BAMA-ARK: Clean-up time for Tide heading into SEC Championship
Mac Jones will lead Alabama into Fayetteville to face the Arkansas Razorbacks this Saturday. (Alabama Media Relations)
By TIM GAYLE
Execution is the key to finishing the regular season unbeaten, Alabama coach Nick Saban said.
The Crimson Tide coach’s message this week has been about cleaning up inconsistencies and playing Saturday’s game at Arkansas with precision and attention to detail.
“When we do things correctly … good things happen for us,” Saban observed. “But there’s also some occasions where we don’t execute correctly and the other team takes advantage of those opportunities.
“Their team is capable of beating anybody, (something) that they’ve demonstrated all year long. I think any time you play on the road in the SEC you’ve got to be ready to play and you’ve got to respect the fact that the team that you’re playing certainly is capable of beating you if you don’t execute.”
Alabama (9-0) is a 32.5-point favorite to beat the Razorbacks (3-6), which will honor their seniors in pregame festivities before the 11 a.m. kickoff on ESPN.
First-year coach Sam Pittman remembers a time when Alabama escaped with a one-point win in 2014 against an Arkansas team that believed they could pull the upset. Belief, he added, is a major first step in beating the Crimson Tide.
“The only way you beat Alabama is if you think you’ve got a good enough team to beat them,” Pittman said. “I go back to 2013 and we go to Alabama. I’m not for sure, and I don’t want to disrespect any of those kids on that team, but I’m pretty sure there wasn’t 100 percent of the guys that felt we could win. They beat us 52-0.
“The next year, they came here in 2014 (and won 14-13) and we had a team that believed we could win. It’s like any great high school tradition, any great college tradition, half the teams are beat before they ever walk out on the field. So I think a lot of it is belief.
“And then, obviously, against a good caliber team like that, they’re going to have to give us the ball, give us some extra possessions, which they have not done all year. They’re beating the heck out of basically everybody they’ve played. Part of it is we have to have a break here and there – maybe several breaks – and we can’t turn the ball over and give them opportunities.
Arkansas leads the league in interceptions and is second (behind Alabama) in pass efficiency defense while ranking 12th in rushing defense. The Tide is likely to feature its running game first, then rely on the play-action pass to move the ball methodically.
“Their defense has played well, especially pass defense, getting turnovers,” Saban said. “I think it’s going to be a real challenge for us to be able to execute, take care of the ball and do things that we need to be able to control the tempo of the game on offense. Because I think that’s really important when you play teams like this.”
The Razorbacks aren’t flashy on offense, often relying on a controlled offensive attack from graduate transfer Felipe Franks, the former Florida quarterback.
“They present some unique challenges with the fastball offense that they run, which we need to do a much better job this time around facing this kind of offense,” said Saban, who has watched his defense steadily improve all season. “I think we have more guys playing with more consistency up front. I think we’re playing much better together as a team. We’ve just got to keep on harping on the fact that if everybody does their job we have a chance for the defense to work, because we’re playing team defense and everybody is playing together.”