“The problems are judgment and decision making,” Saban said. “To make a decision when the ball hits the ground and to go try to jump on it when there are seven guys around, that is just a bad judgment and bad decision.”
Saban referenced punt returner Christion Jones’ attempt to jump on a punt that had not been touched by any player on the field. Jones ended up not being able to recover it, and Arkansas got the ball back.
Alabama had four fumbles in the game, three during punt returns and the other during a kickoff return. The Crimson Tide lost two of the fumbles that occurred on punt returns.
“We have to play smarter, and that applies to a lot of people,” Saban said. “When it comes to judgment, we have to play smarter and we have to help our players and get them to play smarter. We have had these same people in these positions before and they have not made these kind of decisions.”
In addition to the special teams fumbles, Adam Griffith missed a field goal for the third game in a row. Griffith, who started the season by making his first seven field goals, has now made one of the last five since the team played Florida.
One of the few bright spots for special teams came when Jonathan Allen blocked an Arkansas extra point that ended up being the difference in the game.
