Sunday Hangover: Arkansas

The second-half offense of the Crimson Tide in yesterday's game did not inspire confidence. 

The offensive line is just giving up too many sacks. 

The Tide ran the ball well for the most part, for 217 yards. But they lost 40 yards on five sacks. They have to get better in pass protection. It's that simple. 

The one drive in the second half in which a stupid facemask penalty kept the Arkansas drive alive resulted in a touchdown that kept the Hawgs back in the game. 

And then the Tide's offense sputtered mightily in the second half. They only scored a stinking field goal in the third quarter, which was the difference in score. 

I haven't watched a Tennessee game at all this year, but the Tide need to get it together if they want to win at home this coming Saturday. 

Sunday Hangover: Arkansas

If you're a fan of big plays, the game in Fayetteville was one you should have liked. 

The big news, of course, is the injury to Bryce Young. It's being officially called a shoulder sprain, so hopefully he'll recover with no aftereffects.

The Razorbacks pulled the game close at the close of the third quarter, but Alabama then proceeded to get a touchdown run from McClellan and two long touchdown runs from Gibbs. One was 72 yards, and the other was 76 yards.  

While the Tide did not open up the passing playbook extensively with Milroe in for Young, they also chose to run the ball to eat clock and control the game. 

It worked. 

We'll just have to wait and see if Young can recover and be ready for next Saturday's matchup against A&M. 

If Milroe starts, we're likely to see a more run-centric game plan since Milroe is really damn fast, and they'll want to protect him a bit with easy throws. I guess the positive will be that he's likely to have all kinds of reps with the first-team offense this week. 

And they recruited Milroe for a reason. He's talented but just young and inexperienced. 

Sunday Hangover: Arkansas

Kudos to Arkansas. They played one hell of a game last night, but I expect a much better effort from an Alabama defense that should be playing better than they are right now. 

The defense still has major gaffes and miscommunication happening that has to be cleaned up if they want to win the Iron Bowl and have a chance versus Georgia in the SEC Championship. 

As much as there is a focus on what Alabama didn't do well on defense, they did secure their spot as winner of the SEC West with the win last night. 

But the defense. Jeez, they have to get it together. 

As much as I pine for the Saban-era playing style of joyless murderball, what Bryce Young did last night was impressive. He set the record for most passing yards for an Alabama QB and threw five touchdowns, three of which were to the speedster Jameson Williams. 

Metchie and Williams dominated the receiving yards as well as Brian Robinson rushing for 122 yards on 27 attempts. Trey Sanders carried the ball just one time. 

The Tide needs to run the ball better, but I don't think we're that kind of club this season. As much as it pains me to say it, but the Tide is a passing-focused offense. They just need to keep Young clean. 

Next up is the trip to Auburn. 

Sunday Hangover: Arkansas

After the Razorbacks scored their lone field goal, it was like a switch was flipped for the Crimson Tide offense and defense. 

After Smith had that punt return for a TD, it was over. 

Mac was the usual Mac Jones, and the line played well. 

The concern going into the SEC Championship Game is whether one of the leading tacklers on the team and a Butkus Award finalist, Christian Harris, will play. He banged up his shoulder on the first play of the game, but Moody filled in admirably for him during the game. 

I worry about Florida having such a poor game versus LSU. They moved the ball on the bayou bengals, but turnovers killed them. I suspect the Gators will tighten up in all matters when they go to Atlanta. 

Sunday Hangover: Arkansas

I was hoping for a shutout, but that didn't happen. Much to the chagrin of Crimson Tide fans, the Razorbacks scored in the third quarter. 

Coach Sark had a solid game plan going into the game. He got Jones acclimated early by calling a lot of short passes. Jones did show his arm strength on a number of long throws, notably the 40-yard TD strike to Jeudy. 

The running game looked good against an outmanned Arkansas defense. 

As for the defense, I still have concerns about the Tide's ability to stop the run. 

The two freshmen middle linebackers ~ Lee and Harris ~ were the leading tacklers on the squad. Lee had two tackles for loss and a sack. That was the lone sack of the game, but Lewis had six quarterback hurries. 

The team will have an off week just like LSU has before they play the Tigers in less than a couple of weeks. 

Sunday Hangover: Arkansas

Once again the Crimson Tide started out quickly with a long TD run by Damien Harris. This one was on the first play of the game for 75 yards. 

The Tide then kicked a field goal and had two other touchdowns before the half. The second TD run by Harris was a example of pluck and grit. He broke at least four tackles that I can think of. 

Arkansas tightened up their D in the latter part of the first half of the game. 

I was a little concerned about the second-string QB who started for Arkansas. The dude is a mountain of a man. 

However, the Crimson Tide defense played well for the most part. 

I'm sure there will be some talking points about passes to the middle of the field and the late touchdown they gave up. 

Rashaan Evans had a great game: 6 total tackles (3 solo), 2 sacks, 2 quarterback hurries, and 3.5 tackles for loss. 

Hurts spread the ball around to eight different receivers, so that's a good sign for the future. 

Next up is a CBS afternoon game versus Tennessee. 

Sunday Hangover: Arkansas

This defense could be really good. The Crimson Tide defense pretty much suffocated the vaunted Razorback running game and did a good job, besides one ridiculous play in the fourth quarter, defending the pass. 

Troubles in the red zone and two interceptions left Tide fans seeing their team down by four points at halftime. 

But the second half was a different story on the offensive side of the ball: better running of the ball, explosive plays in the pass game, and Coker getting his head out of his ass. 

The 81-long touchdown to Calvin Ridley was a thing of beauty. 

Next up is a trip to College Station for the CBS 2:30 game. We'll see what happens. 

Sunday Hangover: Arkansas

What an ugly, uninspiring win. 

To be blunt, the offense, and the offensive line especially, looked like crap. The Tide only had 66 net yards rushing and 227 net yards of offense. Three and outs all over the place. The Tide was starting its second string center and right guard has been a revolving door with Brown and Taylor getting time there, but jeesh the run blocking was poor. 

The punt return squad looked horrible because of stupid decisions on poor punts from the Razorback punter. I would imagine the punt return team is going to hear some harsh language this week. 

If you're looking to name stars of the game, one would have to be the freshman punter J.K. Scott. He punted eight times in the game. Seven of those punts settled inside the 20. 

LB Reggie Ragland was all over the field and amassed 12 total tackles, a tackle for loss, and a pass broken up. Landon Collins had a key interception. Xzavier Dickson, Trey DePriest, Cyrus Jones, A'shawn Robinson, and Jarran Reed had good games. Jonathan Allen  gets kudos for blocking the point after. 

Besides a few big plays, the Tide defense played well and bailed out the offense in this game. 

The D better play just as well if not better next game, and if the offense doesn't get it together, I see a number of losses in Alabama's future. And perhaps a change at quarterback because Sims did not play well.