Alabama football coach Nick Saban reacts to an official’s call during Saturday’s win at Arkansas.The top-ranked Alabama Crimson Tide are halfway through their 2018 regular-season football schedule, having dismantled their first six opponents by the average score of 56-16.
Alabama has been a pinball machine offensively, scoring 45 or more points in each of its first six games for the first time in program history and reaching a season high in Saturday afternoon’s 65-31 triumph at Arkansas. The 31 points allowed, on the other hand, were the most yielded by the Tide since their 35-31 loss to Clemson in the national championship game of the 2016 season.
“We’re going to play a lot better offensive teams, and we’re playing a better offensive team this week in Missouri,” Alabama coach Nick Saban said Saturday in a news conference, “so we need to have our guys show a lot more focus and a lot more discipline and a little more confidence in believing that if they do their job the way we want them to do it, they’re going to have the best chance to be successful.
“I’m responsible for that. We need to coach them better and prepare them better. They need to be able to make adjustments in the game better when we see things.”
The Razorbacks (1-5, 0-3 Southeastern Conference) racked up an unexpected 22 first downs and 405 yards of total offense, with Alabama (6-0, 3-0) surrendering three passing touchdowns and an average of 5.5 yards per carry. Arkansas gained 109 yards in the first quarter and 127 in the second, with Alabama’s defense finally showing some life in the third, when the Hogs were held to 57 yards.
In the fourth, Arkansas rebounded with 112 yards.
“We knew we were messing up, and we were giving them yards and giving them points and stuff like that,” Alabama defensive lineman Quinnen Williams told reporters afterward. “It got kind of frustrating towards the end when we knew we kept messing up on the same stuff.”
Said safety Deionte Thompson: “We did not play to Alabama’s standard today.”
Alabama led the nation in scoring defense in 2016 (allowing an average of 13.0 points per game) and again last year (11.9) but entered this season with eight new starters after having eight defenders drafted this past spring. Saban reminded everyone of that Saturday.
“When you have younger players seeing new things, sometimes it takes some time for them to adjust,” he said. “You want them to play the next play and not let that affect them so they can move forward and do the things they need to do to execute. A mature competitor has the ability to play the next play.
“We got some timely turnovers in this game, or else they would have scored more points, but the good news is that everything we’re talking about is correctable.”
Alabama’s offense continues to function with minimal flaws. The Tide rolled up 639 yards in Fayetteville, the eighth-highest amount in program history, and they have produced at least 500 in every game this season.
Senior tailback Damien Harris rushed for 111 yards on just 15 carries, while sophomore quarterback Tua Tagovailoa continued to sizzle. Against SEC opposition, Tagovailoa has completed 43 of 58 passes (74.1 percent) for 912 yards with 10 touchdowns.
The Tide have gone back-to-back games without needing their punter.
“It’s exciting to be a part of this,” junior left tackle Jonah Williams said afterward. “When we execute our assignments across the board, that’s what happens. When 11 guys are doing their job, these are the results you get.
“It’s a big play or a touchdown every time.”
Alabama opened Sunday as a 28-point favorite over Missouri (3-2), which has started its SEC schedule with losses to Georgia and at South Carolina.
Tide tidbits
Alabama has forced at least one turnover in 48 of its past 50 games. The average halftime score of an Alabama game this season is 40-6. Tagovailoa has completed 30 of 34 second-quarter passes (88.2 percent) for 508 yards and six touchdowns. Harris has 2,555 career yards and needs 50 more to pass Bobby Marlow (1950-52) and rank among the top 10 rushers in program history.
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.