The last time Arkansas beat Alabama on the football field, KJ Jefferson was five years old.
Alabama hasn’t lost a game to the Razorbacks since 2006 in a 24-23 overtime thriller. Houston Nutt walked the sidelines for Arkansas, somehow knocking off undefeated Alabama with his starting quarterback, Mitch Mustain, having one of the worst performances from a quarterback that decade.
“We never gave up even when we could have let go of the rope,” Nutt said after the overtime win. “We had a lot of heroes.”
Mustain threw the game-winning touchdown in overtime which helps everyone forget about the 7-for-22, one-touchdown, three-interception performance.
The following year, Alabama defeated Arkansas, 41-38, John Parker Wilson leading a game-winning drive, throwing a touchdown to Matt Caddell with eight seconds left.
Arkansas came back from down 31-10 to get the lead in the fourth quarter, 38-31, with eight minutes left in the game. Due to NCAA infractions, Alabama vacated that win, but the game was won on the field.
Since then, the series has been one-sided. During Alabama’s win streak against the Razorbacks, they average 39.2 points. Eleven times they held Arkansas to less than 21 points; in five of those games, they didn’t hit double-digits.
And with a 22-8 overall record, Alabama is definitely in control of the series.
Me in four days when Oct. 1 falls on the same day as a top-20 matchup between Alabama and Arkansas pic.twitter.com/YrTUplrmrV
— Clint Lamb (@ClintRLamb) September 27, 2022
That is the past; everyone involved in this game knows this isn’t the same matchup.
Alabama head coach Nick Saban started the week praising Jefferson and the Razorbacks. Jefferson had one of the best games of his career against Alabama last year. He made his three touchdowns and 73% completion percentage special because they came on the road.
Arkansas didn’t end the streak, but it put everyone on notice.