Crimson Tide have scored 94 in a row

Friday, January 1, 1904

Arkansas-SEMO Live Blog

TIDE, TAKE THREE

Three tidbits regarding top-ranked Alabama entering Saturday's game against Florida Atlantic:1. Alabama has forced 12 turnovers this season while losing only one.2. Beginning with the humiliation of Michigan State at the Capital One Bowl in the 2010 season, the Crimson Tide are on a 17-game stretch in which they've allowed just 44.8 rushing yards a game.3. Alabama's Sept. 29 home game against Ole Miss will be shown by ESPN or ESPN2, and it will kick off at 9:15 EDT.

Alabama is coming off a 52-point win over Arkansas and has been listed as a 51-point favorite this week against Florida Atlantic, giving Crimson Tide coach Nick Saban all the more reason to focus on within.

The top-ranked Tide have reeled off 94 consecutive points since late in the third quarter of the season-opening thrashing of Michigan. That tops the streak of 70 unanswered points Alabama compiled from the third quarter of last season's game at Auburn through the second quarter against the Wolverines.

"There is always room to improve," Saban said Monday. "You have never really arrived. The goal should be to make the team stronger, and we need to work on demanding more from each other so that we can become a better team.

"It's human nature that people respond better when things go bad, but I want to see if our players have the maturity to be able to respond even when things don't go bad."

Alabama's 52-0 victory was the first shutout loss for Arkansas in Reynolds Razorback Stadium since 1966.

"We never really look at the scoreboard," Crimson Tide senior guard Chance Warmack said. "Scoring 52 points is impressive, but as far as we go as a team, we just want to do the best we can and execute our plays. Regardless of what the scoreboard is, that's all we care about."

Saban did not like having seven penalties for 74 yards at Arkansas, and he didn't approve of the play of some of his reserves. The Crimson Tide outscored the Razorbacks 14-0 in the fourth quarter, getting touchdown runs by fourth-string tailback Kenyan Drake and third-string quarterback Blake Sims.

"Being average is contagious, and if you demand more of yourself you get more," Saban said. "If you went out and asked some 12-year-old kid what he needed to improve on, he would probably have to sit there for a half hour or 45 minutes to find something. If you went and asked Peyton Manning what he could improve on, he would probably write a novel on all the things he could do better."

Alabama did not sustain any injuries of significance against the Razorbacks. This week's game against the Owls will kick off at 5 p.m. EDT, and it will be shown on a pay-per-view basis.

Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.