Film Room: Rewinding Alabama Football's Lackadaisical Finish Against Arkansas
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — No. 11 Alabama led Arkansas 24-6 before allowing the Razorbacks to trim the deficit down to three points late in the game.
The Crimson Tide (6-1, 4-0 SEC) got a big stop and killed the clock on offense to pick up another SEC victory. But what happened in the final 18 minutes of the game was not what head coach Nick Saban wanted to see out of his team before facing No. 17 Tennessee next Saturday.
Alabama completely took its foot off the gas pedal, and nearly paid a large price for it.
Roll the tape.
Late in the third quarter, here's the play that started it all:
Up 24-6, it appears the Crimson Tide is going to get the ball back again. That's until defensive back Jaylen Key gets wrapped up in some extra-curricular activities towards the end of the play.
Saban pointed to this as the play that started the avalanche of mistakes, so we're going to do the same. The emotions of an SEC West collision are high, but you have to make the right decision here. As a defense, you're off the field barring a dumb decision.
Key did exactly that, keeping the Arkansas offense on the field.
Last week at Texas A&M, you saw Deontae Lawson get in Dallas Turner's face after he committed a similar error to take away a non-offensive touchdown. This time he's in the face of Key. That type of leadership is necessary.
That drive continued on, leading us to this play:
KJ Jefferson is immediately pressured by Justin Eboigbe, who is unable to get a hand on him. He's also somehow missed by Jaheim Oatis and Deontae Lawson, and then there's a lot of green grass in front of him.
In my opinion, this is more of a good play from an experienced quarterback than it is bad on the Alabama defense. This was really the first time the Crimson Tide let Jefferson get loose during the game.
But it wasn't the last.
Remember that penalty on Key? Yes, it is still that drive. This time the mistake comes on another member of Alabama's secondary, Caleb Downs.
Downs hasn't made many mistakes at all during his first year in Tuscaloosa, but this is an obvious pass interference penalty:
This ball is way underthrown. It almost enters the category of "uncatchable," but I believe the officials made the correct decision on this one. If Downs turns around, it's probably his third interception in as many weeks.
Instead, it extends the possession yet again for the Razorbacks. That leads us to Arkansas' first touchdown of the afternoon:
Nothing too crazy here — it's a nicely executed RPO. Notice how the Crimson Tide has 11 defenders on the field — and several of them are stuck out of place. Alabama is in man coverage — what are all four of the guys in the middle doing? They're playing the run, which turned into a pass. Yes, it's confusing.
After Jefferson pulls the ball out, everyone needs to look to help in coverage, other than a potential spy on the quarterback. Jefferson reacts too fast for the Crimson Tide defense, and it results in a touchdown.
So, the Razorbacks score. Alabama needs a response on offense. Instead, Jalen Milroe is sacked on second-and-10:
Left tackle has been a sore spot for the Crimson Tide in 2023. On this play, Kadyn Proctor is the guy — and he gets absolutely blown past. And then, on top of that, he actually pushes his defender into Milroe.
Once again, third-and-long is not where this Alabama offense wants to be — and the drive ends in a punt.
On the next drive, the Crimson Tide has Arkansas behind the sticks, until Jefferson scrambles for an easy first down and more:
This seems to be a miscommunication between Lawson and Chris Braswell. Braswell initially rushes, but then notices that the running back in the flat is uncovered, so he jumps over and matches him in the open.
On this play, it's actually Lawson that is responsible for the running back. He notices Braswell going over too late, and that leaves a huge opening on the right side of the field. With tight coverage all the way around, the only play for Jefferson is the scramble — and he picks up a big gain.
I mentioned earlier how Alabama did an excellent job limiting Jefferson on the ground. We've already seen two big scrambles in this review — here's No. 3. This one is the most impressive of all:
Let's have Saban break this one down for us.
"When a quarterback can take a major college football player and sling him off like a gnat on a fly's ass, I mean a gnat on a cow's ass, that was one of the most impressive plays I've ever seen a player make," Saban said.
Couldn't have said it better myself.
This is one of the wildest plays of the Crimson Tide's season thus far. Terrion Arnold is hanging all over Jefferson, but can't ever bring him down. And usually in chaos, someone is wide open — that's true here as well.
A minute later, Alabama once again has the Razorbacks in a difficult situation on third-and-12. Once again, KJ Jefferson makes a great play, dropping in a touchdown pass to cut the lead to just three points after the two-point conversion:
Nice, clean pocket. Once again, the running back is Lawson's assignment. But I'm not sure why Trey Amos stepped up so much. He should've helped Lawson instead.
And just like that, the Crimson Tide is up by just a field goal with 11 minutes to go. Arkansas cut the Alabama lead from 18 points to three points in under five minutes of game clock.
The Crimson Tide got the ball back again — and did absolutely nothing with it. Here's Alabama on third down with an escaping lead:
Malik Benson probably isn't picking up the first down regardless here. But it's the drop that means something. He slightly takes his eyes off the ball and that's what happens.
This play was a microcosm of the Crimson Tide's effort and execution down the stretch. Alabama did enough to hold on — but it wasn't an inspiring second half.
