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Following its 56-14 victory over Louisiana-Lafayette, Alabama is currently a 34.5-point favorite heading into Saturday’s game against Arkansas. Here are five questions to consider leading up to the matchup.
1. Is this a trap game?
Is it really a trap game if you acknowledge the fact it could be beforehand? Alabama head coach Nick Saban did just that Monday, stating Arkansas is “getting better and better” under first-year head coach Chad Morris.
“This is a very capable team,” Saban said. “This is what I call a little bit of a trap game for us in terms of all the folks out there who look at who they've played and what the scores were and don't get prepared the way you need to get prepared to go play to your standard and the level you have to play to beat any team in the SEC on the road."
Arkansas has lost four games in a row, including a 44-17 defeat to North Texas. However, the Razorback looked like an improved team during last week’s 24-17 loss to Texas A&M. In that game, Arkansas battled back from an early 17-point deficit and had a chance to tie the score late until quarterback Ty Storey was intercepted at the Texas A&M 26-yard line with 1:11 remaining.
Alabama players took note of that performance, and while their head coach might view the matchup as a trap game, they won’t be taking the Razorbacks lightly Saturday.
“I think Arkansas is a great opponent in the SEC West,” Alabama defensive back Trevon Diggs said. “They're a great offense, a great coaching staff, and we don't consider it a trap game. It's just another game for us."
2. Can Tagovailoa get even better?
Tua Tagovailoa isn’t buying it. Sure, the sophomore quarterback is happy to hear the praise coming from his head coach, but when it comes to Saban admitting he’s already exceeded expectations, Tagovailoa is a bit skeptical.
“Coach Saban said I exceeded his expectations? I don’t think I did,” Tagovailoa said. “He has to be joking with you guys because that’s definitely not what Coach Saban would tell us. There’s always room for improvement, not only within Coach Saban but within our whole coaching staff and within ourselves, too. So, there’s always room for improvement.”
It’s hard to imagine how much more Tagovailoa can improve. He already leads the nation with a 238.2 quarterback rating, completing 75 percent of his passes for 1,161 yards and 14 touchdowns with no interceptions.
“We have a lot of confidence in Tua. He has played extremely well in every game,” Saban said. “He’s right on target most of the time, not only in where he delivers the ball but who he delivers it to and why he should do it that way. I think our coaches have done a really good job of helping him be able to understand exactly what the expectation is.”
As Tagovailoa pointed out, that expectation is to keep improving, something he has been doing exceedingly well at so far.
3. Can Alabama take advantage of Arkansas’ poor special teams play?
Jaylen Waddle and Josh Jacobs have to be Iicking their chops heading into the matchup. The two Alabama returners are in a position to continue their electric starts to the season as they go up against an Arkansas special teams unit that has been reeling in recent weeks.
The Razorbacks gave up a 100-yard kick return to Texas A&M’s Jashaun Corbin last week and rank No. 105 in the nation, allowing opponents 30.08 yards per return. Arkansas hasn’t been much better defending punts were it ranks No. 117, giving up 15.5 yards per return.
That isn’t good news when going up against an Alabama team that features two of the nation’s top returners in Jacobs and Waddle. Jacobs has averaged 59.33 yards on three kick returns this season, including a 77-yard touchdown against Louisville. Waddle ranks No. 5 in the nation with 19.9 yards per punt return, including a 63-yard score last week.
Saban was asked Monday about Arkansas’ special teams woes and suggested some of the Razorbacks early struggles could be attributed to players getting accustomed to a new coaching staff.
“I think they're very capable. They’ve been very effective on teams at times, but they've had some plays that have hurt them as well,” Saban said. “We’re going to work hard to do the best we can on special teams and create some advantage in the game in every game that we play, and it won't be any different with this game.”
4. Will Alabama’s defense force a fumble?
Alabama’s defense has defied early doubters. The Crimson Tide is tied for fifth in scoring defense, holding opponents to 13 points per game. It’s tied for third in the nation with 18 sacks and ranked No. 23 in total defense, giving up 317.6 yards per game.
However, if there’s one stat that’s driving Alabama defenders crazy, it’s forced fumbles. Alabama is one of the worst teams at punching the ball away from opponents, forcing just two fumbles and recovering one through its first five games.
“That's a major issue because we pride ourselves in forcing turnovers,” linebacker Christian Miller said. “I remember two years ago; we used to score every game on defense… it was crazy. We're trying to get back to that.
“Our DBs are doing a great job of getting interceptions. That's one way of getting turnovers, but getting the ball out, that's something we need to do better. We pulled up that stat and I think we might have been almost last in the country for actually forcing fumbles. That's something we're working on going forward.”
Miller believes forcing fumbles comes down to a mindset and said Alabama defenders have to “play violent” when they arrive at the ball. While Alabama defenders have failed to knock the ball out, the Crimson Tide is tied for second in the nation with nine interceptions and boasts a respectable plus-6 turnover margin. That should only grow once Alabama returns to its typical fumble-forcing ways.
“It's going to come when it comes,” defensive lineman Raekwon Davis said. “But we just got to do better in practice."
5. Is Alabama’s offense doing too well?
There are such things as stupid questions, and this is one of them. Of course, there’s no such thing of being too good at any part of the game. However, Tagovailoa brought up a solid point when discussing Alabama’s flashy attack.
“I think for anyone that plays the sport of football, when we find success, it just becomes very fun,” Tagovailoa said. “So, with our guys, it can be a blessing and a burden because we’re so used to it now that everybody wants a touchdown, everybody wants to do something big.
“Sometimes that can be a burden because sometimes we don’t understand what we’re doing. There’s a lack of focus out there, and there’s definitely a big lack of intensity sometimes within our offense when we kind of think that way.”
Alabama’s October schedule features three teams — Arkansas, Missouri and Tennessee — who aren’t expected to challenge the Crimson Tide. It will be important for Alabama to hold itself up to the necessary standard despite the score in order to keep its offense running at full steam heading into harder matchups down the road.
Five questions as the Alabama Crimson Tide prepares for Arkansas | BamaInsider.com
1. Is this a trap game?
Is it really a trap game if you acknowledge the fact it could be beforehand? Alabama head coach Nick Saban did just that Monday, stating Arkansas is “getting better and better” under first-year head coach Chad Morris.
“This is a very capable team,” Saban said. “This is what I call a little bit of a trap game for us in terms of all the folks out there who look at who they've played and what the scores were and don't get prepared the way you need to get prepared to go play to your standard and the level you have to play to beat any team in the SEC on the road."
Arkansas has lost four games in a row, including a 44-17 defeat to North Texas. However, the Razorback looked like an improved team during last week’s 24-17 loss to Texas A&M. In that game, Arkansas battled back from an early 17-point deficit and had a chance to tie the score late until quarterback Ty Storey was intercepted at the Texas A&M 26-yard line with 1:11 remaining.
Alabama players took note of that performance, and while their head coach might view the matchup as a trap game, they won’t be taking the Razorbacks lightly Saturday.
“I think Arkansas is a great opponent in the SEC West,” Alabama defensive back Trevon Diggs said. “They're a great offense, a great coaching staff, and we don't consider it a trap game. It's just another game for us."
2. Can Tagovailoa get even better?
Tua Tagovailoa isn’t buying it. Sure, the sophomore quarterback is happy to hear the praise coming from his head coach, but when it comes to Saban admitting he’s already exceeded expectations, Tagovailoa is a bit skeptical.
“Coach Saban said I exceeded his expectations? I don’t think I did,” Tagovailoa said. “He has to be joking with you guys because that’s definitely not what Coach Saban would tell us. There’s always room for improvement, not only within Coach Saban but within our whole coaching staff and within ourselves, too. So, there’s always room for improvement.”
It’s hard to imagine how much more Tagovailoa can improve. He already leads the nation with a 238.2 quarterback rating, completing 75 percent of his passes for 1,161 yards and 14 touchdowns with no interceptions.
“We have a lot of confidence in Tua. He has played extremely well in every game,” Saban said. “He’s right on target most of the time, not only in where he delivers the ball but who he delivers it to and why he should do it that way. I think our coaches have done a really good job of helping him be able to understand exactly what the expectation is.”
As Tagovailoa pointed out, that expectation is to keep improving, something he has been doing exceedingly well at so far.
3. Can Alabama take advantage of Arkansas’ poor special teams play?
Jaylen Waddle and Josh Jacobs have to be Iicking their chops heading into the matchup. The two Alabama returners are in a position to continue their electric starts to the season as they go up against an Arkansas special teams unit that has been reeling in recent weeks.
The Razorbacks gave up a 100-yard kick return to Texas A&M’s Jashaun Corbin last week and rank No. 105 in the nation, allowing opponents 30.08 yards per return. Arkansas hasn’t been much better defending punts were it ranks No. 117, giving up 15.5 yards per return.
That isn’t good news when going up against an Alabama team that features two of the nation’s top returners in Jacobs and Waddle. Jacobs has averaged 59.33 yards on three kick returns this season, including a 77-yard touchdown against Louisville. Waddle ranks No. 5 in the nation with 19.9 yards per punt return, including a 63-yard score last week.
Saban was asked Monday about Arkansas’ special teams woes and suggested some of the Razorbacks early struggles could be attributed to players getting accustomed to a new coaching staff.
“I think they're very capable. They’ve been very effective on teams at times, but they've had some plays that have hurt them as well,” Saban said. “We’re going to work hard to do the best we can on special teams and create some advantage in the game in every game that we play, and it won't be any different with this game.”
4. Will Alabama’s defense force a fumble?
Alabama’s defense has defied early doubters. The Crimson Tide is tied for fifth in scoring defense, holding opponents to 13 points per game. It’s tied for third in the nation with 18 sacks and ranked No. 23 in total defense, giving up 317.6 yards per game.
However, if there’s one stat that’s driving Alabama defenders crazy, it’s forced fumbles. Alabama is one of the worst teams at punching the ball away from opponents, forcing just two fumbles and recovering one through its first five games.
“That's a major issue because we pride ourselves in forcing turnovers,” linebacker Christian Miller said. “I remember two years ago; we used to score every game on defense… it was crazy. We're trying to get back to that.
“Our DBs are doing a great job of getting interceptions. That's one way of getting turnovers, but getting the ball out, that's something we need to do better. We pulled up that stat and I think we might have been almost last in the country for actually forcing fumbles. That's something we're working on going forward.”
Miller believes forcing fumbles comes down to a mindset and said Alabama defenders have to “play violent” when they arrive at the ball. While Alabama defenders have failed to knock the ball out, the Crimson Tide is tied for second in the nation with nine interceptions and boasts a respectable plus-6 turnover margin. That should only grow once Alabama returns to its typical fumble-forcing ways.
“It's going to come when it comes,” defensive lineman Raekwon Davis said. “But we just got to do better in practice."
5. Is Alabama’s offense doing too well?
There are such things as stupid questions, and this is one of them. Of course, there’s no such thing of being too good at any part of the game. However, Tagovailoa brought up a solid point when discussing Alabama’s flashy attack.
“I think for anyone that plays the sport of football, when we find success, it just becomes very fun,” Tagovailoa said. “So, with our guys, it can be a blessing and a burden because we’re so used to it now that everybody wants a touchdown, everybody wants to do something big.
“Sometimes that can be a burden because sometimes we don’t understand what we’re doing. There’s a lack of focus out there, and there’s definitely a big lack of intensity sometimes within our offense when we kind of think that way.”
Alabama’s October schedule features three teams — Arkansas, Missouri and Tennessee — who aren’t expected to challenge the Crimson Tide. It will be important for Alabama to hold itself up to the necessary standard despite the score in order to keep its offense running at full steam heading into harder matchups down the road.
Five questions as the Alabama Crimson Tide prepares for Arkansas | BamaInsider.com
