Alabama Preview: High Tide In Fayetteville

After working most of last week preparing for Texas, the Razorbacks drew a reprieve thanks to Hurricane Ike.  They used those two extra days to prepare for this Saturday’s game with the Alabama Crimson Tide (3-0), an 11:30 a.m. kickoff televised by Raycom Sports.

Despite the players and coaches disappointment of having to delay the trip to Austin for two weeks, the additional time to scout, scheme and prepare for Alabama might be a blessing in disguise for this young team.  Meanwhile, Alabama warmed up with a 41-7 thumping of Western Kentucky — a game in which the Tide never had to punt.

The Crimson Tide, led by head coach Nick Saban (10-6, 2nd year), comes into the contest ranked 9th and 13th by the AP and USA Today Coaches polls, respectively.  After an impressive opening week win over Clemson, the Tide made a big leap up in the polls.  But, so far, it appears the AP is more convinced than the coaches are that the Tide is for real.

After taking Clemson to the ‘woodshed,’ Tulane gave ‘Bama a scare 20-6 in week 2.  An unhappy Coach Saban reacted by saying:

“It tells me that we don’t have the maturity to sort of take ownership and responsibility for playing at a high standard all the time, which is what you would like your team to do.  We have to continue to work with our players to get that.  We didn’t show that maturity in this game and it is something we need to work on.”

The Tide offense is led by senior quarterback John Parker Wilson, who is averaging a modest 156 passing yards per game with four touchdowns.  Last year’s rushing leader Terry Grant, now a sophomore, has only rushed for 36 yards in three games.  Veteran Glen Coffee (37 carries, 243 yards) and freshman Mark Ingram (37 carries, 212 yards) are sharing most of the touches at the moment.

The player getting the most ‘buzz’ though is 6-4 freshman wide receiver Juilo Jones.  Jones, a ‘YouTube All-American,’ is going to be a superstar in time, and currently has 10 catches after the first three games.

On defense, Alabama has been impressive, allowing only 221 yards and 7.6 points per game.  They are led by All-SEC safety Rashad Johnson (20 tackles) and sophomore linebacker Rolando McClain (21 tackles, 3 for loss).  Interestingly, three of the Tide’s top four tacklers are members of their secondary.  Usually that spells bad news for a defense, but it’s too early to judge that after only three games.

On special teams, kicker Leigh Tiffin makes his return to Fayetteville after his meltdown in 2006.  Junior kick return man Javier Arenas may be the best in the nation.

The early line has Alabama favored by 10.  If the Hogs are to have any chance at all, they’ve got to fix the kicking game woes, and get lots of turnovers — something they have not done at all so far this season.