CECIL HURT: Saban not satisfied
Anyone who thought Nick Saban was going to walk out of Razorback Stadium with a smile after what he watched on Saturday night hasn’t been paying attention for nine years.
Saban isn’t displeased by winning, as some pundits say. His standards are high, but not impossibly high. He took time to mention that Alabama did some good things offensively in its 49-30 win over Arkansas. But underneath the exterior of the most successful coach in college football is the heart of an old-time, old-school defensive backfield coach – and that coach wasn’t about to find solace in the final score.
Alabama gave up 400 yards passing to the Razorbacks’ Austin Allen. The Hogs’ quarterback paid for those yards with some serious punishment and three Minkah Fitzpatrick interceptions, but they were 400 yards and three touchdowns nonetheless. With Alabama about to face better offenses – Tennessee and Texas A&M – improvement has to come quickly.
Defensive back is exceedingly difficult to play. As Saban himself frequently notes, there are times when quarterbacks are going to place the ball perfectly and the current breed of tall, athletic receivers will catch it. But there were too many times on Saturday when Allen was able to find open receivers for big yardage (or, in a couple of cases, pass interference penalties that were necessary because the defender was beaten). Some of the Arkansas yardage came late, when Reuben Foster was out with a concussion. His absence affects the whole defense. By the fourth quarter, too, the concept of calling holding when pass rushers are pushed, pulled or otherwise mauled, goes out the window. That gave Allen some extra time in the pocket as the game was essentially out of hand. But no matter what factors contributed to the secondary struggles, Saban clearly didn’t like them.
Arkansas was just the first game of a tortuous three-week SEC stretch. As many people suspected beforehand, Arkansas was probably the least of the three. Tennessee and Texas A&M, the next two Alabama opponents, are both going to present larger challenges. Josh Dobbs, the Volunteer quarterback, may not be a more accurate passer than Allen (the point is debatable) but he has more receiving options and is far more of a running threat. Texas A&M quarterback Trevor Knight is equally scary, if not more so, but Alabama cannot look past Dobbs at this point.
That’s why Saban seemed so surly after a 19-point road win at a tough venue. (Remember that he scolded Crimson Tide fans for failing to appreciate a one-point win in Fayetteville two years ago.) The fundamentals, which seemed to be improving in the wins over Kent State and Kentucky, eroded, at least partially. Even the steady Eddie Jackson tried to jump a route at one point, missed the interception and the resulting long gain set up an Arkansas score.
Perhaps it was just a deep-breath moment for Alabama. The entire game was played at sort of a slapdash tempo and perhaps a rise in the intensity level of the next two weeks will elevate play across the board. That’s not something that Saban can automatically count on, though.
In recent years, Saban has brought in Lane Kiffin and thoroughly revamped the offense, partly because college football keeps drifting further and further from the days of the 17-3 win. He’ll take a 49-30 victory, of course, and might not hold his nose – if that’s the best his defense can do. But that didn’t seem to be the case on Saturday, and that is what had a winning coach looking miffed.