Is Alabama’s offense sustainable? Close Arkansas win shows highs and lows

Don’t ask Nick Saban what his halftime message was to Alabama football.

The Crimson Tide head coach acknowledged he usually gets a question from reporters postgame when a shift has occurred in the latter half of UA’s matchup. Sometimes, like last week at Texas A&M, it’s about how his team responded well. Other times, like this Saturday against Arkansas, well, like Saban said, don’t ask.

“There’s a difference between beating the other team and winning the game. We played pretty well in the game until 24-6,” Saban said following Alabama’s narrow 24-21 win over the Razorbacks. ” … We didn’t finish.

“Obviously, this (locker room speech) isn’t worth repeating so why would we talk about it? Obviously wasn’t very good.”

Arkansas (2-5, 0-4 Southeastern Conference) couldn’t complete its rally to spoil the No. 11 Tide’s (6-1, 4-0) homecoming weekend. A run triggered by aggressive play from visiting quarterback KJ Jefferson and more self-inflicted mistakes led to a brief moment of panic before Jalen Milroe converted a tear-drop 14-yard pass to ice it. But overall, Alabama produced 415 yards but didn’t come closer to cementing its identity.

Its inconsistent running game managed 4.2 yards per carry on 42 attempts. No Alabama rusher crossed the 100-yard threshold. And a week after Milroe set a career-high in passing yards (321), he totaled 238 yards against Arkansas on 10-of-21 — 193 of which came on five throws.

Arkansas managed four sacks, giving the Tide 23 allowed in the last month. A run of seven straight 40-point performances against the Razorbacks ended. That’s not the first time a similar run has ended in 2023. The reliance on big plays raises questions about the unit’s sustainability, especially when considering the offensive line that can’t keep Milroe upright.

“We make some mental errors,” Saban said. ” … A couple times today we got beat physically. Their rusher just beat our guy. We have to handle pressure better.”

According to Saban, Arkansas’ first sack of the game came off a sequence the Tide practiced during the week. Left tackle Kadyn Proctor didn’t recognize his assignment, allowing Landon Jackson (3.5 total sacks) to run in untouched and smush Milroe. The Tide tried to utilize motion early as well, but Alabama couldn’t get the timing right. Milroe threw a pass late to Ja’Corey Brooks in the flats, which was dropped. They then committed an illegal procedure penalty.

Through UA’s opening 10 plays, it gained 25 yards and fell into a 6-0 deficit. In response, Milroe looked deep, and good play design popped Kobe Prentice open for a 79-yard touchdown pass down the middle of the field. That led to more confidence for Milroe, who finished the day without a turnover for the second time this season. He fed Jermaine Burton on a jump ball for 44 yards on the next drive, ate a sack, then found Brooks for 25 yards.

Milroe started 8-of-11 passing, then the Arkansas rush came, and the Tide’s ground attack couldn’t relieve pressure. Milroe then threw nine incompletions in a row, including a drop by Malik Benson.

“I think we just got complacent,” Milroe said. “I think there’s a lot of things we got to build on and learn from this game and can’t let it happen again. And today, we’re not a finished product.”

Alabama’s longest drive of the second half, by yardage, came off multiple chunk runs for Roydell Williams. He gained 70 yards on three-straight snaps, but the drive stalled in the redzone. The Tide had three straight three-and-outs after that. Though it didn’t feel like it, Arkansas had a chance to tie or take the lead in the fourth quarter.

The pass rush eventually won the day, ending the Razorbacks’ comeback with a fifth sack of KJ Jefferson. Yet, more miscues on the final drive drew some groans from the Bryant-Denny Stadium crowd. The Tide committed two false-start penalties when trying to run out the clock. On the second one, Saban was seen on the sidelines screaming as his headset jiggled off.

It wasn’t pretty, but like it has in six of Alabama’s seven games, the inconsistent offense did enough. Now, Alabama will go to the drawing board for Tennessee.

“Do we? I mean, yes we do,” Williams said when asked if the Tide has an offensive identity. “But as the season goes on we still try to find it. It’s different every game, but when we find it, we got it.”

Nick Alvarez is a reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @nick_a_alvarez or email him at NAlvarez@al.com.