Not stepping timidly
Hogs believe they can defeat the Elephant in the room.
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Memo to Nick Saban: Incoming rat poison!
Saban, in his 11th season at Alabama, has for all intents and purposes put together the dominating program he set out to construct upon his arrival in early 2007.
He just doesn’t want his players exposed to media reports that document the domination.
Saban called such glowing reports about his team “rat poison” after the No. 1 Crimson Tide (6-0, 3-0) survived a game effort from Texas A&M in a 27-19 victory last week.
The poison, Saban asserted, was spewed forth by media after Alabama mashed Vanderbilt (59-0) and Ole Miss (66-3) on consecutive Saturdays.
But it can also be found throughout the pages of Alabama’s game notes, which documents Saban’s 50-6 record when the Tide are ranked No. 1, and Alabama’s 29-1 record at Bryant-Denny Stadium since a loss to Texas A&M in 2012.
Even the University of Alabama is making it difficult on the Crimson Tide this weekend. RECORDS Arkansas 2-3, 0-2 SEC; Alabama 6-0, 3-0 BETTING LINE Alabama favored by 31½
COACHES Bret Bielema (27-29 in 5th year at Arkansas, 95-53 in 12th year overall); Nick Saban (125-19 in 11th year at Alabama, 216-61-1 in 22nd year overall)
SERIES Alabama leads 20-7 overall, leads 8-3 in Tuscaloosa
RADIO Razorback Sports Network, including KABZ-FM 103.7 in Little Rock; KQSM-FM, 92.1, KIGL-FM 93.3, KAKS-FM 99.5 and KUOA-AM 1290 in Fayetteville; KERX-FM 95.3 in Fort Smith, Sirius 137, XM 190
Alabama has set up a party time weekend for their fans, designating this as their homecoming game and holding a 25-year anniversary celebration of their 1992 national championship.
It’s not like the media need to go out of their way to hype this game as an apparent mismatch. The facts will do.
The University of Arkansas, Fayetteville (23, 0-2) is listed as a 31½-point underdog and is
seeking its first victory over a Power 5 opponent since last November.
The Razorbacks haven’t defeated the Crimson Tide since 2006.
Saban’s Alabama teams are 10-0 against Arkansas, having beaten the Hogs in routs — like back-to-back 52-0 stompings in 2012 and 2013 — and in tight affairs, like a 14-13 decision in 2014, a 24-20 game in 2010 and a 41-38 shootout in 2007.
Bottom line: Saban, counting two victories over Arkansas while at LSU, is 12-0 against the Razorbacks since the Miracle on Markham defeat in 2002.
Arkansas Coach Bret Bielema (0-4 against Saban) and his team say the first step in having a chance against Alabama is believing.
“The biggest thing is you obviously can’t get beat before the game is played,” Bielema said. “They’ve had a
couple lopsided games where I think they had that effect on people.
“If you go over there and play with poise, you never know what’s going to happen.”
Arkansas’ quarterback situation will be a key on-field storyline.
Senior Austin Allen is recovering from a bruised shoulder suffered last week at South Carolina, and although Bielema suggested on his radio show Thursday night Allen would “give it a go,” there has not been a definitive announcement.
“If I’m healthy, I’m going to be out there,” Allen said on Tuesday.
Freshman Cole Kelley took plenty of reps in practice this week and could wind up making his first career start before a crowd of 100,000 or more.
The Razorbacks said their mental approach is a key factor in having a chance at the upset.
“Just trying not to psyche ourselves out,” sophomore defensive end McTelvin Agim said. “That’s where a lot of people lose the battle. We’re trying to go into the game with a positive mindset and not negativity.”
Senior defensive tackle Bijhon Jackson said he’s a believer.
“I know a lot of people on the outside don’t believe, but I think in here we’re really optimistic, we’re still optimistic about what we’re capable of and that we haven’t played our best on the field yet and that our best is yet to come,” Jackson said.
Allen was asked if it was “difficult to believe” the Razorbacks could roll into Tuscaloosa and come out with a victory.
“No. I mean, they’re in our conference,” Allen said. “Everyone came to Arkansas to play against those types of teams. We have a belief in ourselves, belief in our abilities. They’re a great team and it’s 11 on 11.”
Senior center Frank Ragnow was asked if Texas A&M’s close game against the Crimson Tide could be motivation after the Hogs lost a 50-43 slugfest to the Aggies.
“Each week it’s a whole new war,” Ragnow said. “Anybody can beat anybody. We’ve seen it in the college football world all the time. So yeah, it’s encouraging seeing how A&M played them and how we played vs. A&M, but you can’t really think, ‘Oh, they played them well so we should play them well, too.”
Saban spoke well of the Razorbacks all week.
“We have a lot of respect for Arkansas,” Saban said on Monday. “Tough, hard-nosed football. We’re going to have to do a good job of executing.”
Saban (35-2 against current SEC head coaches) has lost once to Texas A&M’s Kevin Sumlin and once to Auburn’s Gus Malzahn.
During the week before the Alabama-A&M game, a big topic on the SEC teleconference, perhaps to Saban’s chagrin, was a series of questions to coaches about the gap between Alabama and the rest of the SEC based on the Tide’s 20-game winning streak against conference teams and its scoring gap of 125-3 against them entering the week.
“Alabama has been good before I got here and while I’ve been here and they are a good football team that wins national championships,” Bielema said on that forum.
“I think you’re looking at a good football team,” Sumlin said when asked about Alabama’s winning margin of 35 points per game against its previous five SEC opponents.
“But games are mutually exclusive and everybody’s got an opportunity when you line up. They’ve been very impressive.”
Ole Miss interim coach Matt Luke said he was impressed by Alabama losing six defensive players to the NFL Draft and still remaining stout.
“I thought they were the same Alabama team, but they were better offensively, just more efficient,” Luke said.
“I think the biggest thing is, when you play a team like Alabama, they don’t leave you any room for errors, and they capitalize on your mistakes. To beat them, you have to force them into some turnovers … To beat them you have to play really well and then get a few breaks.”
Agim is one of several Razorbacks who received a scholarship offer from Alabama.
“Most definitely I took a visit,” Agim said. “Nick Saban is a brilliant mind. I like how he coaches and everything like that. Mad respect for him and everything.”