Tide edge Arkansas to stay unbeaten in SEC play
Alabama survived a shaky second half to hand Arkansas their fifth-straight loss and remain atop the SEC West.
By: Dave in Tuscaloosa
Alabama nation, of course, is panicking post-Arkansas, which seems to be the trend this season. Nothing is coming easy for the Crimson Tide in 2023.
Against a feisty Arkansas squad, 11th-ranked Bama survived a listless second half and remained unbeaten in SEC play, throwing aside a valiant upset bid by the visiting Razorbacks 24-21 on Saturday in Tuscaloosa. The Tide had yet another uneven performance, which is typical for young teams but quite atypical for Alabama teams under Nick Saban. Jalen Molroe threw for three first-half touchdowns, the Bama defense thwarted a curious conservative opening half Hogs offense, and Bama looked to be cruising at the half, leading 21-6. But Arkansas, who now have lost five straight this season, looked like the Razorback team most expected in the second half as quarterback KJ Jefferson, who finished 14-24 for 150 yards and 2 touchdowns, spearheaded two late drives and a two-point conversion to make things uncomfortable for the Tide faithful.
Meanwhile, Alabama’s second half consisted of three and outs, a Miliroe cold spell, and once again, costly penalties. Arkansas would outscore Alabama 15-3 and had it not been for the Bama offense running out the clock on their last drive, a 10-play, 26-yard beauty that consisted of two third down conversions and a clutch 2nd and 13 completion that ate up the final 5:19, the Hogs very well may have pulled off the upset. Instead, the Hogs fell to 2-5 on the season while Alabama improved to 6-1 heading into Tennessee week.
To see the Tide look so sharp for a half and vulnerable the next begs the question whether this edition of Alabama football can get past the likes of the Vols, LSU, and Auburn on the Plains. As impressive as Alabama was for the first thirty minutes, they were equally ineffective in the second half until it really counted. The Bama D had, up until the final two drives of the game, thoroughly frustrated Jefferson and former Tide staffer Dan Enos’ offense as linebackers Deontae Lawson, Chris Braswell, and Dallas Turner continued their impressive seasons leading the Tide D and limiting the Hogs to two long first-quarter points. Freshman Caleb Downs and the Tide secondary, playing without Malachi Moore (ankle sprain), had a strong half and all looked well. However, the Tide failed to put the Hogs away and saw an 18-point second-half lead dwindle to 3.
Milroe looked great in the first half, going 7/11 with three of those passes going for long touchdowns. The second half was a different story, as the sophomore QB went cold and at one point, completing just 1/10 passes. He would finish 10-21 for 238 yards and 3 touchdowns. This was the first time Milroe has been under a 50% completion rate in a game this season. An area of concern has been the inconsistent play of the Tide offensive line, and Saturday did nothing to quiet that concern. Running lanes were hard to find and Milroe was sacked five times. Yet, all was not a total disaster as the offense came through in the clutch late in the 4th quarter, highlighted by a pass that was, perhaps, Milroe’s best of the season to date, a 14-yard strike at the 2:26 mark to tight end Amari Niblack that gained a valuable first down.
Outside of the two touchdown drives by Arkansas, the first aided by two costly Tide penalties that kept the drive alive, the Bama defense played well and limited the Hog offense to a total of 250 yards. The Tide defense also recorded four sacks on the day. Aside from the Tide getting the victory, the stage belonged to Bama senior placekicker Will Reichard. He continued to be perfect on the season (13 for 13) as he nailed a 30-yard field goal in the third quarter, the only Tide points in the second half. Already Alabama’s all-time scoring leader, Reichard would become the SEC’s all-time leader with an extra point that gave him 481 career points.
The Hogs got on the scoreboard first with a pair of Cam Little field goals as the junior hit from 55 and 49 yards. Alabama would respond with a 3-play, 75-yard drive that culminated in Milroe finding a wide-open Kobe Prentice (game-high 93 yards on 2 catches) for 79 yards that put Alabama ahead for good, 7-6 with 58 seconds remaining in the first quarter. Alabama would score twice in the second, a 1-yard Milroe run that wrapped up an impressive 10-play, 83-yard drive, and he would later find Niblack open from 29 yards out to enter the locker room with a lead that looked comfortable, 21-6. The momentum continued at the start of the third quarter and in their second drive of the half, senior tailback Roydell Williams knocked off runs of 16 and 35 yards while freshman Jam Miller went for 19 more to set the Tide up on the Hog 19-yard line. The drive would stall and Reichard hit his 30-yarder, increasing the Bama lead to 24-6 with 7:47 left in the third. That would be the Tide’s final points of the afternoon.
Meanwhile, Jefferson and the Arkansas offense found its footing. After two three-and-outs to start the half, the Razorbacks would march 77 yards on 10 plays and score on a 5-yard pass from KJ to Isaiah Satenga to cut the lead to 24-13 with 33 seconds left in the third. After an Alabama three and out that went backward for 9 yards, Jefferson once again marched the Hogs to paydirt. This time, the drive covered 69 yards on 9 plays ending with a 14-yard pass to Rashod Dubinion on a perfectly thrown wheel route. A two-point conversion made the score 24-21 with 10:59 remaining in the game. The highlight of the drive was Jefferson, who stands at a massive 6’3, 247 pounds, pushed aside a sure-bet sack from corner Terrion Arnold and completed a 25-yard pass that advanced the ball to the Bama 13. They would score three plays later. After another Bama three and out, their third straight, Arkansas took over at their own 8 (tip of hat to both punters, who were terrific throughout the day) with 9:45 left in the contest. The Hogs managed to pick up two first downs before Jefferson was sacked by Turner and Justin Eboigbe on a 3rd and 8 from the Arkansas 46 that caused a punt with 5:19 to go. It would be the last time the Hogs would see the ball as Bama picked up three critical first downs, Arkansas extinguished all of its timeouts, and Alabama escaped with a narrow victory, theIr 17th straight in the series.
With Alabama continuing to play uneven ball, the next two games become more critical than ever, yet motivation should not be a problem for Saban’s squad. Bama welcomes Tennessee and LSU, the two teams that dealt the Crimson Tide their only losses last season. The “revenge tour” enters its most critical stretch as the next three weeks (Bama has a bye week after the Vols visit Tuscaloosa) will most likely determine who will advance to Atlanta as the West representative in the SEC title game, most likely against top-ranked and two-time defending national champion Georgia Bulldogs. If the Tide can shed its pension for uneven performances, Alabama nation just might be able to stay away from panic mode for the rest of ‘23.