Chauncey Bowens turned Georgia’s trip to Fayetteville into a showcase, scoring three touchdowns as the No. 2 Bulldogs rolled past Arkansas 45-17 on Saturday.
Georgia did most of its damage on the ground and didn’t need to lean heavily on the passing game. The Bulldogs built a 21-3 halftime lead, controlled the line of scrimmage and kept Arkansas pinned down to 17 rushing yards for the day.
Quarterback Gunner Stockton was efficient throughout, going 10 of 13 for 147 yards and a touchdown. He also led Georgia on the ground with 97 rushing yards, highlighted by a 62-yard third-down run that set up the Bulldogs’ third touchdown, Bowens’ second.
Georgia coach Kirby Smart said the score alone didn’t tell the full story.
"I don’t know that I would call it a blowout," Smart said. “Y’all might say that, but I don’t look at SEC games that way.
I don’t look at the scoreboard. I look at how we play.”
What Georgia did on defense made that hard to argue. Arkansas spent most of the afternoon throwing the ball, and even then the Razorbacks had little room to breathe.
KJ Jackson opened the game at quarterback, was replaced by AJ Hill, then returned late in the first half and finally pushed Arkansas into Georgia territory for the first time. But an intentional grounding penalty stalled that drive, and Max Gilbert kicked a 41-yard field goal right before halftime.
The Razorbacks had even less success on the ground. Seven players shared 20 carries and managed just 17 total yards, with Sutton Smith leading the way at 17 yards on six attempts. It was Arkansas’ worst rushing output since gaining 16 yards against LSU in 2018.
Georgia’s offense got rolling immediately. Nick Frazier finished a six-play, 62-yard opening drive with the Bulldogs’ first touchdown and ended with 75 yards on 14 carries.
Bowens added 39 yards on 11 carries. Stockton’s lone touchdown pass came early in the fourth quarter, when he connected with Craig Dandridge Jr. on a 61-yard play.
"I think Gunner did a good job of making us right," Smart said. “Several of those were pass plays that became run plays.
The defense dictates some of that. We’re going to take what they give us.”
Arkansas finished with better numbers through the air than on the ground, but the quarterback situation never settled in. Jackson completed 20 of 27 passes for 212 yards, while Hill went 8 of 14 for 76 yards. The two combined to lose 16 yards rushing, most of that on sacks.
The Razorbacks scored their only touchdowns in the fourth quarter after the game had already slipped away. Smith ran in from five yards out with 8 1 /2 minutes left, and Jackson found Ty Lockwood for a 2-yard touchdown with 40 seconds remaining.
The loss was Arkansas’ 12th straight in SEC play. Georgia, meanwhile, has dropped only 12 SEC regular-season games since 2016, Smart’s first year as head coach.
Arkansas’ football situation has already become a point of concern. Coach Ryan Silverfield was hired over the winter after the team went 2-10 last season, but the Razorbacks’ 1-1 start, now 1-2, was enough to prompt action. On Friday, the university’s Board of Trustees approved a resolution calling for a review of “the state of competitiveness of Razorback Athletics, including steps to improve the resources available to the football program.”
Georgia will host No. 24 Oklahoma on Saturday. Arkansas is set to host Tulsa on Saturday.
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