Alabama receiver Gary Cross slips past Arkansas defender Santos Ramirez in the first half of Saturday's SEC matchup in Fayetteville, Ark.FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - Every week, the University of Alabama football program seemingly reaches another milestone with yet another blowout.
Tua Tagovailoa passed for 334 yards and four touchdowns as the top-ranked Crimson Tide ran their winning streak against Arkansas to 12 straight games with a 65-31 win Saturday. Alabama has scored at least 45 points in six straight games for the first time in program history, with the 6-0 start including three Southeastern Conference victories.
It took just one play for the Tide to set the tone against the Razorbacks (1-5, 0-3) as Tagovailoa hit tight end Irv Smith Jr. on a pass across the middle that Smith took 76 yards to the end zone. Just 21 seconds into the game, Alabama led 7-0.
Nick Saban has coached Alabama to five national titles, but he hasn't ever had a team like this.
"I can't make any comparisons. This is a different team with its own identity," Saban said. "You're not really competing against the other team, you are competing against yourself. Are you really playing as well as you're capable of playing? We're obviously playing better on offense than we are on defense."
Tagovailoa fired four first-half touchdown passes and finished 10-of-12 overall. The sophomore was a spectator for most of the second half - he has yet to throw a fourth-quarter pass this season as Alabama has outscored its opponents by a combined score of 336-96.
"I thought we did an outstanding job on offense," Saban said. "We had a lot of explosive plays, a lot of big plays."
Alabama built leads of 21-0 and 34-14. Tagovailoa hit Jerry Jeudy for scoring strikes of 42 and 60 yards in the second quarter. On the second play of Alabama's second possession, Tagovailoa completed a 47-yard pass to Smith, who fumbled. Henry Ruggs recovered the ball and was credited with a 12-yard touchdown.
First-year Arkansas coach Chad Morris, who recruited Deshaun Watson to Clemson and coached the quarterback with the Tigers, had high praise for Tagovailoa.
"He is a fantastic leader, and you can definitely see that," Morris said. "They do a good job of moving him around, and his receivers do a good job of finding holes."
The Tide's Damien Harris rushed for 111 yards on 15 carries, including two short touchdown runs, and Josh Jacobs and Brian Robinson Jr. also had short runs for scores. Alabama kicker Joseph Bulovas made a 27-yard field goal in the fourth quarter but missed one of his nine extra-point attempts in the game. He's 35-of-36 for the season on PATs.
Former starting quarterback Jalen Hurts was 4-for-5 passing for 59 yards and ran for 35 yards on four carries.
Saban said the Tide's defense, which gave up 405 yards to Arkansas, has a lot of work to do to meet the level of play the offense has achieved so far.
"We made a lot of mistakes on defense," Saban said. "We didn't play very well as a unit. We had lots of opportunities to get off the field on third down, and we just didn't do it, which allowed them to extend drives.
"I don't think you beat the other team when you give up 31 points like we did today, from a defense perspective."
The Razorbacks' offense was considerably better than previous games against arguably the best defense it has faced this season. Ty Storey finished 25-of-39 passing for 230 yards with two touchdowns, Rakeem Boyd rushed for a season-high 102 yards and 10 Arkansas players had at least one catch.
Tight end Cheyenne O'Grady had 48 yards on seven catches - two of them touchdowns - and De'Vion Warren had a 17-yard touchdown reception. That pass was thrown by Cole Kelley, who also ran for a touchdown. Connor Limpert made a 41-yard field goal in the third quarter and hit all of his PATs.
Alabama safety Shyheim Carter intercepted a Storey pass and returned it 44 yards for a touchdown with 12:15 left in the game. The pick-six was the fourth for the Tide defense this season.