Sometimes it is easy to question the announced attendance at an Arkansas Razorbacks football game.
Not Saturday night. The crowd of 75,459 sounded like 175,459, and the ones who hung in to the very end -- and this one was probably over earlier than most realized -- were still vocally trying to will the hometown boys to victory.
What that crowd saw -- and it did include some Alabama folks even though the Crimson Tide did turn back about 600 tickets, which is unusual -- was not lightning in a bottle.
It was a lightning-quick offense.
Granted, a couple of the Tide's touchdowns came after turnovers, but the most time-consuming scoring drive for the nation's No. 1 team was 2:02, and that was after a fumble and it only had to go 29 yards.
Alabama didn't score until its second possession, although the Tide drove 80 yards on the game's first series but fumbled inside the 5 and Arkansas recovered.
The second time they got the ball, they went 73 yards in 46 seconds and needed three plays to get into the end zone.
The 29-yard drive made it 14-0, and the Tide's offense didn't score again until almost the midway mark of the second quarter when it drove 81 yards in 1:43, needing four plays.
The next two scoring drives would also need four plays, and they covered 66 yards in 1:33 and 18 yards in 1:26.
Nick Saban shut down the offense heading into the fourth quarter with a 42-24 lead. He never calls off his defense.
He's a guy who hates to give up points, and he was not happy that Arkansas scored 30 points, the second-most any team has scored against Alabama this season as college football gets to its halfway mark.
Saban probably hated giving up 43 to the Rebels, but he had to be relieved to get the victory since Ole Miss had beaten him two years in a row and the Rebs led 24-3 with 2:47 to play in the first half after John Youngblood returned a fumble 44 yards for a touchdown.
The Tide responded by driving 50 yards for a touchdown in 37 seconds, and then Eddie Jackson returned an Ole Miss punt 85 yards and they went into half down 24-17. The Tide went on to win 48-43, but Chad Kelly lit them up for 421 yards and three touchdowns.
On Saturday night, Austin Allen passed for 400 yards and three touchdowns.
Alabama's front seven are tougher than a claw hammer on boiled peanuts, but their secondary is not yet national championship good. But it may not have to be because of the front seven.
When Saban hired Lane Kiffin as offensive coordinator, it was to bring in a new offense, one that would attract better quarterbacks and receivers to complement all the other 4- and 5-star recruits Alabama was signing.
It has worked.
On Saturday night, the Tide finished with 517 yards of total offense, but they had 396 at the half.
They were also winning the time of possession 16:55 to 13:05, but that would change big-time in the second half, with the Tide sitting on a comfortable 35-17 lead at the half.
Alabama threw four passes the last two quarters, but Jalen Hurts completed two, one for 67 yards on a play that ended in another lost fumble, and another for 4 yards and a touchdown.
He didn't attempt a pass in the fourth quarter when Alabama had the ball for 1:51 of the entire period, putting the Hogs offense on the field for an amazing 13:09.
It wasn't enough.
In the overall scheme of things, Alabama has a dynamic offense and a dominating defense, especially up front. They tackle and block on every play, and that is the foundation of good football.
Sports on 10/11/2016