Alabama 41, Arkansas 38
September 15, 2007 at 10:26pm by TipsterHog
Filed under Arkansas Razorbacks, Football, Recap
Hogwired.com: Alabama Scores With Eight Seconds Left to Knock Off Razorbacks
John Parker Wilson hit Matt Caddell for a touchdown in the back left corner of the end zone with eight seconds remaining to give Alabama a 41-38 victory over No. 16 Arkansas and spoil two big rallies by the Razorbacks.
Arkansas dropped to 1-1 on the year and 0-1 in the Southeastern Conference while Alabama is 3-0 and 2-0.
Also:
- Hogwired.com: Game Stats (PDF)
- ESPN.com: Caddell TD caps wild finish as Bama upsets Arkansas
- ESPN.com (Video): Alabama Rallies Past Arkansas
- Arkansas Online Focus: Arkansas vs. Alabama Photos
RazorBloggers Network
- TipsterHog: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly – Alabama
- HogBlogger: Used And Abused, Punishing Tide
The Morning News
- Alex Abrams: Alabummer
- Vernon Tarver: McFadden Does All He Can
- Kurt Voigt: Wilson Leads Alabama Comeback
- Harry King: Cliche applies to Bama-Arkansas
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
- Tom Murphy: Wild ride ends with thud
- Chris Givens: McFadden carries load, left watching late
- Chris Bahn: Defensive backs assume blame
- Rob Keys: Wilson breaks down Hogs’ defense
- Wally Hall: Day turns out perfectly for Alabama faithful
- Nate Allen: Caught Looking
Other Sites and Blogs
- The Tuscaloosa News: Tide comes back to upset Arkansas 41-38, UA defense comes up with big fourth-quarter stop, McFadden, Hogs heartbroken in loss, Ejection mars thrilling Alabama-Arkansas game
- The Birmingham News: Wilson hits Caddell in final seconds
- Mobile Press-Register: Welcome Matt, Saban’s strategy pays off
- The Huntsville Time: Tide blows big lead, but thrives, survives with late TD drive, Final minutes provide plenty
Updated 9/17/07 4:00 p.m.
Disappointing to say the least, but I am very proud of these Hogs. They showed great character tonight, and very easily could have won this game. Casey showed improvement in this game. His int. was tipped into the hands of the Bama LB, and 2 other passes were tipped at the line of scrimmage. He had 1 dropped by Reggie Fish, and 1 other dropped by London Crawford, after the catch, recovered back to Bama. I only seen 2 passes that were off target by Casey. D-Mac is completely redicoules. It is almost a joke to try and stop him for less than 150 yrds. He useually has a 100 by the half. This team’s problem is inconsistantcy in the recievers catching the ball and hanging on to it, and probably the pass coverage, more than anything, when defensing a good passing team. As the D-line gains quality exsperience, and the LBs improve as a unit as well, there will be more pressure put on the QB. I look forward to the Kentucky game . GO HOGS GO!!!!!
11-23 passing, 3 TDs, and 1 int. The int. was tipped, 2 more tipped at the line of scrimmage, 2 more were dropped by the recievers. That’s 5 incompletions that don’t fall back on the QB. Not too shabby numbers against a good defense on the road. Hog fans should rally around Casey. He is getting better, and will only gain more and more confidence as the year goes on. He is improving with his best, and 2nd best recievers out. All of you so-called Hog fans, that have bashed, bashed, and repeatedly bashed this kid should shut-up and actually look at what he’s doing. It’s called improving, so GO CASEY!!! and GO HOGS GO BABY!!!!!
I agree with most of those comments. It was nice to see some passing game. Early on, I thought the team looked ill prepared. Thanks to D-Mac, we got back in. I think we would have won this one if Alabama doesn’t get a gift of a 4th timeout on a measurement where the Tide was obviously short. That officials timeout saved them precious time and allowed them to get a play in. Oh well, sometimes it goes that way. Perhaps the breaks will go our way against a very good Kentucky team. GO HOGS!!!
I’m very proud of the Hogs for that comeback – they showed amazing guts and spirit – but personally I’m feeling pretty devastated by that loss. Makes me not want to think about sports for a couple of weeks. Well, maybe a few days at least.
A ball control team has to run out the clock there.
We were not ready to play. Play calling was confused at best.
Kentucky’s QB is going to love this tape. Looks like Dale’s streak of losing his next game after his first SEC loss could be in order.
Did you see Codi Burns getting Auburn back in the game?
Casey is doing his very best and he may well improve. I’m not sure how he develops confidence in this offense with these recievers. This a classic example of why you have to develop your passing game DURING THE GAMES. You can’t just put in a little practice time and say “we will have it when we need it.” It doesn’t work that way. Look at the tape again. Casey missed more recievers than that.
We should have handled these guys pretty handily except perhaps for our secondary. We have a real problem there.
Unfortunately, for want of ONE FIRST DOWN the game was lost. Poor play calling on the last possession. Plays that only 5 can make look successful do not work for a third teamer.
It’s going to take a lot more than a good QB to beat the Hogs this weekend. Kentucky doesn’t have the speed the Tide had on defense, and that doesn’t look good for the Wildcats in my book. Everyone will talk about how great the Wildcats are after the big Louisville win. Whipty -doo, the Wildcats victory over the Cardinals was nothing more than an offensive shoot-out. Louisville is so over-rated, it isn’t even funny. They showed that against Middle Tenn. St. 42 points against the #8 team in the country? Give me a break!! That one wasn’t even decided until the 4th qr. The Hogs WILL win on Saturday, make no mistake. The Secondary will improve, and if you think it was impressive what our RBs did in the Bama game, just wait ‘tll this weekend. The Hog offense will shred the Wildcat defense to pieces, and when the Hogs practice for a pass happy team all week long, and make all the defensive adjustments nessesary, this one probably won’t even be close. Hogs 22-7 at the half. Hogs 36-25 Final. D-Mac and FJ both exceed 150yrds. rushing, and Casey goes 10-15 passing for another 150. GO HOGS GO!!!!!
i think I called it correctly. Not the score, where I had the razorbacks winning, but in the end game. I previously said that if it came down to being behind that I gave the nod to Bama because of coaching. Looks like Bama is getting it’s money’s worth from Saban. Without going into details, Saban was playing to win at the end and Nutt playing not to lose. Saban’s going for the field goal on 4th down was predicated on getting the ball back and on a two minute offense. He probably figured that Nutt would be as creative as ever and he guessed right. Running clock requires getting some first downs. Felix off tackle and throwing into coverage on 3rd didn’t do it. Saban outprepared and outcoached Nutt in this one. Saban is a former pro coach who knows the two miinute drill. Nutt obviously didn’t know how to defend against it. Am I frustrated? Yes. Consider this: Arkansas has lost its last four games to quality opponents by close scores even though they have (had) the talent to win. With the emergence of Dick showing that he is a good QB Arkansas probably has the best backfield in the country. Dick throws 3 TDs, Darren goes over 190, Felix has a good game and Nutt still can’t getter done? I would agree that the uneccessary measurement hurt Arkansas’ chances but it still didn’t eliminate the fact that Bama was in scoring position with a few more plays left. With the internet and the number of TV replays available it would be interesting if someone looks to find out how many times and under what circumstances that such a measurement was taken. As I recall, the first down line was on the line marker and the ball was far short of it. In other words, They didn’t need TV’s extended yellow line to determine it wasn’t a first down.. The guy’s in the TV booth knew it wasn’t a first down. Where were those guys in the replay booth on that one? Very suspicious. Kentucky now looks dangerous with it’s passing game, but I think that Louisville was overated. (Like Michigan, UCLA, Texas, Tennessee etc). Excuse me, I have a beer to go cry into.
You have to admit BlindHog, even though our passing isn’t shown in the game like we would like to have it, having Monk and Cleveland out would be hard for any team to over-come. Not an exscuse, just a fact. I am impressed with Tuck’s ability to separate, and make plays, However,we need Fish and Crawford to hang on to the ball. If we are going to try and improve in the passing game, they will have to come through. Casey isn’t that far off. If WRs hang on to the ball, and DBs don’t get burned, because they lose sight of the ball, this is a totally different ball game.
If ifs and buts were candy and nuts what a merry christmas it would be.
Classic Dale. Sure Monk and McFadden are better than their conterparts in any game they play. But one knocked knee or knocked head puts an end to that stratagy. Football is a team game with Offense, Defense, kicking, a game plan, and players. You have heard of putting all your eggs in one basket and what happens when you drop the basket.
Our problem right now is our defense. 26 points to troy and 41 points to Bama in two games. Kentucky comes off a big win while we come in off the loss. It will not be the walkover you predict. Our defense is not there. Arkansas can join the ranks of the overrated with a loss and end any hope of returning to Atlanta in week 4.
I agree with GonzoHog. Casey is not far off. He looked good in the second half. The play action passes were there and our receivers need to hold on to the ball.
Our defense IS our problem right now. We were only affective when our blitz hurried or got to little John Parker. Our blitz needs to get to UK’s QB early and often.
Despite our defense, we will win Friday. I had a bad feeling about the Bama game and was right. But I feel real good about the UK game now. Their defense will look pitiful against DMac.
Also, DMac was just sick in that game. (And that’s sick in a good way.) He is a man among boys. That was a Heisman performance last night.
I understand BlindHog’s frustrations. I would love to see a little bit better of a passing game, ( catch the ball!) and the defensive backfield will definately need to improve over the next week. I believe they will. Herring’s defenses always improve week to week, and the WRs will become more consistant, as we continue to use them more. Everybody want’s to see it RIGHT NOW, but as I said before, be a little more patient, and good things will happen. It will, starting this week. Watch and see.
Look for Felix to have another big game this week, along with D-Mac, while the recievers start looking better and better. The defense will knock down a few more balls this week too.
Pure and simple…………we were outcoached!!
Simply put our head coach in an idiot and he was only trumped by Herring in this game. Why we insist on playing not to lose is beyond me. Kentucky will beat us, we’re a great team with bad coaches; we knew something had to give.
How were we outcoached?
The only truly bad coaching decision was to drop all those DB’s (prevent) and allow them do get 10 yards on each pass. But doesn’t every defensive coach in America do that in that situation.
If Sabin kicks the field goal and then does NOT get the TD at the end of the game, then Bama fans are screaming that Sabin got outcoached because he didn’t go for it on 4th down and try to tie the game.
Hats off to DMAC, Hillis, and the new kid at wideout. Hillis was finally getting some long deserved national props from the announcers last night. After the first quater last night, I was ready to write off the ‘07 season, but they showed some real heart last night. Alabama is no USC, but after one, I was having serious flashbacks. As devastating as that was, I’m excited about the rest of the season and watching number 5. . . . . . b.t.w., I told you I didn’t have a good feeling about the game going in.
I am by no means a hugger, but . . . nevermind, I’ll reserve that thought until next Sunday.
Saban could have easily been labeled as an idiot for not not going fot it on 4th and 6. The FG pulled the Tide to within 4 points, with 4:25 left on the clock. Saban wasn’t aware at this time D-Mac was out with a concussion, so what since did that call make? D-Mac could have told the Tide which direction he was going at that time in the game, and it still wouldn’t have made a lick of difference. Saban was nothing but lucky on that call, plain and simple!!
Anybody remember who was the preseason All SEC QB?
I thought Saban going with the late field goal attempt was a gift for the Hogs, and still think that way! it just happened to work out for him, but very, very easily he would have been the big idiot today in Bama had we taken care of business like we should have. I haven’t seen or heard any discussion about it, but did anyone else notice that the play clock ran out on Alabama’s late field goal, and the officials didn’t catch it? The ball was snapped at least a full second after the clock hit zero.
“Anybody remember who was the preseason All SEC QB?
Probably Woodson but who cares? I don’t think his defense can stop the run as well as they’ll need to and if he ain’t on the field, he’s just an All SEC benchwarmer.
I didn’t see that play clock fubar but I wouldn’t be surprised. There were several ‘calls’ in the game that were very questionable (starting with the pass interference and continuing with that time-consuming cluster f**k after Jones’ run at the end zone late in the third. How much time ran off the during that? I realize the lost time could have affected either team adversely but we sure could have used an extra 15 or so seconds there at the end).
It seems like Saban knew exactly what he was doing with that late field goal. Maybe he figured like the rest of the world that we would that when we got the ball we would run on first down and thought to himself “maybe I’m smart enough to stop it.” Then I bet he knew if he stopped us on first down we would run again on second like we do 90% of the time and thought, “you know what Nick if you force them into 3rd and long Nutt will defintly pass and you know that’s a walk in the park; he probably doesn’t even realize he could run off another 35-45 seconds.” Sure enough he was right on. But here was the problem how was he going to get the punt and score in a min twenty? Oh ya, he knew he made Reggie Herring look like he belongs in high school all game long. That’s why we were outcoached and that’s why Alabama will own us the rest of the time Dale coaches us.
Yea…Saban knew all of that. Gimme a break. Go root for Bama since you like him so much.
38 points should be enough to win any game. Some of our fans love the pass but the pass put our Defense in a bad position with that tipped pass for an interception deep in Arkansas territory. The Offense, not executing, put the Defense in a bad position to commence the game on the tipped pass and upon Crawford’s backward toss, but the Defense giving up those touchdowns in the first period and at the end was still THE problem. I do not understand Arkansas commencing the game with one back on Hall. He is too good a receiver to be covered that way…especially with our D-backs. As someone mentioned, Herring’s Defense always gets better, but I see the KY. game as being a tough one with their excellent QB and because of the fact that KY almost always plays Arkansas close and our D-backs are suspect. Correct me if I am wrong on this, but I am under the impression that KY’s receivers are not as good as the Alabama receivers (and probably not their Defense); however, one sure could not tell their receivers are not as good by the way they have been scoring points. Although I have thought from the beginning that Louisville was overrated. How the polsters can drop the Hogs so low and put Alabama so high is puzzling except for the fact that national media always wants certain pet teams to be UP in the polls. They have always been that way and apparently always will from what we see with them jumping Alabama so high over the Hogs in a 3-point loss that was on their turf with a questionable call at the end of an uncatchable ball and not starting the clock. I suppose he polsters just remembered the Hogs being behind by 21 points to start the game and that is all they remembered. (Let me say this that the refs did not beat us as much as we beat ourselves on Defense and Offense with our receivers. It is bound to make a difference whenever our two excellent receivers return and D-Mac, who had to set out two very important series.) The team did great in coming back as they did. That should give them confidence for the future. It gives this fan great hope for great things to come. Don’t believe I have seen a back get as many yards as McFadden the hard way. He was hit, and hit, and hit, but kept getting the tough yards. Also, I was very disappointed that they did not throw to Tuck more often. It seems that our best receivers at present are Tuck, Davies, and Hillis. Not sure what the problem is with playing time for Tuck since I do not know what his blocking ability as a receiver is. As far as Fish, he dropped an apparent touchdown. After that and what he did in the SEC Championship game in dropping a punt for a Florida touchdown, I am not sure that I would play him in the future. Seems he has bad hands and judgment. I have seen enought of him. Hope I am wrong and that if he continues to play that he gets to atone for his BIG blunder in Atlanta and this game but I am not optimistic about him. So far he is not proving to be a gamer. I am a big believer that some players are just pure gamers. Also, I have been a big advocate of Crawford getting more touches, but I was wrong on that one after watching how he ran one direction, did not tuck the ball in, and literally slung the ball in the opposite direction! Cannot recall ever seeing any player sling the football so casually and so hard in the opposite direction. Now, I understand why he is not getting more touches. He has speed but apparently he is just not attentive to protecting the ball. Not sure of his blocking ability since I have not observed that aspect of his duties. With the Defense being so poor in the first quarter, I lay the defeat mostly on our Defense in spite of the fact that you win as a team. Casey appears to be coming but he obviously has got to get that ball higher to keep those tips from happening. Overall, he made some great plays. He will improve with our two excellent receivers coming back some day. As someone said before the season, Casey is a junior but not an experienced junior QB. I still remember how bad Stoerner looked before he became seasoned. I know we have to be able to pass in some situations but I still grimace when I see a pass coming. Arkansas under Nutt seems to always start slowly and come on strong as the season progresses. We seem to not be able to use the open dates during the season as well as I would like to see. I believe Holtz and Hatfield were the best coaches that I have observed in using open dates to Arkansas’ advantage…and Broyles was not bad. I had hopes that this open date would assist in getting some players back on the field but it did not happen. We still should have a good season.
As far as Burns with Auburn, I would sure be surprised if he was able to go his first year in college even as good as he was in HS. Future years, he likely will be good for Auburn if their coach lasts through this year for they sure are taking their lumps which was not expected by the prognosticators.
Lest we forget, it is horrible for a Senior to lose his cool in a big game the way one of our young men did that caused him to be thrown out of the game. In our society today with a lack of discipline everywhere, that is perhaps inevitable since one sees it everywhere nowadays. I suppose it is just self defeating in the eyes of everyone but the perpetrator. THAT WAS A HUGE MISTAKE FOR HIM TO MAKE and I feel sure the coaches will deal with him to ensure he understands. That was costly. Nevertheless, GO HOGS! GO!
Def wins champs. Our pass defense was not up to the task of keeping a lead. But your constant emphasis on defense ignores the fact of what do you do when your defense isn’t that good?. Well, you have to outscore your opponents in some way, Even if you have an outstanding ground game for ball control, you still have score TDs in the red zone. A team with an outstanding passing game can score points quickly, so what good does “ball control” do if you can’t be ahead on the scoreboard? Look at the Browns-Bengals and the Tulsa-BYU games. It didn’t matter how many points Tulsa and Cleveland gave up, because in the end they won. I’m not totally unhappy about the Bama game, especially the way the Hogs came back, Darren’s incrediable peformance, and Casey’s improvement (Actually it was play calling improvement, but desperate times requires desperate changes).. I’m not even going to be critical of Nutt in the second half because I do believe that in this instance he was a victim of bad luck, or rather officiating bias. I do wonder why Herring at the end left the middle of the field wide open for possession down passes. I saw the same thing in the losses fo Florida and LSU.
Def. I do agree with you on pet teams in the polls. Lots of questions there. Wisconsin remains high despite having a tough game with the Citadel. And Texas (?) barely wins at UCF and then there is that close game with
ASU where the Indians also got screwed at the end. Wisconsin is higher in one poll than Ohio State even when OSU had a more impressive victory over a good Washington team. And so on and so forth. What I suspect is going on is ego. These guys ranked the teams at the beginning of the season and feel obligated to stick with their original choices to save face. As I recall, Michigan was still in the top 25 even after Appalachian State.. Regarding Fish, he can’t hang on to the ball for punts or receiving, is too short for DB, and is too small for the kind of ground game that Arkansas likes. In retrospect, however, both Fish and Crawford did what Arkansas receivers have not done much of lately, i.e., get separation and get open. Keep in mind that aside for those two and Tuck who else is there? Remember that a pass to the tight end is a trick play for Nutt. I might be wrong but I don’t think that Kentucky has the ground game that Alabama had and the Hogs should be able to put more emphasis on passing defense. One thing that is scary though, the Kentucky QB is much more mobile than Wllson, and that spells trouble. However, I think that Arkansas can still outscore Kentucky as long as Nutt doesn’t coach not to lose.
Hogblogger:
I agree with your whole assessment and I have said all along, for some time, that it looked like SEC coaches had Nutt figured out like a book. I couldn’t read the defenses on TV but if Bama was in the same McFadden or run prevent defense, I’ll bet that a Bobby Bowden or a Pete Carrol.would have called a down field pass or if no one was open Dick should eat the ball to run clock . Hogsdill sounds like a Nuttaholic or maybe he’s a Nutt family member. If he disagrees with you, come back with the facts and not the ridiculous “go root for Alabama”.. I feel your pain Hogblogger. This was the year for making noise (actually it was last year, but we didn’t knowi it until Tennessee). Next year we got nothin’ except Dick.
It was still a terrific game…even in a loss. We shall see how good Alabama is in the future. We have already seen that either Troy is a better team than some believed or OSU is headed for a BAD year. We are seeing every week this year where so called mid major teams are beating or giving so called superior D-1 teams fits. I believe that is a precursor for the future as these teams are on the up swing compared to years ago. Arkansas is still in a position to rise again in the polls if they take care of business with KY and the rest provided we can shore up the D-backs. HANG IN THERE RAZORBACK FANS. Maybe we shall commence to get Monk and Cleveland back on the field soon. With the cut in football scholarships a few years ago, most team cannot aford to lose key players. Football is still fun! Remember! It is not life or death…just a trivial game and for sure not the game of life! Live it to the fullest!! I will!! The past is the past. Let it go! BEAT KENTUCKY! GO HOGS! GO!
the hogs played there hearts out. they could have won. also they could have lost by 3 or 4 td’s. you got to take the good with the bad. the team cant linger on this loss because kentucky has a solid team.
J.D.Sr, I agree that sometimes you do have to assist the Defense by outscoring the opponent if Defense is not up to the challenge and KY just may be that game. For the Alabama game, I still believe that 38 points should have been enough to win, but with a an exceptionally bad first period that of course did not happen. Before the season, I was more concerned with KY than Alabama. I have not followed how KY’s defense is against the run and pass this season. Being a passing team, primarily, I feel sure their pass defense will be good. It will likely be a cardiac game for fans! Bad news with our tight end being out for the season since I thought that he had a good change to be one of the best TEs we have had. I am pleased with the promotion of Tuck to start. Now if we could get someone to assist Hillis, although he is not very quick, in returning punts, that would be good. Fish scares me in that position. I would like to see our QB take his game to an even higher level. There is no excuse for his receivers dropping passes since his passes are very catchable. Go Hogs! Beat the Wildcats!