FAYETTEVILLE -- Georgia Coach Kirby Smart knows good defense when he sees it. He was Alabama's defensive coordinator for Nick Saban.
"I give a lot of credit to Arkansas' defense," Smart said after the No. 4 Bulldogs beat the Razorbacks 37-10 on Saturday. "They caused us some problems."
The final score might indicate otherwise, but the University of Arkansas defense had a strong showing in the 2020 season opener at Reynolds Razorback Stadium.
Georgia's defense scored nine points on a safety and Eric Stokes' 30-yard interception return for a touchdown.
The Bulldogs had to go just 24 yards for another touchdown after a blocked punt.
Arkansas held Georgia to 387 yards despite the Bulldogs running 89 plays and having the ball for 36 minutes, 46 seconds as the Razorbacks' offense struggled to move and the ball with poor field position for much of the game.
Georgia on average started its 17 drives at its 41 -- including nine in the first half at that spot on average -- but Arkansas led 7-5 at halftime.
"Defense, I was proud of them," Razorbacks Coach Sam Pittman said. "They got put in some terrible [situations].
"I mean, if the defense doesn't step up the first half, we could have been down three touchdowns very easy because we couldn't get it off the goal line."
It was the first game as Arkansas' defensive coordinator for Barry Odom, Missouri's coach the previous four seasons.
"Coach Odom had a great game plan, and I thought our kids especially on the defensive side of the ball played well," Pittman said.
Linebacker Grant Morgan, a fifth-year senior making his first start, led the Razorbacks with 13 tackles.
"I think this definitely shows the defensive guys we have promise," said Morgan. "It shows we can be really good, and it shows we can be really good against a really good football team."
Arkansas redshirt freshman safety Jalen Catalon made his first career start and had nine tackles and forced a fumble that was recovered by freshman safety Myles Slusher.
The Razorbacks also got a takeaway on junior cornerback Montaric Brown's interception of D'Wan Mathis at the Arkansas 12 after Georgia started the drive at the UA 15.
"The whole game I think we strained really well," Catalon said. "First half, we caught them off guard with how fast and how well we were getting to the ball, but I think at the end of the day they just made the plays they needed, and they had good field position to make the plays they needed to win the game."
The performance was in stark contrast to last season when the Razorbacks finished 110th nationally in total defense, yielding an average of 450.7 yards per game.
That was despite having three players on defense – lineman McTelvin Agim, safety Kamren Curl and linebacker De'Jon Harris – now with NFL teams.
"I'm proud of my defense for straining, not quitting, fighting the whole game," Catalon said. "I think it's definitely a step forward.
"We'll never accept losing. Losing is not what we're wanting to do. We're trying to change the culture around here. I think the defense definitely made a statement that it's not like how it was before. It's different now."
Cornerback Jerry Jacobs, a graduate transfer from Arkansas State University, started in his Razorbacks debut and had 7 tackles. He also played against Georgia last year, when he suffered a season-ending knee injury in the fourth game in the Bulldogs' 55-0 victory over the Red Wolves.
Arkansas senior defensive end Dorian Gerald, who missed the final 11 games last season after suffering a neck injury, started and had 4 tackles, including 1 1/2 sacks for losses of 20 years.
Junior linebacker Bumper Pool had 11 tackles and sophomore end Zach Williams had 7 tackles and a sack for a 7-yard loss.
"The sky is the limit, you know?" Catalon said. "Our coaches coach us like we're the best defense in the country.
"If we don't have that mindset, they don't want us in here. They don't want us on the defense if we don't believe we can be the best. In the first half, it showed that.
"We made stops we needed, we got the turnovers and even when we had bad field position, Coach Odom always says, 'Give us a place to stand and let's just play football.'
"We need to go in the film room and find out the mistakes we made in the game and fix it. But I thought the defense stepped up and showed that we can be something special for sure."