The Alabama Crimson Tide will take on the Arkansas Razorbacks on Saturday night in a matchup of two SEC West teams coming off impressive road victories. Alabama 4-1 (1-1) is ranked eighth in the nation while Arkansas 2-3 (1-1) comes in unranked.
Alabama answered their disappointing loss to Ole Miss two weeks ago with a 38-10 drubbing of Georgia on the road last week to show they mean business. The Crimson Tide are still in the mix for a potential playoff spot but they likely can't afford any more slip ups. The Razorbacks, on the other hand, ended a three game losing streak last week when they beat free-falling Tennessee on the road.
Alabama has won eight straight games in this series, including a close 14-13 win last year, and they are heavy favorites to make it nine straight. Both quarterback Jake Coker and running back Derrick Henry are coming off great games against the Bulldogs and will look to continue that against Arkansas.
Henry rushed for almost 150 yards last week and he has been a stud for Alabama all year as he has rushed for 570 yards and a whopping nine touchdowns already but it was freshman Calvin Ridley who stood out last week catching five balls for 125 yards and a touchdown. Ridley leads the team in receiving yards and is tied for the lead in touchdowns.
Aside from giving up those 43 points to Ole Miss two weeks ago Alabama's defense has been as good as it usually is under Nick Saban. In their other four games Alabama is allowing less than 10 points per game and that's what Bret Bielema's squad is going to have to contend with on Saturday night.
The Razorbacks are coming off a game where their rushing attack dominated as they had two guys go over the century mark on the ground. Alex Collins ran for 154 yards and two touchdowns while Rawleigh Williams added 100 yards on just 14 carries.
Collins is the guy in the backfield as he has rushed for 656 yards and six touchdowns but Williams is a nice ancillary back. Quarterback Brandon Allen has some nice numbers on the year as well as he has completed 66 percent of his passes so far for over 1300 yards with eight touchdowns and just three interceptions.
Allen's favorite target is junior wide receiver Drew Morgan who leads the team in receptions, receiving yards and receiving touchdowns.
Both teams are in the SEC West and sit at 1-1 in the conference. The Razorbacks are looking to pull off the huge road upset to stay in the race for the division crown, while the Crimson Tide look to keep pace with Ole Miss, LSU and Texas A&M while also keeping their College Football Playoff hopes alive.
The game kicks off at 7 P.M. Eastern time and for the live stream go here. For the Alabama radio broadcast go here and for the Arkansas radio broadcast go here.
