Cecil Hurt
TideSports.com Columnist
It isn't a quickly accessible statistic, like rushing yards or passing touchdowns. You won't hear the stats-crammed color commentators on television mention it unless someone in the production truck is exceptionally nimble.
Most things that could possibly happen in college football have happened at one time or another, so it might not be the first time. Still, in the context of fast offenses - and especially in the context of Nick Saban's 100-game tenure at Alabama - it is as glaring as a spotlight.
In the second half at Arkansas on Saturday, Alabama had one drive - one - in which it managed a first down. That drive happened to be the game-winning touchdown drive, early in the fourth quarter. Alabama strung together four first downs on that drive. It had a measly 10 in the game. Of Alabama's 13 possessions, nine were either three-and-out or four-and-out, when the Crimson Tide tried - and failed - to convert a fourth down on what Nick Saban described, fairly, as "the worst quarterback sneak I have ever seen."
Except on two drives - one set up with favorable field position thanks to a fumble recovery - Alabama couldn't move the ball with any sort of consistency, and for much of the game, couldn't move it at all.
After going ahead by a single precarious point, with 12:36 remaining, the UA offense didn't record one single first down.
What it did record, forgettably, was losing the ball on downs, a 6-yard loss on a first-down reverse, a substitution violation that turned a third-and-one into a third-and-six (coming out of a time out, no less), a delay of game that turned a fourth-and-one that you might consider going for into a fourth-and-six, and an illegal procedure that turned a third-and-two into a third-and-seven although, mercifully for Alabama, it did not stop the clock.
All that, and the Crimson Tide still won the game. Credit is due to the defense, which held Arkansas to 335 yards and 13 points despite nearly a 10-minute deficit in time of possession, and to punter JK Scott, who flipped the field time and time again. Even in the punt-and-defend glory days of Gene Stallings, Alabama rarely (if ever) won with the offense paying such a small portion of the bill.
So what happened? Three weeks ago, the Crimson Tide was posting record numbers against Florida and Lane Kiffin was featured in football columns across the land. And then it stopped.
Are there reasons? Alabama has gone on the road to face two solid opponents. It has lost starting center Ryan Kelly, which hasn't helped. Perhaps the speed of those games, or the challenges of the road, have caught up with Blake Sims, a fifth-year senior who remains a rookie, and has looked it at times.
The discouraging part, for Alabama fans, isn't the lack of production, exactly. It's that this week's issues looked a lot like last week's issues.
Yes, the results were different in the most important way - a win rather than a loss - but that seemed dependent on better defense (again, full credit for that) and an opponent that didn't have quite as much ability to exploit the mistakes.
There was a Rammer Jammer executed in the Alabama corner of Reynolds Razorback Stadium Saturday, but even that seemed tentative - not the usual full-throated cry of superiority but a version from fans who wonder how many more times this year that cheer will be heard.
And rest assured, it wasn't that Alabama beat the hell out of Arkansas - but that it barely survived beating the hell out of itself for a second straight week.
That's improvement, in a way, but encouragement? Not on Saturday.
https://alabama.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1691666
TideSports.com Columnist
It isn't a quickly accessible statistic, like rushing yards or passing touchdowns. You won't hear the stats-crammed color commentators on television mention it unless someone in the production truck is exceptionally nimble.
Most things that could possibly happen in college football have happened at one time or another, so it might not be the first time. Still, in the context of fast offenses - and especially in the context of Nick Saban's 100-game tenure at Alabama - it is as glaring as a spotlight.
In the second half at Arkansas on Saturday, Alabama had one drive - one - in which it managed a first down. That drive happened to be the game-winning touchdown drive, early in the fourth quarter. Alabama strung together four first downs on that drive. It had a measly 10 in the game. Of Alabama's 13 possessions, nine were either three-and-out or four-and-out, when the Crimson Tide tried - and failed - to convert a fourth down on what Nick Saban described, fairly, as "the worst quarterback sneak I have ever seen."
Except on two drives - one set up with favorable field position thanks to a fumble recovery - Alabama couldn't move the ball with any sort of consistency, and for much of the game, couldn't move it at all.
After going ahead by a single precarious point, with 12:36 remaining, the UA offense didn't record one single first down.
What it did record, forgettably, was losing the ball on downs, a 6-yard loss on a first-down reverse, a substitution violation that turned a third-and-one into a third-and-six (coming out of a time out, no less), a delay of game that turned a fourth-and-one that you might consider going for into a fourth-and-six, and an illegal procedure that turned a third-and-two into a third-and-seven although, mercifully for Alabama, it did not stop the clock.
All that, and the Crimson Tide still won the game. Credit is due to the defense, which held Arkansas to 335 yards and 13 points despite nearly a 10-minute deficit in time of possession, and to punter JK Scott, who flipped the field time and time again. Even in the punt-and-defend glory days of Gene Stallings, Alabama rarely (if ever) won with the offense paying such a small portion of the bill.
So what happened? Three weeks ago, the Crimson Tide was posting record numbers against Florida and Lane Kiffin was featured in football columns across the land. And then it stopped.
Are there reasons? Alabama has gone on the road to face two solid opponents. It has lost starting center Ryan Kelly, which hasn't helped. Perhaps the speed of those games, or the challenges of the road, have caught up with Blake Sims, a fifth-year senior who remains a rookie, and has looked it at times.
The discouraging part, for Alabama fans, isn't the lack of production, exactly. It's that this week's issues looked a lot like last week's issues.
Yes, the results were different in the most important way - a win rather than a loss - but that seemed dependent on better defense (again, full credit for that) and an opponent that didn't have quite as much ability to exploit the mistakes.
There was a Rammer Jammer executed in the Alabama corner of Reynolds Razorback Stadium Saturday, but even that seemed tentative - not the usual full-throated cry of superiority but a version from fans who wonder how many more times this year that cheer will be heard.
And rest assured, it wasn't that Alabama beat the hell out of Arkansas - but that it barely survived beating the hell out of itself for a second straight week.
That's improvement, in a way, but encouragement? Not on Saturday.
https://alabama.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1691666
