The Arkansas Razorbacks come to Tuscaloosa this Saturday, for what is sure to be an exciting open to Alabama's SEC gauntlet. The Razorbacks hope that Coach Bobby Petrino's innovative offense can rupture what appears to be a dominant Tide defense.
Look for Alabama to do everything in its power in order to affect QB Ryan Mallett. He is the epitome of a pro-style QB (limited mobility, but with great range and accuracy). Alabama will likely be in a nickel or dime scheme for much of the game. The Tide will try to mask their coverages and confuse Mallett. Either a Linebacker or a corner will likely blitz him and try to hit him every time he drops back. The hope is that this will wear him down as the game goes on. Arkansas will read this and try to set up screens to scatback Michael Smith. If Bama is effective in countering this, it should spell trouble for the Razorbacks. The main concern of the Tide is Mallett's ability to burn the Bama Defensive Backs with his long throws. The Tide secondary is experienced and well-coached, but not as athletic as they will be in the future. If they can limit the big plays, Alabama should have no trouble winning this game.
Offensively, The Tide will will attempt to control the clock and keep Mallett and the Arkansas Offense on the sidelines. If Georgia can run easily on Arkansas, the tandem of Tide RB's should be even more effective. I think the Razorback's will have trouble stopping Bama's prolific offense. If they stack 8 men in the box and force McElroy to beat them, then he will. So far, Greg McElroy has done an excellent job of reading the defense and checking down his receivers. He has spread the ball to almost every receiver on the team, and the best one, Julio Jones, will be back from injury.
I think Bama will win 45-21. I will be watching the game at the stadium.
:)
Special Teams, Special Teams...one of the things nobody is talking about with this game, but must be in the back of every tide fan's head. Has the tide corrected the kickoff coverage deficiency? This could be a huge factor if the game is close. Or could spark a hog comeback if we take the foot off the throttle.
ReplyDeleteAlso, the tide has shown a tendency to start slow out of the gate this year. It would not surprise me if the hogs jump out to an early lead in this one. Luckily, unlike last year, this team has shown some resiliency in the fourth quarter.
Tide talent and depth should win out in the end.