Alabama’s big win in Fayetteville was buoyed by big plays that helped sink Arkansas, 49-30, on Saturday.
Joshua Jacobs had the first long run of the game, a 56-yarder. However, Jacobs was pushed out of bounds at the 2-yard line, and that proved costly. Jacobs would fumble two plays later at the 1-yard line to give Arkansas the ball, but it also gave the Razorbacks a glimpse of what was to come.
On the following Alabama offensive drive, Damien Harris had a 57-yard run to move the ball to the Arkansas 5-yard line. Jalen Hurts scored a touchdown on a quarterback keeper on the very next play to give Alabama a 7-0 lead.
Harris scored the third offensive touchdown of the game on a screen pass from Hurts that turned into a 56-yard touchdown reception. However, the key to the play was a block by Cam Robinson to spring Harris for a first down, but he wanted more.
From there, Harris moved down the Alabama sideline, breaking a tackle for the touchdown. The majority of the play was created through Harris’ running ability.
After that, it was Bo Scarbrough’s turn. He scored on a 21-yard touchdown run that gave Crimson Tide fans a brief glimpse of his five-star recruit abilities. Scarbrough has struggled running between the tackles so far, but Alabama gave him a chance to run on the perimeter. On that particular score, he made Jared Collins miss a tackle and outran the remaining defenders to give Alabama a 35-10 lead late in the second quarter.
For the first half, Alabama outgained Arkansas on the ground, 214 to 43. Just like that, the Tide was only 17 yards shy of its season average for rushing yards per game.
In the second half, the Crimson Tide offense didn’t have as strong of a showing, part of the reason Arkansas was able to hang around in the game. Alabama outscored Arkansas 35-17 in the first half, while the second half edge was just 14-13.
However, the other side of the ball picked up the slack by providing a big scoring play.
Minkah Fitzpatrick decided to take his third interception of the night out of the end zone, which turned out to be a good idea as he raced 100 yards the other way for a touchdown.
Bo Scarborough had Alabama’s longest run of the second half, a 17-yard run that helped Alabama get close to midfield but little more. Still, Hurts connected for big plays with ArDarius Stewart (67 yards before fumbling), Miller Forristall (32 yards) and O.J. Howard (21). He also hit Stewart (5 catches, 120 yards) for several first downs on the day.
The two biggest keys to Alabama’s win were Alabama’s opportunistic defense and the big chunks of yardage from the offense, which racked up a season-high 517 yards.
The defense has been strong all season, but the offense is showing its ability of providing its fair share of long runs. Along with Hurts, the Tide’s trio of running backs and deep receiving corps is sure to deal out headaches all season long.
