It wasn't pretty — at least not the second half of it.

After an offensive halt and a lack of defensive effort in the final two quarters, No. 11 Alabama saw a three-score lead dwindle to 3 points in a 24-21 victory over Arkansas on Saturday.

Holding a 21-6 lead going into the locker room for halftime, Alabama was in the driver’s seat with no signs of slowing down. However, after Will Reichard booted a 30-yard field goal to extend the lead to 24-6 midway through the third quarter, the Crimson Tide began to shut down, giving up 15 straight unanswered points while nearly letting the game, and its season, slip away.

"Hopefully we can learn how to beat the other team," Saban said. "Not just win the game, but beat the other team, which means you got to play 60 minutes to execute, do your job, and have discipline."

Following Reichard’s field goal, the next offensive drive for Alabama resulted in a quick three-and-out. From there, the Hogs began to mount their comeback. Redshirt senior quarterback KJ Jefferson led his Razorbacks downfield quickly and reached the end zone for the first time in the game with less than a minute left in the third quarter.

Unable to respond, the Crimson Tide went three-and-out once again and gave the ball back to a red-hot Jefferson. Once again, Jefferson rolled down the field and reached the end zone one more time and picked up the two-point conversion to make it a three-point game with 11 minutes left.

Alabama's second-half stats were pretty dismal.

The Crimson Tide allowed the Razorbacks to outgain them 152-141 after the break. Alabama also committed four second-half penalties which cost it 40 yards.

After completing 7 of 10 passes for 210 yards and two touchdowns in the first half, Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe went missing after the break, completing just 3 of his final 11 throws for 23 yards. Meanwhile, Jefferson was 8 of 14 for 70 yards and two touchdowns through the air in the second half.

Arkansas nearly pulled off the comeback before Alabama's defense closed on what would have been an embarrassing upset.

With the Razorbacks facing a third-and-8 from their own 46, Crimson Tide defenders Dallas Turner and Justin Eboigbe stepped up, sacking Jefferson to force a punt and allow their offense to run out the clock.

“Obviously you want to go out there and dominate 60 minutes, and we didn’t quite do that today,” said linebacker Dallas Turner. “We just got to take it one game at a time. Every week is a lesson. So every week we’re going to grow from it and fix what we need to fix.”

Added senior running back Roydell Williams: “Just learn how to finish. Going on the sideline, making adjustments with the O-line, communicating with receivers, seeing what everyone has to do. Getting everyone on the same page. That’s the main thing.”

Despite another poor second-half showing, the Crimson Tide still remains unbeaten in the SEC.

However, playing a full 60 minutes will be a requirement for this Alabama team next week as the Tennessee Volunteers come into town for the Third Saturday in October at 2:30 p.m. CT.