Georgia’s defensive weakness isn’t a secret.

Opposing teams are taking the battle to the sky, exploiting the Bulldogs with passes.

Arkansas quarterback Ryan Mallett looked like a rising star during his performance in the Razorback’s 52-41 loss Saturday. In his first career SEC game, the Texarkana native threw for a school-record 408 yards and five touchdowns.

Georgia’s cornerbacks got beat on deep passes, safeties were late to help in coverage and Razorback receivers were wide open far too often.

The Bulldog secondary looked confused, hesitant and at times nonexistent.

“Right now, I really can’t tell you,” said cornerback Brandon Boykin.

“It’s a matter of us making plays. We didn’t make the plays. They scored when they needed to. That’s the point. You’ve just got to make the big plays, make the picks, get the pass break ups. I take fault in that, and the secondary and everybody else.”

Georgia held Arkansas to 77 rushing yards, forcing Mallett to throw the ball 39 times. An average rushing threat worked out for Arkansas, since the Razorbacks averaged 11 yards per passing attempt and 19 yards for every completion.

“It was frustrating,” said Georgia linebacker Rennie Curran. “They came out passing-something we knew that we couldn’t let happen . No, I mean we saw exactly what we had seen on film. We have to go out and execute.”

The realization for Georgia and its secondary? The passing attack is a trend the Bulldogs should expect to see in the future. South Carolina passed the ball 53 times against Georgia and Arkansas finished with 39 attempts.

The remaining foes on Georgia’s schedule hold the blueprint-they’ll mimic the aerial tactics the Razorbacks and Gamecocks used.

Georgia has given up 78 points in those first two SEC contests.

“Well, I mean, I’m not real excited about it,” said Georgia coach Mark Richt. “But I do know we have an opportunity to continue to improve. If we continue to improve, the number of points is going to come down.”

Georgia’s offense bailed the team out Saturday, but also put the defense in precarious spots with three turnovers.

The Bulldogs have eight turnovers this season, hurting the defense in terms of field position.

And the defense held Arkansas to 3-of-14 on third down, indicating a they can rise to the occasion when needed.

But it was the big play that burned the Georgia defense Saturday. Four of Mallet’s touchdowns were 18 yards or longer.

“We have to get off blocks, get better in the coverage, execute those blitzes better, help communicate better,” Curran said. “Just not flinching is the main thing.”

Georgia defenders said they know they struggled against the pass Saturday and improvement has to be made soon to maintain success.

“We’ve been down with our backs against the wall,” Curran said. “It’s only made us stronger. Even though we have made a lot of mistakes, what we’ve gone through in the past has helped us.

“We never point fingers, never get down on ourselves. That’s one good thing about our team, through these first games, we’re always going to fight, and as the season goes on we’ll get stronger.”

Despite the deficiency against the pass, Georgia is 2-0 in the SEC, sitting atop the likes of Florida in the Eastern Division.

“I’ll take a win any way it comes, especially on the road,” said Bulldog quarterback Joe Cox. “You can never underestimate the power of a win, I don’t care how ugly it is.”