orson Charles.

Then the Bulldogs lined up to go for two. A penalty pushed the ball back, but with the Arkansas defense offering no resistance, Georgia went for two anyway from the eight yard line. Cox discovered WR A.J. Green open in the corner of the end zone for a 42-35 lead.

WR Green later placed the Bulldogs ahead 49-38 with a 28-yard touchdown catch with 10:46 left in the game. 

Somewhat overlooked in the scoreboard drama was UGA RB Caleb King's impressive debut.

“We’ve been finding a way to keep it exciting,” Georgia coach Mark Richt said after the game. “I’m very thankful for the victory—excited to be 2-0 in the SEC. I don’t think we’ve come close to playing as well as we can.”

Obviously, both teams have a lot of work to do to fix their defenses.