So that was … entertaining.

Arkansas looked a team that was left for dead and it nearly pulled off a comeback for the ages against an Alabama team that entered Saturday having won 75 consecutive games at home vs. unranked teams.

The Tide held on for dear life and avoided disaster with a 24-21 win.

Here were the 3 takeaways from that:

1. What a tale of 2 halves for Alabama

Up 24-6 with 3 minutes left in the 3rd quarter, Alabama looked like it was about to get off the field on 3rd down against an Arkansas team who hadn’t had a first down since the first quarter. Then a Jaylen Key facemask penalty kept the drive alive and the Hogs were off to the races. Fifteen consecutive Arkansas points made for a wild finish.

It took Jalen Milroe completing a floated pass to Amari Niblack to give Alabama a first down in the final minutes to put the game on ice. Milroe was 3-for-11 for 23 yards in the second half. On the bright side, he didn’t have that back-breaking interception.

On the night-so-bright side, Alabama got away from the “joyless murderball” strategy that worked so well in the first half. Milroe also continued his streak of taking at least 4 sacks in every Power 5 start (he finished with 5 sacks taken.)

That was far from a vintage second-half performance to earn Saban’s 200th victory at Alabama.

2. Arkansas is still fighting

Like I said, that was a team that was left for dead in the third quarter. No Rocket Sanders, and down by 3 scores in Tuscaloosa on the heels of a 4-game losing streak, Sam Pittman’s squad could’ve thrown in the towel. Instead, KJ Jefferson, Landon Jackson and the Hogs kept fighting. No play embodied that better than this:

That’s peak-Jefferson. Never mind the fact that his offense went nearly 2 quarters without a first down in the middle of this game. The Hogs made that a thriller, much like we saw a few weeks ago at LSU.

Arkansas might be in the midst of an incredibly demoralizing stretch, but the schedule lightens up tremendously in the latter half of the season. If there was ever a moral victory, that felt like one.

3. This is just the Alabama experience

Welcome to the modern day Tide. Blowouts don’t exist in SEC play. At least not outside of Mississippi State matchups.

In the previous 2 seasons, Alabama was in a 1-score game in the 4th quarter in 12 of 16 SEC games. So far this season, Alabama has been in a 1-score game in the 4th quarter 3 of 4 times. Meaning, that’s 15 of Alabama’s last 20 SEC games that have been a 1-score game in the 4th quarter.

The Tide now have Tennessee at home before the bye week and the all-important LSU matchup. But hey, being at 4-0 in SEC play is about as much as Saban could ask for.