By: Tommy Camp

 

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The No. 11 ranked Alabama Crimson Tide will welcome the Arkansas Razorbacks to Bryant-Denny Stadium Saturday morning in an attempt to extend their win streak against the Razorbacks to 17.

The first matchup was in 1962 with Alabama winning 10-3, but since Arkansas joined the SEC in the summer of 1991, the two teams have faced off every year since ‘92. Since then Arkansas has beat Alabama just seven times with the all-time series record being 26-7 in favor of the Tide.

For this week’s Red Zone Rewind, let’s take a look back at the previous three matchups and at the last time the Razorbacks knocked off the Tide.

Introduction of Jalen Milroe/Career Day from Jahmyr Gibbs

In 2022, the No. 2 ranked Crimson Tide headed to Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium to face the No. 20 ranked Arkansas Razorbacks.

Alabama opened up the game with a 14-0 lead before star quarterback Bryce Young left the game with a shoulder injury midway through the second quarter. In came redshirt freshman Jalen Milroe to keep things rolling and the Tide were up 28-0 at halftime.

The second half was where Milroe started to show his immaturity as a player – having had just 25 passing attempts entering the game. The Alabama lead shrunk from 28 points to just 5 by the end of the third quarter.

Alabama needed vets to step up and help Milroe out to seal the deal on the road. Jahmyr Gibbs stepped up to the plate. He broke off two 70+ yard rushing touchdowns in the fourth quarter to finish with a career-high 206 rushing yards to go along with his two touchdowns.

Milroe finished the game 4-9 for 65 yards and a TD and 6 rushes for 91 yards and a TD. The Tide scored 4 touchdowns in the fourth quarter to pull away from the Razorbacks and win the game 49-26.

 

Bryce Young Shatters Passing Record

In 2021, the No. 2 ranked Crimson Tide hosted the No. 21 ranked Arkansas Razorbacks in Bryant-Denny Stadium.

Alabama opened up the game 10-0 and the teams continued to trade blows throughout the game, but the tide never gave up the lead.

Bryce Young finished the game with 559 passing yards, breaking the school record for most passing yards in a single game. Scott Hunter held the previous record with 484 passing yards against Auburn in a 49-26 loss on Nov. 29, 1969.

Collecting those yards, wide receivers Jameson Williams had a career-high 190 yards with John Metchie III right behind him with 173 yards. This was the second time this season that the receiver tandem both had over 100 yards  – with the other game coming against Tennessee.

The offensive stars were not the only people on the field putting up numbers, defensive standouts – and now NFL teammates – Will Anderson and Henry To’oTo’o recorded 3.5 and 3 TFL respectively.

The Crimson Tide showed out on senior night winning 42-35 and clinching their spot in the SEC championship against Georgia.

 

Defense Wins Championships

In 2020, the No. 1 ranked Crimson Tide head 550 miles Northwest to Fayetteville to face the struggling 3-7 Arkansas Razorbacks in an all-SEC schedule due to COVID.

The game started out tied 3-3 in the middle of the first quarter, and from then on the Tide would score 49 unanswered points to take the win 52-3.

The defense finished the game with 8 sacks and allowed the Razorbacks to gain just 188 yards of total yards throughout the 3-hour contest. Leading the way on defense were Will Anderson Jr. and Christian Barmore getting half the team’s sacks with two each. Brian Branch also snagged an interception from Wide Receiver Treylon Burks on a trick play late in the fourth quarter.

This win made Alabama the only team in SEC history to win 10 conference games in a season, as there are normally just 8 conference games played in a season. They also extended their college football record of consecutive games scoring 35 points to 23 games.

 

Double OT Thriller/Kicking Woes Cost the Tide

You have to go all the way back to September 2006 to find the last time that Arkansas beat Alabama.

The game started out slow with the Tide leading the way 10-3 at halftime, but the Razorbacks came climbing back scoring 14 unanswered points in the third quarter thanks to a John Parker Wilson fumble that got returned for a touchdown. Going into the fourth, Alabama was down seven and looking for points. They scored a touchdown a minute into the fourth and that was the rest of the scoring in regulation.

Crimson Tide kicker, Leigh Tiffin, would go on to miss a go-ahead field goal of 30 yards late in the fourth quarter. This, coupled with his 34-yard miss early in the second quarter, had the game go into overtime tied at 17.

Tiffin would go on to miss a 37-yard field goal to win the game in a scoreless overtime as well as miss an extra point in double overtime to hold the Tide’s lead to 23-17. Behind Darren McFadden in double overtime, Arkansas would go on to score on their drive and kick the extra point to win the game, marking their third win in the last four meetings of this series.

 

Next Up

Arkansas will look to get their first win against Nick Saban and try to win in Tuscaloosa for the first time since 2003. The game will air on ESPN and kickoff is scheduled for 11 a.m. CDT.

 

Tommy Camp is a member of the WVUA-FM Sports staff.