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Alabama doesn’t often need help to win football games. They may not Saturday, either, considering the Crimson Tide have beaten Arkansas every year since 2005.
Bet your bottom dollar, though, that Alabama coach Nick Saban watched LSU last week. He watched the Tigers hassle and hound the Arkansas offense. Whether it was KJ Jefferson on his drop backs or Dominique Johnson going up the gut, LSU was there, blitz after blitz.
Alabama has its formula for success. Arkansas had just 283 yards of total offense against the Tigers. Of course, the Tide haven’t allowed even that many to the Hogs since 2018. Alabama will do what Alabama wants to do defensively.
“That’s not truly their style,” Arkansas coach Sam Pittman said. “Bama’s Bama. You know they’ve been beating people for a long time doing what they do. Certainly they will look at what LSU did against us, obviously.”
What worked against Arkansas was simply out-gunning them up front. Starting right tackle Dalton Wagner said the blame was himself and his unit. They have to communicate and figure out how to get six or seven guys blocked with just five, even if only temporarily. If not, quarterback KJ Jefferson is going to have another long day running for his life.
“Coach Kennedy has made a tremendous emphasis, and so has Coach Pittman, on making sure our eyes are up, our eyes are on the right backer, we’re communicating the right way and everyone is on the same page,” Wagner said.