Penalty problem

Arkansas, which had 10 penalties for 70 yards at Ole Miss, wasn’t the only team that struggled with presnap infractions last week.

Alabama was flagged 14 times for 99 yards during its 26-20 win at Texas A&M last week. The crowd of 108,101 clearly presented problems for Alabama’s offense.

“We had nine pre-snap penalties in the game, and I think a lot of those were created by the fact that we had trouble clapping in the game because of the noise,” Coach Nick Saban said. “So we went on silent, and when we went on silent, the guard taps the center. And as soon as the guard tapped the center, they’d stem and move the front, which is not illegal.

“It was perfectly a good thing for them to do on their part. And we had numerous times where guys flinched. Because, when you go on silent, there is no snap count.”

Arkansas had pre-snap issues in one-score losses at LSU and Ole Miss in recent weeks, much of it caused by defensive movement.

Coach Sam Pittman discussed some of the same stuff Saban did Monday.

“We’ve just got to keep the noise going [in practice] all the time, I believe,” Pittman said. “That might help. … We’ve got linebackers flinching, jumping, yelling, moving several different times. I don’t know if that is what the rule is intended for, but we’ve got to practice that like it is the rule and stay in there better.”

Added Saban, “One of the advantages of playing offense is you know what the snap count is, so you know when you get off the ball. Well, when it’s so noisy and you have to go on silent, you lose that advantage. And if we’re going to do that in the future, we obviously need to practice it more so our players don’t get spooked by a moving defense.”