FAYETTEVILLE — Tide add spice in 2nd half
Alabama’s defensive response after a passive first half against Arkansas’ aerial assault saved the No. 1 Crimson Tide’s bacon during a 24-20 victory on Saturday.
The Razorbacks abused the inexperienced Crimson Tide secondary during a first half in which Ryan Mallett hit 15 of 22 passes for 250 yards and one touchdown.
Only an interception by Robert Lester, when Mallett was throwing for heavily covered Jarius Wright crossing the back of the end zone, and a forced field goal after Arkansas reached first and-goal at the Alabama 6, kept the Razorbacks from having a lead of more than two touchdowns instead of a 17-7 halftime lead.
Alabama Coach Nick Saban did not mince words when explaining why his team didn’t bring more pressure in the first half.
“We didn’t do it in the first half because we were afraid,” Saban said. “We were making mistakes in basic things, so we assumed we would make mistakes on more difficult things.
“I mean, we were so worried about making mistakes in the first half we played plain vanilla. ... Actually when you play more aggressively, the players play better.”
And so the Crimson Tide did in the second half, when Mallett went 10 of 16 for 107 yards, with 2 interceptions against a bigger array of blitzes.
“Alabama’s a good team,” Mallett said. “We really took advantage of them in some ways, and in some ways we just didn’t execute and we hurt ourselves.”Crowd conscious
Arkansas Coach Bobby Petrino and his players made sure to acknowledge the spirit of Razorbacks fans during the lead up to Saturday’s game against No. 1 Alabama and the school-record crowd of 76,808 on game day.
“The first thing I’d like to do is thank our fans and our students,” Petrino said to open his post-game press conference. “What a great atmosphere. It was a great week.
“I can’t tell you how much they gave us a big lift in our preparation.
It was an awesome sight when we came to the stadium today and throughout the entire game.”Poll position
Arkansas fell five spots to No. 15 in the Associated Press poll on Sunday after its 24-20 loss to No. 1 Alabama.
The Razorbacks dropped four spots toNo. 15 in the USA Today Coaches poll.
Arkansas is the highest ranked team with one loss in both polls, just ahead of Miami, Fla.
Wright gets right
Jarius Wright had a 20-game streak with at least one catch snapped last week, but it didn’t take the junior wideout long to make his presence felt against Alabama.
Wright grabbed a 31-yard play-action post route from Ryan Mallett on the game’s first snap to set up a quick Arkansas touchdown.
Offensive coordinator Garrick McGee said he knew Wright could have a big day even though Greg Childs and Joe Adams had been putting up the bigger numbers in the first three games.
“We had been throwing to Greg and Joe the last few weeks, and Jarius is one of our best all-around guys,” McGee said. “And we knew that based on the coverages they were playing, there was going to be a good chance for Jarius to get deep down the field.”
Wright had a catch on every Arkansas scoring series, with a 9-yard grab on third-and-9 on a first quarter field goal drive, a 20-yard catch on a second quarter touchdown drive, and an 18-yard reception on a third quarter fieldgoal drive joining his big 31-yard play.
Go for it
In Nick Saban’s mind, Alabama’s call for a Greg McElroy fourth-down sneak from its own 44 with 54 seconds left in the game wasn’t just the right call, it was the mandatory call.
“We needed that much,” Saban said, holding his fingers inches apart.
“There’s a lot of things that can happen when you punt it. The players said we can make it, and we did.”
Arkansas Coach Bobby Petrino, who would have loved to have gotten the ball back with less than a minute to go, said he wasn’t surprised by the call.
“It was probably the right call,” he said. “They got it, it was the right call.”
Lester delivers
Alabama sophomore free safety Robert Lester got schooled by Ronnie Wingo Jr., on the second play of the game when Wingo broke his openfield tackle attempt at the 9-yard line on a 43-yard touchdown catch.
But Lester won the day. Lester intercepted a Ryan Mallett pass in the end zone intended for Jarius Wright in the second quarter. Then he grabbed an overthrown post pass for Greg Childs and returned it 33 yards to set up Alabama’s go-ahead touchdown late in the fourth quarter.
Lester tied Mississippi State’s Corey Broomfield as the only player to post two interceptions against Mallett.
“It’s a great honor to get two interceptions against a great quarterback like that,” Lester said.
Adams’ bump
Arkansas Coach Bobby Petrino did not make an issue out of a no-call early in the fourth quarter, when Alabama cornerback DeQuan Menzie made obvious contact with receiver Joe Adams on a third-and-7 pass over the middle.
Quarterback Ryan Mallett had this to say about the play, “Wow, third down, I don’t know what happened there. I thought he caught it.”Milestones
Arkansas tight end D.J. Williams (117) is one reception shy of former running back Peyton Hillis’ school record 118 catches by a nonreceiver. Williams had five receptions for 63 yards against Alabama, and now needs one catch to tie Chuck Dicus and Hillis for seventh place on the school’s career list.
Quarterback Ryan Mallett moved into fifth place on Arkansas’ career passing chart with his 357-yard performance. Mallett passed Brad Taylor (4,802) in the first half and now has 5,062 career passing yards. Mallett threw for 300-plus yards for the ninth time in his career.
Aggie glance
Texas A&M, the Hogs’ next opponent on Oct.
9, had an open date last week. The 3-0 Aggies will play at unbeaten Oklahoma State on Saturday before facing Arkansas.
The Aggies had convincing victories over Stephen F. Austin (48-7) and Louisiana Tech (48-16), but had to rally from a 20-6 deficit in the fourth quarter to clip Florida International 27-20 on Sept. 18.
Sports, Pages 22 on 09/27/2010