Offense shines, defense stumbles against Tide
There was good news and bad news for the Arkansas Razorbacks in last Saturday’s 65-31 home loss to top-ranked Alabama.
The good news: Arkansas became the first team in well over a year to score at least 30 points against the Crimson Tide. The last team to do it was Clemson, which beat Alabama 35-31 in the College Football Playoff championship game to end the 2016 season.
The bad news: Alabama’s 65 points were the most ever scored by an Arkansas opponent in the 81-year history of Razorback Stadium.
Junior quarterback Ty Storey, now firmly entrenched as Arkansas’ starting quarterback, had his best game of the season. He completed 25 of 39 passes for 230 yards and two touchdowns with one interception.
“Ty continues to feel more comfortable,” first-year Arkansas coach Chad Morris said. “… We’ve seen it over the past few weeks. The more he plays, the more comfortable he feels.”
Sophomore running back Rakeem Boyd also had his best game of the season, rushing for 102 yards on 15 carries. He also had five receptions for 24 yards.
Arkansas finished with 405 yards of total offense, but also committed three turnovers.
“There’s still a lot of room for improvement,” Morris said.
Defensively, Arkansas had no answer for Alabama and sophomore quarterback Tua Tagovailoa. Tagovailoa completed 10 of 13 passes for 334 yards and four touchdowns and the Crimson Tide rolled up 639 yards of total offense.
The only real highlight for the Arkansas defense came when the Razorbacks stopped Alabama on a fourth-and-1 at the Tide 43 early in the second quarter.
The Crimson Tide never punted and scored on 10 of its 13 possessions — two of which came at the end of the first half and the end of the game.
“We just couldn’t be as consistent as we need to be, especially against a team of that caliber,” Morris said.