Tide slips against line, but otherwise impregnable
Like loved ones regarding a relative’s body odor or belching, it’s not exactly an item that Alabama mentions in its weekly game notes or that coach Nick Saban expects to respond at his Monday press conference.
But in the Heart of Dixie — where college football is king, and the sport is not played better anywhere than in Tuscaloosa — or any place that someone can get down a bet, this might be a matter of concern.
Surely an Arkansas sports writer isn’t the only one to notice that Alabama hasn’t covered the point spread in any of its last three games. Whether that’s a minor glitch in an otherwise tremendous machine is, for now, a moot point in a sport that so much attention is devoted to numbers. And whether, like a hairline fracture in a skyscraper, it will bring down Fortress Alabama — not reducing the program to rubble, mind you, but resulting in something less than the maximum 15-0 record — remains to be seen.
Easiest of winners, 65-31, Saturday over Arkansas at Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium, where it plays every two years and has not lost since 2006, Alabama improved its won-lost record to 6-0. This one was over early — 7-0 in the first minute, 21-7 after one quarter, 41-14 at halftime and 48-21 after three quarters.
The Tide totaled nine touchdowns and a field goal with an
8-1 mark on conversions, the one miss leaving Tide bettors cursing the fates or something.
The fourth quarter was interesting mostly to see whether Alabama, favored by 35 points for betting purposes, would cover the spread (that is, by more than 35) or not. Twice in the period the numbers were in Alabama’s favor,
58-17 on Shyheim Carter’s 44-yard interception return at 12:15 and 6524 on Brian Robinson’s five-yard run with 1:59 left.
Arkansas fired the last salvo, Cole Kelley sneaking one yard with 13 seconds left in a game that the backup quarterback’s only pass went for a touchdown. Arkansas, its special teams a persistent nightmare for coach
Chad Morris’ 1-5 squad, set up the late score with a kickoff return, a drill that the Razorbacks have down like the game-day ritual of “running through the A.” Finding a lane through the Alabama coverage unit, De’Vion Warren sped 78 yards to give the Hogs a short field and put the bettors on edge.
The biggest Scrooge in the Alabama fan base might need to unearth a rock pile to find a baby lizard capable of becoming a gila monster and slaying the Crimson Tide. Arkansas, taking baby steps under Morris, certainly isn’t that team, and Alabama may not encounter one this season.
No one will be surprised if Alabama and Clemson meet for the fourth consecutive year in the College Football Playoffs, a series that’s been as formful to determining national champions lately than Michigan vs. Ohio State or Florida State vs. Miami in classics of yesteryear.
Georgia, an overtime loser to Alabama in the CFB championship game last season, appears the Crimson Tide’s main threat in the SEC if not overall, although that matchup won’t occur before the conference-title game in early December. Of more immediate concern to Alabama are November showdown at LSU and home against Auburn.
At times Saturday, when compiling 642 yards (343 through the air, 249 on the ground), Alabama looked as invincible offensively as any that ever took a snap in Fayetteville with a thriving two-quarterback system. Tua Tagovailoa, completed 10 of 13 for 334 yards and four touchdowns Saturday, while Jalen Hurts kept the sticks moving
(94 yards) in a calendar year that he has been eclipsed in the Crimson Tide star system.
Get this: Alabama averaged 21.8 yards per pass attempt. Somewhere, the Bear may be growling.
At other times, as Arkansas moved the ball up and down the field on a 405-yard afternoon, one was reminded that Alabama replaced eight defensive starters from the 2017 national-championship team. Their replacements should only get better with playing time, of course, against better opposition than Arkansas could provide.
Still, there’s such a gap between offense and defense that the Tide finished behind the numbers against Texas A&M, 45-23, when favored by 24.5; Louisiana-Lafayette,
56-14, by 49; and now Arkansas. Greg McElroy, Saban’s first national championship-winning quarterback at Alabama, mentioned on the ESPN telecast that the Tide’s special teams are not up to the coach’s standards. Going back to two blocked punts against Bryant-coached Alabama in a monumental 1972 upset and up to Chris Davis Jr.’s 109-yard return of a missed field goal in a 2013 shocker that ended the Tide’s quest for three straight national titles, Auburn has made its Iron Bowl rival suffer for kicking-game lapses.
And what of Arkansas, which, despite everything, still can achieve a winning record and earn a bowl spot?
Ole Miss, next up in the first SEC game at War Memorial Stadium since 2014, represents schedule relief after Auburn, Texas A&M and Alabama in succession. Worth considering is that after four straight losses in the series, Ole Miss should come to Little Rock with a huge revenge motive. And, as hideous defeats to Colorado State and North Texas linger in memory, these Razorbacks should take nothing for granted.