Alabama Errors Allow Razorback Resurgence

The No. 11 Alabama Crimson Tide defeated the Arkansas Razorbacks 24-21 in Bryant Denny Stadium and, while occasionally the scores don't reflect the margin of dominance in a football game, this one certainly did.

It didn't need to be a close game for the Crimson Tide, after all Alabama entered the homecoming matchup as a 20-point favorite. Through 40 minutes of action the game, while not perfect, was progressing nicely for the home team.

Alabama took its second drive of the second half 77-yards and capped it off with a Will Reichard 30-yard field goal to extend it's lead to 18-points, leaving home-team supporters and gamblers feeling confident in the pending outcome.

The opponents then swapped three-and-outs, leaving the Razorbacks with a 1st and 10 from the Alabama 23-yard line. The Alabama defense did its job on first and second down, but then committed an awful third-down facemask penalty to offer the Hogs a lifeline in the game.

"We got penalties. The whole momentum of the game is on a third down stop. We get a grabbing the guy by the facemask after the play, which to me is, you know, bad," Saban said. "You can say what you want, but if a guy does that he's putting himself ahead of what's best for the team and putting yourself in harms way of having a chance to win. Then they go down the field and score and the whole momentum of the game changes."

Alabama entered the game 88th nationally in penalties, committing 43 across six games. The Crimson Tide committed four in the game's final 20 minutes, two on defense on the same drive and two on offense in the fourth quarter.

"From the third down penalty - Jaylen Key - we had one or two penalties up until that point. We got multiple penalties after that. We got pass interference on third down, which would have got us off the field again and they'd had to kick a field goal. And we had multiple penalties which put us behind the 8-ball."

The third quarter drive that led to the Razorbacks's first touchdown looked eerily similar to the final drive of last week's game for Texas A&M. The Aggies flew 62-yards down the field in just five plays to kick a field goal to bring Texas A&M within one score of the Tide. Ironically enough the Aggies were aided by two Alabama defensive penalties, spotting them 25 yards.

The Week 7 occurrence for the Crimson Tide came on costly third down stops but the Tide again spotted the Razorbacks 30-free-yards, leading directly to 7-points.

"We said, one guy gets a guy, you've got to hold on, you've got to hang on and we've got to clean them up and we didn't clean them up. We made a couple mental errors on defense that let them get back into the game too. We ran a stunt the wrong way, the quarterback runs for 25 yards on a big play on a second and long, but we learn from all these things."

Those mental errors reared their head again on the second Razorbacks touchdown as quarterback KJ Jefferson found running back Rashod Dubinion on a 14-yard touchdown pass. Dubinion and receiver Isaiah Satenga ran a bit of a pick pattern that wasn't properly passed off between Trey Amos and Deontae Lawson, leaving an easy completion for Jefferson to bring the game to within three points.

Alabama is still on top of the SEC West after its homecoming victory but things don't get easier as the season progresses. The Tide has to clean up its penalties and mental errors if its national championship goals are to be attained.

For now, Saban and the Crimson Tide can enjoy the victory for 24-hours, but there's no room for complacency as its problems loom large with Tennessee, LSU, Kentucky and Auburn on the horizon.

"You know, we've just got to teach and learn from all these things and hopefully realize what it takes, not only in the game, but in the week of preparation leading up to the game so that you can go out there and play the way you need to play against really good competition," said Saban.

Alabama Won, But Defense Should Have Taken Another Step Against Arkansas

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