TIDE, TAKE THREE
1. The average score of an Alabama football game this season is 44-13.2. Alabama’s defense has allowed five touchdowns and scored five touchdowns through five games.3. The Crimson Tide have won 103 games since the start of the 2008 season. Oregon is next among “Power Five” schools with 91.
SEC PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
OFFENSIVE: LSU running back Derrius Guice, who rushed for a career-best 163 yards, averaged 9.6 per carry and scored three touchdowns in the 48-7 win over Missouri. DEFENSIVE: Tennessee defensive end Derek Barnett, who racked up five tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss, two sacks and a key forced fumble during the 34-31 victory at Georgia. SPECIAL TEAMS: Tennessee long-snapper Riley Lovingood, who snapped the ball to punter Trevor Daniel and then raced down to the Georgia 6-yard line to down the kick. SPECIAL TEAMS: Arkansas tackle Dan Skipper, who made his second blocked field goal of the season and the seventh of his career, which is just two off the NCAA record. FRESHMAN: Alabama running back Joshua Jacobs, who made his first start and earned his first 100-yard game with 16 carries for 100 yards in the 34-6 win over Kentucky. OFFENSIVE LINEMAN: LSU center Ethan Pocic, who played 80 snaps and had five knockdown blocks on an offense that amassed 634 yards and 42:33 in possession time. DEFENSIVE LINEMAN: Texas A&M defensive end Daeshon Hall, who collected six total tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss and two sacks in the 24-13 triumph at South Carolina. – David Paschall
It’s Arkansas week for college football’s top-ranked Alabama Crimson Tide, who know exactly what to expect from the Razorbacks on Saturday night in Fayetteville.
“They always come off the ball and try to run it first,” senior defensive tackle Dalvin Tomlinson said Monday in a news conference. “Then they’re going to try and air it out. It’s old-school football, so we have to be ready for the whole 60 minutes.”
For all the spread offenses that have cropped up around the country in the past decade, the purists always could turn the past few years to Southeastern Conference matchups involving Alabama, Arkansas and LSU. That is not always the case now with Alabama, which is quarterbacked by dual-threat freshman Jalen Hurts, and the Razorbacks not only run the ball but have been throwing it around as well as anyone.
Arkansas quarterback Austin Allen, whose older brother Brandon started the past three seasons for the Razorbacks, leads the SEC in passing efficiency through five games. He has completed 94 of 139 passes (67.6 percent) for 1,232 yards and 12 touchdowns, with only two interceptions.
“This team has demonstrated this year that they have one of the best-balanced teams that we’re going to play,” Alabama coach Nick Saban said. “They’re running the ball for almost 200 yards a game (197.0), and they are throwing it for over 200 yards a game (246.4).
“I don’t think they’re one-dimensional at all.”
The No. 16 Razorbacks are 4-1 overall and 0-1 in SEC play, having lost 45-24 to No. 8 Texas A&M on Sept. 24. Alabama is 5-0 and 2-0, with four of its five wins by 28 points or more.
Alabama ravaged Arkansas 52-0 in both 2012 and 2013, but the past two meetings have been much tighter.
The Crimson Tide survived 14-13 two years ago in Fayetteville despite getting outgained by the Razorbacks 335-227. Arkansas led last year’s game in Tuscaloosa 7-3 in the final two minutes of the third quarter before an 81-yard touchdown pass from Jake Coker to Calvin Ridley ignited Alabama in its eventual 27-14 win.
“I’ve never been there, but I know they played us tough last year,” Ridley said. “I know it’s going to be a great game.”
Alabama has not lost to Arkansas since Saban took over the Tide in 2007, so he will try to make it a perfect 10 against the Razorbacks. This is the fourth opportunity for Hogs coach Bret Bielema to try to end the streak.
“You really don’t need an extraordinary, out-of-the-body experience in this game. You just need to do your job,” Bielema said Monday in a news conference. “The more you press it and try and make something more than it needs to be, you probably end up misfiring. They train for this game 365 days a year to have Alabama come to town No. 1, and you first have to give a lot of credit to Alabama.
“Everybody who is going to fly over here is one of the best in the business, so it’s a tremendous opportunity for us.”
Alabama stymied the Arkansas rushing game a year ago, holding Alex Collins to 26 yards on 12 carries. The Razorbacks are led on the ground this year by sophomore Rawleigh Williams III, who ranks second in the league with 559 yards and 111.8 yards per game, and freshman Devwah Whaley, who has rushed for 220 yards and 6.7 yards per carry.
ESPN is televising this year’s Alabama-Arkansas game with a 7 p.m. EDT kickoff.
“They love to run the ball and be physical,” Tide linebacker Shaun Dion Hamilton said. “Early on, we know they’re going to try to run, run, run. We’re going to have to be physical.”
Tide tidbits
Saban said junior receiver ArDarius Stewart (knee) will resume practicing this week and is hopeful he can play…. Alabama’s game next week at Tennessee will be televised by CBS with a 3:30 p.m. kickoff…. Senior outside linebacker Tim Williams was suspended during the first half of Saturday’s game but was recognized Monday as one of Alabama’s players of the week after compiling four tackles, three tackles for loss and a sack.
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.