The Alabama Crimson Tide comes into today’s matchup against Arkansas ranked second in the nation. Alabama boasts a 9-1 record on the season with their only loss to Texas A&M on the road, and the College Football Playoff is in their sights.
The Tide control their own destiny with two regular season games on the schedule. Arkansas is the last home game before traveling to Jordan-Hare to take on Auburn.
Arkansas has been an interesting team this year. They came out on fire, destroying Texas in a neutral site game, and then beating Texas A&M 20-10 at home. The team then went on a three-game losing streak getting shut out by Georgia, losing to Ole Miss on the road and Auburn at home.
Most recently, the Razorbacks defeated LSU in overtime at night in Death Valley. The Hogs are looking to upset Bama in Tuscaloosa to ruin their playoff hopes.
Nick Saban and Alabama are ready to make sure that doesn’t happen. Here are three keys for Alabama to avoid the upset, and move one step closer to the grand show.
Step up on the defensive line
This is the second time this season the defensive line has been listed as a key to Alabama’s victory, and last time they showed up and showed out. So yes, they are listening.
It is far from a secret how well Alabama’s linebacker core is doing this year. Henry To’oTo’o and Will Anderson, Jr. are quite possibly the best defensive duo in all of college football. These two are leading the team in tackles with 138 total tackles combined this season.
Anderson is leading the team in sacks with 12, which is pretty impressive considering the next closest player is defensive lineman Phidarian Mathis with five and a half. However, as good as the linebackers are playing, the defensive line is slacking just a little. Of course, that is by Bama standards.
A few key players on that line need to have breakout performances this week to slow down the Hogs and Mathis is the perfect place to start. In addition to the impressive season sack total, he also has 11 solo tackles and a forced fumble.
Byron Young is another name to watch on that side of the ball. The talented lineman has 12 solo tackles and two sacks so far this year. Both of these players are having great seasons but this is a game that will lean on the defensive line and it is a great opportunity for these two to be leaders of that unit.
If you haven’t been watching much of Arkansas this year, you have probably still heard of KJ Jefferson, the Razorbacks’ impressive starting quarterback. Jefferson is tall, strong, athletic and has a heck of an arm.
He has thrown for 1,990 yards so far and has also picked up 474 yards on the ground to go along with five rushing touchdowns. The Bama defense will need their line to get pressure on the star quarterback and throw him off of his game.
Avoid the trap
Arkansas sitting at a generously received ranking of 21 is the definition of a trap game. Alabama is coming off of a huge beat down of a cupcake team and is struggling not to look too far forward to the Iron Bowl.
However, the in-state rivalry is not the only game Bama is thinking about. The SEC Championship game is only two weeks away, and Georgia has cemented themselves as the unanimous top dog in the land.
Nick Saban will keep his players away from the rat poison, but there is no way players and coaches aren’t thinking about the next two games this week during practice. Any other team probably would have game-planned for Arkansas more last week than this week.
However, Saban preaching to treat every game like your biggest has most likely kept the player’s heads in bounds and on-focus for the task at hand.
Making sure the right Bama comes to play
Alabama has looked one of two ways in just about every quarter of every game this season. The Tide have looked dominant and down-right scary, but they have also looked flustered, confused, and just plain mediocre.
The loss to Texas A&M is not even part of our disappointing list of games this season. A Bama loss in Kyle Field is not the worst loss that could be on a resume by any means, but overall, they didn’t play all that bad — they just got beat.
Yet, the game vs Florida, and a close-call against LSU in Bryant-Denny, were the concerning looks for the Tide. A win is a win no matter what, and Alabama has gotten a lot of those. There is no doubt that Alabama is the better team in this one, but if the same team that took the field against LSU comes out against Arkansas, Alabama may see a dog-fight in the fourth quarter.
A big part of that success will need to come from the hands of Alabama quarterback Bryce Young.
Young will be looking to finish strong in the last two SEC regular season games to solidify his Heisman consideration. He has thrown for 3,025 yards and 33 passing touchdowns so far, but one team was able to limit them.
Texas A&M defeated Alabama for a multitude of reasons, but the main reason was QB pressure.
Young has been struggling under pressure the one or two games he has seen it, and as good as the Crimson offensive line is, they have to make sure to give him time against a Barry Odom-led defense. Expect pressure, and a lot of it, considering that is Alabama’s only weakness.
If Young has a couple of seconds to work guys open, Alabama could put up major points on the Razorbacks.
That along with the other two keys will be crucial to an Alabama win against an under-appreciated Arkansas squad.
The two face off at 2:30 CT p.m. today. Look for Barry Odom to try to get in Young’s head, as well as Saban implementing his game plan of hitting short, easy passes early.
Hayden Crigler is a contributing college football and college basketball writer for Yellowhammer News. You can contact him through email: Hayden@yellowhammernews.com or on Twitter: @hayden_crigler.
