ARKANSAS AT NO. 8 ALABAMA

Good, ol’ Alabama: Saban jabs media for declaring Tide dead

Alabama head coach Nick Saban argues with an official in the first half of an NCAA college football game against Georgia, Saturday, Oct. 3, 2015, in Athens, Ga. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)
Alabama head coach Nick Saban argues with an official in the first half of an NCAA college football game against Georgia, Saturday, Oct. 3, 2015, in Athens, Ga. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)

FAYETTEVILLE -- Just when the SEC thought it was safe to get back in the water with Alabama, the Crimson Tide rise up to bite that notion.

Alabama throttled Georgia 38-10 on the road last Saturday and jumped back to No. 8 in the Associated Press Top 25 poll and returned squarely into the College Football Playoff (CFP) conversation.

ALABAMA (4-1, 1-1)

DATE;OPP.;RESULT

Sept. 5;*Wisconsin;W 35-17

Sept. 12;Mid. Tennessee;W 37-10

Sept. 19;Ole Miss;L 43-37

Sept. 26;La.-Monroe;W 34-0

Oct. 3;at Georgia;W 38-10

Oct. 10;Arkansas;6 p.m. (ESPN)

Oct. 17;at Texas A&M;2:30 p.m. (CBS)

Oct. 24;Tennessee;TBA

Nov. 7;LSU;TBA

Nov. 14:at Miss. State;TBA

Nov. 21;Charleston So.;TBA

Nov. 28;at Auburn;TBA

  • at Arlington, Texas

Alabama Coach Nick Saban, asked Monday what he says to his team since the perception of the team is "so fluid," capitalized on the road rout to remind the media what it thought of the Crimson Tide (4-1, 1-1 SEC) after its 43-37 home loss to Ole Miss on Sept. 19.

"I said the same thing as when y'all buried us last week, all right," Saban said. "It really doesn't matter what you think. It doesn't really matter what you say. And I'm hoping nobody on our team is playing for you.

"I hope they're playing for each other and their team and what they want to accomplish and not what you think, because that's certainly not what I'm doing. ... I said before, I believe in our team. I do believe in our team and we're going to work hard to make our team better. And I hope our players respond the right way.

"And it's not going to be for you. The fans, yes. Because if it was up to you, we're 6 foot under already. We're dead and buried and gone. Gone."

As the microphone was passed to the next reporter at his weekly news conference, Saban kept up the theme.

Arkansas head coach Bret Bielema talks about the Razorbacks' upcoming opponent, Alabama.

Bret Bielema, on Alabama

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"So if that was the case, we'd have to get some respirators out or something down there to put life back in people," he said.

Saban and the Crimson Tide faced Arkansas last year after losing to Ole Miss, but it was a slightly different circumstance. Last year Alabama traveled to Fayetteville the week after a losing 23-17 at Ole Miss and dodged an upset bid by the Razorbacks with a 14-13 victory.

This year's matchup with Arkansas comes three weeks after Alabama's home loss to Ole Miss, but the Crimson Tide have played, and won, two times since.

Alabama reeled off eight consecutive victories after leaving Arkansas last season, including a 42-13 victory over Missouri in the SEC championship game, to enter the first CFP with the No. 1 ranking before falling 42-35 to eventual national champion Ohio State in a national semifinal in New Orleans.

"To me, they're the staple of what college football is," Arkansas Coach Bret Bielema said.

The Crimson Tide have won three national championships under Saban (2009, 2011, 2012).

Alabama sports the No. 1 run defense in the SEC, allowing 84 yards per game, and the No. 2 total defense in the SEC with 273.4 yards allowed per game.

"Somebody told me they've played 12 interior defensive linemen," Bielema said. "They all look the same. I swear there's a little machine that just creates them and they all walk outside. They all look the same and play the same, unfortunately."

The Crimson Tide's quarterback situation seems to have stabilized. Cooper Bateman was the starter in the game 3 loss to Ole Miss, but he was pulled with Alabama trailing 17-3 after completing 11 of 14 passes for 87 yards, with an interception that the Rebels converted into a short-field touchdown.

Jake Coker, a 6-5 senior who transferred before the 2014 season from Florida State, has taken over at quarterback. He completed 11 of 16 passes for 190 yards, with a touchdown and no interceptions in the victory at Georgia.

"Jake played with a lot more confidence, Saban said. "He's getting better every week. He did a good job of taking what the defense gave him."

Arkansas defensive coordinator Robb Smith said Coker makes good decisions.

"I think he's an excellent game manager," Smith said. "I think they do a lot from the sideline that comes in from their offensive coordinator."

Alabama's power running game is alive with 6-2, 242-pound Derrick Henry in the lead role. Henry gashed Arkansas for 111 yards on 6 carries, including an 80-yard touchdown, in Alabama's 52-0 rout at Bryant-Denny Stadium in 2013. The Razorbacks held him to 25 yards on seven carries last year.

Henry ran for a career-high 148 yards against Georgia, ranks fourth in the SEC with 570 rushing yards, 114 rushing per game, and has scored 9 rushing touchdowns. Kenyon Drake is fully back into gear after suffering a broken leg last season. Drake has 215 rushing yards, but he was held to no yards on six carries last week.

"Their two running backs are really good SEC running backs and they kind of have a change of pace," Smith said. "One guy will split out for them a little bit, so it's going to be important that we know where those guys are."

Freshman Calvin Ridley has emerged as the team's top receiving target after Robert Foster was lost with a shoulder injury in the Ole Miss game. Ridley, 6-1, has 22 receptions for 245 yards and 2 touchdowns, including a career-best 120 yards against Georgia last week.

Saban said his team showed mental and physical toughness and character in the victory at Georgia.

"We were just as ready to play Ole Miss, but we didn't channel our energy in the right place," Saban said Saturday. "We started jumping around out there in pregame again and I got really pissed.

"I said, 'Are we going through this again? Are we going to be emotional and not be able to execute and do what we're supposed to do? That's not who we are.' We settled down and we were able to execute. Now we need to do it with consistency."

Sports on 10/06/2015

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