Alabama’s game against Arkansas wasn’t perfect despite the face the Crimson Tide did ultimately come out with the 49-26 victory. Alabama was without its best quarterback into the second quarter and also had some defensive struggles throughout the day.

Head coach Nick Saban spoke to those following the game, describing it as an issue of “mental intensity.”

“We lost intensity on defense on the (Arkansas) scoring drive in the second quarter and let them gain momentum.

“You can’t play defense if you don’t have great intensity. You can’t tackle well if you don’t have great intensity. You can’t knock the guy back if you don’t have great intensity. You can’t cover a guy if you don’t have great mental intensity.”

Despite this, the defense did limit Arkansas to under 4 yards per rush and less than 6 yards per pass. But penalties and not playing clean all the time was an issue.

“We had four penalties on defense in the fourth quarter, one on third and forever after the play. Dead ball,” Saban said. “First down. That’s not playing smart. Everybody has the opportunity to make good choices and decisions, and to play smart. And we need to do a better job of that. And as a coach, it’s our responsibility to get players to do that.”

Alabama will face Texas A&M up next on schedule this Saturday.