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Tide Celebrates Homecoming With Win
Photo Credit: RollTide.com
The 8th-ranked Alabama Crimson Tide defense dominated the Arkansas Razorback offense giving the Tide their 9th consecutive win over the Razorbacks before a capacity crowd of 101,821 at Bryant-Denny Stadium. Bama (5-1, 2-1 SEC) trailed at the half, but scored 24 points in the final 17 minutes to butcher the Hogs (2-4, 1-2) 27-14.
Alabama took the opening kickoff and drove the ball down the field before stalling in the red zone. The coaches called on kicker Adam Griffith to give the Tide the early lead, and he answered, kicking a 24-yard field goal to give Bama a 3-0 lead.
First quarter stats said Bama should be winning bigger despite having only a paltry three points. After one Bama had 135 yards rushing to only 21 for Arkansas, with 51 yards passing for the Tide and only 6 for the Hogs. The passing stats had the Tide in the lead with 84 to just 15 for Arkansas.
Bama's march to open the second quarter again stalled, but this time the 25-yard field goal attempt was no good. In all fairness to Griffith, the snap was high and inside, thus the holder had a problem getting the ball down throwing the kicker's timing off.
It was the second quarter where the Hogs stuck. Arkansas took the lead on a 57-yard scoring drive, giving them a 7-3 advantage going into the half.
It should be noted that the three points scored by Alabama in the first half were the fewest first half points scored by an Alabama football team in four years. Though the scoreboard didn't reflect it, statistically the Tide was in control of the the game. For the half Alabama had 204 total yards to 77 for Arkansas. Bama led in passing yards, 126 to 53, and also in rushing yards with 78 on 21 attempts to 24 yards on 11 attempts for Arkansas. Quarterback Jake Coker was intercepted twice in the first half.
It was late in the third quarter that the Alabama offense finally made their move to put points on the board and erase the 7-3 deficit. After having some drives stall, and Dalvin Tomlinson batting down a pass giving the Tide defense their 15th batted pass at the line of scrimmage, lightning struck.
Coker hit wide receiver Calvin Ridley on a beautiful pass. Ridley showed a post pattern but then broke deep catching a perfectly thrown Coker pass for an 81-yard touchdown. giving Bama the lead for good at 10-7 with 1:39 remaining in the third quarter. This was where the Tide began to turn.
The Alabama defensive did their job, getting Bama the ball back on the Arkansas 43. Bama marched the necessary yardage, culminating in a three-yard toss from Coker to wideout Richard Mullaney increasing the Tide's lead 17-7.
From there, a few plays later, Bama took the ball after an interception by Eddie Jackson and was able to tack on another three thanks to Griffith on a 35-yard field goal increasing the Crimson Tide lead 20-7 with 10:07 remaining in the game.
It was several plays later that Cyrus Jones fielded an Arkansas punt at the Arky 43 and returned it all the way to the Hog 16-yard line. On this short drive Henry ripped off a 15-yard run, followed by a 1-yard touchdown dive giving Alabama the 27-7 lead with 2:44 remaining to be played in the game. This gave Henry his 11th consecutive game to score a rushing touchdown (10th this season) setting a new Alabama rushing TD record.
The final Arkansas score came with 1:37 remaining in the game on a 54-yard pass and run bring the final score to 27-14.
Quarterback Jake Coker finished the night 24-33 passing for 262 yards, 2 touchdowns and 2 interceptions. He also had 17 yards rushing on 7 attempts.
Derrick Henry had 95 yards rushing on 27 carries and one touchdown.
Calvin Ridley caught 9 passes for 140 yards and 1 touchdown.
Next week Alabama travels to College Station, Texas in another big contest with undefeated Texas A&M. Kickoff is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. CT and will be aired by CBS Sports.
Photo Credit: RollTide.com
Photo Credit: RollTide.com
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Southeastern Conference Football Scores
ALABAMA 27 Arkansas 14
Tennessee 38 Georgia 31
Mississippi State 45 Troy 17
LSU 45 South Carolina 24
Florida 21 Missouri 3
Ole Miss 52 New Mexico State 3
