Georgia Hopes to Hog-Tie 12th Ranked Arkansas This Weekend in Athens

Through two games this season, Georgia has shown us glimpses of how the team can perform.

They can play like the team that punished Louisiana- Lafayette. The team that plays ruthless defense, where the corner backs steal passes like John Dillinger robbed banks, the offense looks like an unstoppable scoring machine, and every Dawg fan sings Glory to Ole Georgia as the game ends, signifying a victory.

Or they could play like they did against South Carolina, where a freshman running back parted the defensive front like Moses did the Red Sea, the offense puts up less points than your average baseball game, and they get embarrassed in front of a National television audience.

In my own opinion, I see the better of the two mentioned teams being the one that appears the rest of the season. Looking at the schedule at the beginning of the season, most people figured that Georgia wasn't going to go undefeated, and that one of their losses was going to come within the first four games, presumably against South Carolina. Now that the loss has happened, it is time for Georgia to start winning, and it all begins this weekend in Athens.

Visiting Sanford Stadium this weekend is the twelfth ranked Arkansas Razorbacks, who are coached by Bobby Petrino and led by one of the best quarterbacks in the country this season, Ryan Mallett.

Arkansas had no problem beating their first two opponents soundly, winning by a combined 75-10, but they played two under-matched teams in Tennessee Tech and Louisiana- Monroe.

Georgia is a different story.

The factor on Arkansas' offense that will determine how the game will go is going to be how Ryan Mallett performs. So far this season, he has been a beast. Throwing for over 700 yards and six touchdowns thus far, he has had no problem making plays for the Hogs.

The key to stopping Mallett from adding to those numbers is going to be how Georgia's linebackers can do.

Justin Houston, Akeem Dent, Christian Robinson and Darryl Gamble are going to need to blitz as often as they can, as long as it doesn't start to open up any big plays. Todd Grantham will need to have a game plan ready that will put pressure on Mallett with every snap he takes. Against the pass this season, Georgia has has a lot of success. They have only given up 279 yards through the air in two games, with three interceptions and a few pass breakups. If Georgia can put pressure on Mallett to rush his throws, hopefully forcing a few turnovers in the process, they will have no problem keeping the score low.

Georgia's offense is another question entirely.

In the first game, Georgia put up points with ease, with Aaron Murray showing off both with both his arm and his legs, albeit against Louisiana- Lafayette. Against South Carolina, Georgia's offense looked anemic, although Murray continued to show just how good he is.

In last weeks game, the offensive line physically and mentally got whipped. The blocking was average and created no holes for Washaun Ealey, Caleb King, or Carlton Thomas to run through. Tight end Orson Charles dropped a few passes, and the entire receiving unit played with no emotion. Whether it was because A.J. Green wasn't playing, therefore having no true deep threat for South Carolina to worry about, or if it was because Georgia was just out matched against South Carolina's  secondary, it was awful.

There hasn't been word as of yet as to whether or not the NCAA will drop Green's suspension of four games to two and allow him to play this weekend, so Georgia will need to prepare as if they will again be without their star player.

One noticeable factor of why Georgia looked so bad against the Gamecocks last Saturday was the play calling of Mike Bobo. It was just plain awful.

The reason why it was so bad, and why Georgia managed to only put up six points can be blamed on the fact that both Mark Richt and Bobo were not going to open the playbook up too much for Aaron Murray, who was playing in his first SEC game ever, as well as his first road game. With what he was given to work with, Murray passed for more yards on less chances than he did against Louisiana- Lafayette. Had he been given more opportunities to throw the deep pass or use his legs, both the score and outcome could have been a lot different.

Along with all of this, one question remains: Which Mark Richt will show up?

How Richt acted in both games was a resemblance of how his team played. In the first game, he seemed enthusiastic and amped up, exciting his players and showing some fire on the sidelines.

As fired up as he was then, he looked extinguished against South Carolina.

When watching the game last Saturday, I could not help but notice how blank and boring Richt looked on the sideline. At first, he acted like he wasn't excited to play, just staring through his sunglasses with a dead stare as if he was at a funeral. That is a HUGE problem for a head coach to have.

This weekend, Richt needs to be fired up again. He is coming off an embarrassing loss, a highly ranked team is coming to Athens, and this is a conference game. If that doesn't excite you as a Dawg fan, I do not know what will.

This weekend is a test for Georgia, one that asks them one simple question.

Will the real Georgia Football team please stand up?

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