This was starting to feel a little like Alabama’s trip to Florida last year. Race to a lead, hang on tight as the walls caved in one of those Murphy’s Law scenarios.
And like the September 2021 trip to swampy Gainesville, Alabama had itself to blame for Arkansas’ 23-point run Saturday afternoon in Fayetteville. What was a 28-point lead was down to just five as all that clicked early flipped on Alabama.
So the fact the Crimson Tide left a 49-26 winner would’ve sounded ludicrous early in the fourth quarter.
And while Nick Saban won’t trade a 23-point win for the alternative, he didn’t love the road Alabama took Saturday.
That 28-0 start was great for Saban, especially considering half of those points came after Bryce Young’s AC joint sprain ended his day.
But for all the efficiency that built the lead, the response was equally sloppy.
The third quarter was a trip to banana land.
After allowing a 75-yard touchdown drive to end the first half, Alabama was outscored 16-0 in the third quarter. After holding a 314-149 yardage edge at the intermission, Alabama was outgained 141 to -1 in the third quarter. Not zero. Negative one yard.
Arkansas caught Alabama napping with an onside kick before a botch punt snap led to an easy touchdown for the Razorbacks.
What happened?
Saban said they lost their mental edge on defense and the trickle-down went from there.
“So when you lose that, you get soft and three-yard runs become eight-yard runs,” Saban said. “So it’s second-and-two instead of second-and-eight. You don’t get off the field on third down when you have an opportunity because you don’t cover as well.”
A few crossroad moments led to Arkansas’ comeback. With Alabama up 28-8, a third-and-14 at the Tide 34 was heading toward a sack before Arkansas quarterback KJ Jefferson escaped traffic to hit Raheim Sanders for a 16-yard pass. Two plays later, a touchdown and it’s 28-14.
After recovering the onside kick, Arkansas converted two third-downs on a drive ending with a field goal, 28-17.
And when an Alabama 3-and-out was followed by a fumbled punt snap, Arkansas needed just one snap to make it 28-23. After converting just one third-down before halftime, the Hogs had three in the third quarter.
“We just have to keep our energy up and keep being locked in and focused on our keys,” Alabama linebacker Will Anderson said.
And after going to halftime with just three penalties, Alabama had seven for 71 yards after halftime. Just not sharp.
“One on third-and-forever, after the play,” Saban said with his voice growing louder. “Gave them a first down, I mean, that’s not playing smart. And everybody has the opportunity to make good choices and decisions and play smart. We need to do a better job of doing that.”
That said, even when everything was going wrong, Anderson said they never lost their cool.
And when it felt like it couldn’t get worse, one big play helped the Tide defense lock in. After Arkansas scored in the wake of the punt snafu, the Hogs went for two to try and cut it to a field goal margin. Quarterback KJ Jefferson had success finding open space running the ball, but when he took off for the goal line, linebacker Henry To’o To’o and cornerback Terrion Arnold were there to wrestle the 6-foot-3, 242-pound passer short of the line.
“That was really big,” Anderson said. “And that just goes back to everybody being locked in and on the same page to execute the play that Coach Pete Golding put us in.”
From there, Arkansas was outgained 242-87 and outscored 21-3.
Disaster averted in the best possible scenario for Saban. He’ll have a laundry list of teaching points that’ll land without a loss.
Michael Casagrande is a reporter for the Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @ByCasagrande or on Facebook.
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