Hogs have hands full with 'Bama
Derek Oxford
Issue date: 9/19/08 Section: Sports
It's an SEC West barn-burner no matter what the teams' records are, who coaches them, where it's played, and so on and so forth.
Arkansas had last year's game in its grasp in Bryant-Denny Stadium, but the Crimson Tide stormed down the field and John Parker Wilson's touchdown pass to Matt Caddell gave them the win with 8 seconds left.
In 2006, however, Alabama had the game in its hands until kicker Leigh Tiffin missed two field goals and an extra point, all of which would have led to a Crimson Tide victory.
Mitch Mustain's pass to Ben Cleveland was true for a touchdown on the game's final possession, and Jeremy Davis's extra point went through the uprights to set off a celebration in Reynolds Razorback Stadium.
The Razorbacks (2-0) are hoping for some of that and more Saturday when Alabama visits Fayetteville, but this Crimson Tide team looks a lot different than the last two the Razorbacks have seen.
Offensively, they are still led by John Parker Wilson, who is having a banner year under center for Alabama, but the Crimson Tide have a lot of weapons for the Razorback defense to be concerned with.
"Julio [Jones] got recognized as [Southeastern Conference] player of the week," Alabama coach Nick Saban said. "Glen Coffee, Andre Smith and Antoine Caldwell all had great games. Our offensive line did a really good job up front of controlling the line of scrimmage."
And defensively, they have the best rush defense in the country, so Arkansas' offensive line will have its hands full trying to open lanes for Michael Smith.
"We have played against two teams that spread quite a bit which they will be, which is how most passing teams try to do it," Saban said. "They do a good job of executing. It is always a challenge. I don't want to minimize the fact that I think they can run the ball because they can. We have a lot of respect for their offensive line. This will be the biggest challenge for our defensive team on the year to this point."
Arkansas had last year's game in its grasp in Bryant-Denny Stadium, but the Crimson Tide stormed down the field and John Parker Wilson's touchdown pass to Matt Caddell gave them the win with 8 seconds left.
In 2006, however, Alabama had the game in its hands until kicker Leigh Tiffin missed two field goals and an extra point, all of which would have led to a Crimson Tide victory.
Mitch Mustain's pass to Ben Cleveland was true for a touchdown on the game's final possession, and Jeremy Davis's extra point went through the uprights to set off a celebration in Reynolds Razorback Stadium.
The Razorbacks (2-0) are hoping for some of that and more Saturday when Alabama visits Fayetteville, but this Crimson Tide team looks a lot different than the last two the Razorbacks have seen.
Offensively, they are still led by John Parker Wilson, who is having a banner year under center for Alabama, but the Crimson Tide have a lot of weapons for the Razorback defense to be concerned with.
"Julio [Jones] got recognized as [Southeastern Conference] player of the week," Alabama coach Nick Saban said. "Glen Coffee, Andre Smith and Antoine Caldwell all had great games. Our offensive line did a really good job up front of controlling the line of scrimmage."
And defensively, they have the best rush defense in the country, so Arkansas' offensive line will have its hands full trying to open lanes for Michael Smith.
"We have played against two teams that spread quite a bit which they will be, which is how most passing teams try to do it," Saban said. "They do a good job of executing. It is always a challenge. I don't want to minimize the fact that I think they can run the ball because they can. We have a lot of respect for their offensive line. This will be the biggest challenge for our defensive team on the year to this point."
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