OFFENSE: C

It was a pass-heavy game plan for Bret Bielema on Saturday night against the Crimson Tide. Alex Collins sat for the first half for missing a team workout during the offseason and Jonathan Williams had no luck carrying the load for the Hogs over the course of 60 minutes. Brandon Allen made a critical mistake late, throwing an interception late to ice the game for Alabama. The Razorbacks seemed to drift from what it does best, which is running the ball, and had no luck moving the ball through the air.

DEFENSE: A-

The Arkansas defense was lights out, what you’d come to expect from a Bret Bielema-coached team. The Hogs allowed just 227 yards of total offense and forced two turnovers and kept Alabama’s playmakers from having an impact. Arkansas has a very good foundation defensively from which to build, it just needs to learn to bow up in situations like early in the fourth quarter when the defense failed to make a red zone stand and allowed the go-ahead score on a 9-yard pass from Blake Sims to DeAndrew White.

SPECIAL TEAMS: B-

Not all of them were forced, but Arkansas pressured Alabama into four special teams fumbles, two of which it lost. Arkansas had no punt returns and John Henson did not attempt a field goal. He did have an extra point blocked. Sam Irwin-Hill had pinned Alabama inside its own 20 once. But that blocked extra point would turn out to loom large.

COACHING: B

It was a pretty average performance from Bret Beilema and his staff, though the moment that stands out is early in the fourth quarter on the play that would turn into the go-ahead touchdown pass by Alabama, Bielema was out near the numbers on the field trying to call a timeout and failed to receive it from the officials. Did he not like the alignment he saw? That moment proved to be big. If Arkansas can get the timeout called there, you never know how that sequence unfolds.

OVERALL: B-

Arkansas has proven it can compete with anyone in the SEC West, but mental errors and mistakes at the most inopportune times continue to haunt this team. This team has plenty of experience and should not have trouble closing out games, but for whatever reason, late leads seem to slip from its grasp. Arkansas must continue to rely on its lethal rushing attack and its stellar defensive play.