Alabama Football vs. Arkansas Postgame Notes
10/10/2015 12:00:00 AM | Football
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GAME CAPTAINS: Alabama's captains for Saturday's home matchup with Arkansas were seniors Cyrus Jones and Jarran Reed, and junior O.J. Howard. The Crimson Tide won the toss and deferred to the second half, with Arkansas receiving the opening kickoff.
SERIES HISTORY: Alabama now owns the series advantage 16-8 (19-7 before forfeited and vacated games). Alabama is extended its winning streak to nine games with tonight's win, and six consecutive against Arkansas at Bryant-Denny Stadium.
FIRST TIME STARTERS: Many new faces have earned a start this season for the Crimson Tide. In tonight's contest, freshman nose guard Daron Payne made his first career start. Prior to tonight, the most recent starting nods went to a pair of wideouts that made their first career start against ULM, including senior Richard Mullaney and freshman Calvin Ridley. Quarterback Cooper Bateman made his first career start against Ole Miss. In the Middle Tennessee contest, Minkah Fitzpatrick (DB) and Dakota Ball (TE) each made their first career starts. In the season opener with Wisconsin, seven students made their first career start, including three on defense and four on offense. Getting their first career nod on defense were Marlon Humphrey (DB), Darren Lake (DT) and Shaun Dion Hamilton (LB). The offensive starters were made up of Jake Coker (QB), Robert Foster (WR), Dominick Jackson (OL) and Ross Pierschbacher (OT).
ALABAMA'S TV?RECORD: Alabama has compiled a 230-131-4 all-time record in 365 televised games (not including pay-per-view, tape-delayed or closed circuit telecasts).
ARKANSAS SERIES IN THE SABAN ERA: The Crimson Tide is undefeated against the Razorbacks since head coach Nick Saban arrived in Tuscaloosa with a 9-0 record.
SABAN VS. ARKANSAS: Alabama head coach Nick Saban is 11-2 (12-2 before the 2007 vacated win) against Arkansas, with his only two losses coming in his first three years at LSU (2000 & 2002). Saban's losses to Arkansas came in War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock, Ark. Saban has never lost a game to Arkansas in Baton Rouge, Fayetteville or Tuscaloosa.
SABAN'S HOME RECORD: Head coach Nick Saban 112-19 across his four career stops in home games. He owns the advantage at every stop he has made during his collegiate coaching career, including a 53-7 mark while at Alabama.
SABAN'S SEC HOME RECORD: Nick Saban owns a 44-10 all-time record when playing in a Southeastern Conference game at home, owning a 28-6 record at Alabama. Under Saban, Alabama has outscored its SEC home opponents 1,114-503 (32.8-14.8 points per game) and has limited the opposition to 14 points or less on 20 occasions, including six shutouts victories.
SABAN VS. SEC OPPONENTS: Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban owns an 89-26 career record in 115 games against SEC opponents across three different stops (Michigan State, LSU and Alabama). While at Alabama, he has compiled a 59-13 record across conference foes, and is outscoring opponents by a staggering 2,917-1,113, or 40.5-15.5 points per game.
TIDE 4-8 UNDER SABAN WHEN TRAILING AT THE HALF: The Crimson Tide is 4-8 under head coach Nick Saban when trailing at halftime. In addition to tonight's 27-14 victory over Arkansas, the three others wins in the Saban era when trailing at the half include a 34-24 win over No. 7 Virginia Tech in 2009 (in Atlanta); a 24-15 victory over No. 9 LSU in 2009; and a 24-20 decision at Arkansas in 2010.
Defensive Notes
JACKSON PICKS ANOTHER ONE: Junior safety Eddie Jackson picked off his team-leading third pass of the season in tonight's game. With the pick, Jackson has surpassed his previous career total of two, which he collected over his first seasons at Alabama.
HOLDING OPPONENTS UNDER 300: On Oct. 10, Alabama limited Arkansas to 220 yards of total offense, the fifth time the Tide has kept a team under 300 in 2015. UA held Georgia to 299 yards, ULM to 92 yards of offense and also limited Middle Tennessee to 275 yards of offense, one week after holding Wisconsin to 268 yards of total offense in the season opener. In head coach Nick Saban's 114-game tenure at Alabama, the Crimson Tide has limited opponents to under 300 yards of total offense 71 times, or 62.3 percent of the time. UA held six of its 14 opponents below 300 yards last season.
D-LINE BATTING PASSES: Alabama's heralded defensive line has found multiple ways of affecting the quarterback six games into the 2015 season. The Tide's defensive front leads the nation in batted passes with 14 among its defensive ends and nose guards. Quick passing games have hindered Alabama's ability to sack the quarterback, even though UA ranks fourth in the SEC in sacks with 2.6 per game (29th nationally). Dalvin Tomlinson (DE) leads the nation among defensive linemen with six pass breakups this season (1.0 per game). Jonathan Allen (DE) is tied for eighth nationally among defensive linemen with .50 PBUs per game (three). Jarran Reed (DE) has two while A'Shawn Robinson (DE), Daron Payne (DE) and Darren Lake (NG) have one each. Add rush ends (OLBs) Denzel Devall (2) and Tim Williams (1) and Alabama's pass breakups among players with their hand in the dirt swells to 17. UCLA is the only other team in the nation double figures at 11.
TOUGH SLEDDING ON THE GROUND: Running the ball is no easy task against the Alabama defense with the Tide yielding only three rushing scores this season. UA limited Arkansas to only 44 yards rushing on the night with no scores on the ground. On Sept. 26 against ULM, Alabama limited the Warhawks only nine yards on 31 attempts. Prior to that, on Sept. 12, the Crimson Tide held Middle Tennessee to 86 rushing yards on 31 attempts a week after stifling a potent Wisconsin rushing attack in the AdvoCare Classic, allowing only 40 total yards to the Badger rushers on 21 carries. The Crimson Tide continued the trend from a season ago, where the defense allowed only five rushing touchdowns in 14 games, the fewest in the nation (UCF was second with nine). The Tide leads the nation in allowing the fewest rushing touchdowns since the start of the 2005 season, surrendering only 74. Since head coach Nick Saban arrived in 2007, the Crimson Tide has allowed 58 rushing touchdowns. Ohio State is No. 2 in that category, giving up 93 since 2007.
RAGLAND LEADING THE TIDE D: Senior linebacker Reggie Ragland has been a force on the defense. The Tide's captain in the middle has a team-leading 50 tackles, including 2.5 for a loss (-8 yards), to go with three pass breakups, three quarterback hurries and two forced fumbles. In four of the six games in the 2015 season, Ragland led the Alabama defense in stops, including a season-high nine tackles against Ole Miss. He also tied for the team lead against Georgia with eight stops and backed that up with another eight tackles in the win over Arkansas to mark the ninth time in his career that he has led the Tide in tackles. His other four games came a season ago when the linebacker stepped up for the Crimson Tide and finished second on the team with 95 total tackles while accounting for 10.5 tackles for loss (-27 yards), 1.5 sacks (-12 yards), one interception, three pass breakups, three fumble recoveries, one forced fumble and a quarterback hurry.
Offensive Notes
FIRST HALF POINTS: With Adam Griffith's 24-yard field goal on Alabama's first offensive series of the game, the Crimson Tide has scored in the first half of its last 109 games, the longest streak in the nation. The last time UA failed to score in the first half was on Sept. 29, 2007, when Alabama and Florida State headed into halftime in a scoreless tie. The Seminoles won that game, 21-14. Alabama has a 93-16 record during the streak.
SCORING STREAK CONTINUES: With a 24-yard made field goal by Adam Griffith on the Crimson Tide's opening drive, Alabama has now scored in 189 consecutive games - the longest streak in program history.
RIDLEY RECEPTION RANKS ALL-TIME: The 81-yard touchdown reception from Jake Coker to Calvin Ridley was the 11th-longest reception in Alabama history. The play was the longest since a connection of 87 yards from Blake Sims to Kenyan Drake a season ago against Florida on Sept. 20, 2014. The pass-and-catch was also the longest play for the Crimson Tide in the season, longest reception of Ridley's career and longest completion of Coker's career.
ALABAMA BACKS MOVING UP IN THE RECORD BOOKS: Both Derrick Henry and Kenyan Drake are continuing to move up the career rushing list this season. In tonight's win over Arkansas, Henry recorded 95 yards rushing and has now amassed 2,037 yards for his career to rank 17th all-time. Drake collected 29 yards against the Razorbacks, placing him at 38th on the UA all-time rushing list with 1,331 yards.
HENRY REACHING THE END ZONE CONSISTENTLY: With his 1-yard rush into the end zone late in the fourth quarter against Arkansas, junior running back Derrick Henry recorded his 11th straight game with at least one score. With the touchdown versus the Razorbacks, Henry passed former quarterback Terry Davis for the Alabama record for most consecutive games with at least one touchdown. Davis' streak spanned two seasons, from Nov. 6, 1971-Oct. 21, 1972. The last time Henry failed to notch a score was in the LSU game last season on Nov. 8.
DOMINANT LAST SEVEN GAMES FOR HENRY: Junior tailback Derrick Henry has been impressive in his last eight contests. Including the Arkansas game, he has amassed 901 yards on 153 carries for a 5.9 yards per carry average, while adding 13 rushing touchdowns in his those outings. He has also collected 105 yards on four receptions.
RIDLEY SETS CAREER-HIGHS, AGAIN: Freshman wideout Calvin Ridley finished tonight's game with nine catches for 140 yards, both career-high marks for the first-year player. A week ago, the freshman totaled 120 yards at Georgia to set his high mark, and he previously reeled in a high of six against Ole Miss on Sept. 19. The 81-yard reception was also the longest of Ridley's young career.
Special Teams Notes
SCOTT BOOTS SEASON-LONG PUNT: Sophomore punter JK Scott punted a season-high 58-yard boot in tonight's game. The punt one-upped his previous kick on the day that went for 55 yards to eclipse his season high of 54 entering tonight, which he notched last week at Georgia.
Homecoming
KATELYN KATSAFANAS CROWNED 2015 HOMECOMING QUEEN: During halftime of Saturday's game, the Crimson Tide recognized a number of people associated with the celebration. Katelyn Katsafanas was honored as the 2015 Homecoming Queen while Katie Baggett, Lauren Beers, Jasmine Davis and Halle Lindsay were named to the court. Katsafanas is the daughter of Debbie and Parry Katsafanas. A finance major, Katsafanas was sponsored by Phi Mu Fraternity and was escorted by her father, Parry Katsafanas. She was crowned by 2014 Homecoming Queen by Allison Montgomery and Alabama Governor Robert Bentley. Beers, an All-American and Academic All-American gymnast for the Crimson Tide, is pursuing a masters in sport business management after earning her undergraduate degree in only three years. The daughter of Rick and Trish Beers, she was sponsored by the Student Athlete Advisory Committee and was escorted by her father. Alabama head gymnastics coach Dana Duckworth was honored as the Grand Marshal of the 2015 Homecoming Parade.
Team
- The Razorbacks had 70 team tackles with 56 of them being solo.
- This is the second time this season where the Razorbacks have had two interceptions in a game (vs. Texas Tech).
- It was the first time this season Arkansas has held an SEC opponent under 10 points at halftime. The Razorbacks did so five times in eight SEC games last season.
- The Razorbacks have held five of its first six opponents to their lowest point total of the season. Alabama's lowest total entering the game was 34.
- Seven different Razorbacks caught a pass from Brandon Allen.
- The Razorbacks 5-play, 74-yard touchdown drive in the fourth quarter was their 14th touchdown drive of 70+ yards this season.
QB Brandon Allen
- Is now second among active SEC quarterbacks with 44th career touchdown passes.
- Has at least one touchdown pass in eight of his last nine games.
- Threw a 54-yard touchdown pass to Dominique Reed in the fourth quarter, it was his fourth completion of over 50 yards this season.
WR Drew Morgan
- His 4-yard touchdown reception in the second quarter was the fourth of the season and fifth of his career. All five of his career touchdowns have come in the first half.
WR Dominique Reed
- Had career highs with three catches for 77 yards.
- Had a career-long 54-yard reception for a touchdown in the fourth quarter. It was his second-career touchdown catch.
TE Jeremy Sprinkle
- Had a career-high four catches.
TE Hunter Henry
- Has a reception in 16 straight games and in 28-of-31 career contests.
DB Josh Liddell
- Made his first career interception off a Jake Coker pass in the second quarter.
DB Santos Ramirez
- Made his first career interception off a Jake Coker pass in the second quarter.
LB Brooks Ellis
- Had career highs with 14 total tackles and 13 solo tackles.
- Had nine solo tackles in the first half.
- Had double-digit tackles for the fifth time in his career.
- Led the team in tackles for the second time this season.
LB Dre Greenlaw
- Tied a career high with six solo tackles.
DL Mitchell Loewen
- Recorded his 1.5th sack of the season in the fourth quarter. He now has two career sacks.
DL Deatrich Wise, Jr.
- Recorded his first sack of the season in the third quarter. He now has six career sacks and at least one in every season.
