Few things in football are more important than ball security. It’s a point Alabama coach Nick Saban has emphasized repeatedly this season.
Despite all the emphasis, No. 7 Alabama had trouble holding onto the ball against Arkansas in its 14-13 win on Saturday. The Crimson Tide and the Razorbacks, combined, had five turnovers. Alabama had four fumbles and lost two. The Razorbacks lost two of their three.
“From an intangible standpoint, our players really played hard in this game, really overcame a lot of adversity,” Saban said. “You could say that we made a lot of mistakes, which we did, but we overcame them in the game. Defense did a phenomenal job of stopping the running game, struggled to get off the field at times on third down but did it at the end of the game when we needed to.”
Arkansas was 9-19 on third downs.
On Arkansas’ final possession, Alabama had a tenuous 14-13 lead. The Razorbacks were third-and-10 at their own 28-yard line with just over two minutes left in the game. Alabama safety Landon Collins, who fumbled on a kickoff return, came up and intercepted quarterback Brandon Allen’s pass to seal a win for Alabama.
Quarterback Blake Sims led Alabama with 161 yards passing. He went 11-21 on the night. In the second quarter, he connected with running back T.J. Yeldon for a 22-yard touchdown, and Alabama took a 7-0 lead.
Arkansas running back Jonathan Williams ran in a 3-yard touchdown to put Arkansas down by one when the Crimson Tide blocked the extra point attempt. Allen connected with tight end AJ Derby for a 54-yard touchdown in the third quarter to give Arkansas a 13-7 lead.
Alabama wide receiver DeAndrew White caught a 6-yard touchdown pass from Sims, good for a 14-13 lead.
Alabama netted 227 total yards of offense. Yeldon led the team with 80 all-purpose yards. He had 45 on the ground.
“There’s a lot of things that we can correct,” Saban said. “There’s a lot of things that we can get better, but when your players play with that kind of heart, you gotta be really proud of them for the way they competed in the game, how hard they played and they did that, and my hat’s off to them.”
