Alabama v. Arkansas 2008: Petrino's First SEC Gut Check

September 20th will mark a big day in SEC football, though it is so early in the season. There are three very important games that day that may begin to shape the rest of the season.

On that day LSU will play at Auburn, Tennessee will be playing Florida in Knoxville and Arkansas will be entertaining Alabama in Fayetteville.

Last year, before 92,000 screaming Tide fans, Alabama jumped out to a 21-0 first quarter lead and it appeared that they would put Arkansas away before the end of the first half. Arkansas managed to recover and hold Alabama to no points in the second quarter while Arkansas scored 10. Despite a 28 point surge by Arkansas in the second half, 21 of which came in the 4th quarter, Alabama managed to score 20 to outlast Arkansas 41-38.

The year before in Fayetteville, on a night that saw Alabama kicker Leigh Tiffin miss 3 of 4 field goal attempts, the end of regulation play found Arkansas and Alabama tied at 17-17. Alabama scored a TD in overtime and Tiffin missed the extra point putting Bama up 23-17. Arkansas took the ball and on a third and 8 from the 11, Mitch Mustain tossed a TD to TE Ben Cleveland for a 24-23 victory over Alabama.

These teams always tend to play each other close and 2008 promises to be no different. Saban drew a pass last year when Alabama went 7-6 including a 30-24 victory over Colorado in the PetroSun Independence Bowl in Shreveport.

This is an important season for him as Alabama fans may not be quite so patient this year. Bobby Petrino is coming into his first season as the Head Coach at Arkansas and while Arkansas fans may be willing to give him a pass in terms of results for this season, it appears that Petrino is not willing to accept a pass for himself, his staff or his team.

My guess is that this will be another "barn-burner" of a game.

Alabama returns John Parker Wilson at QB who last year in 13 games completed 255 of 462 passes(55.2%) for 2,846 yards with 18 TD's and 12 INT's averaging 218.9 yards per game passing.

On Arkansas' side of the ball, they return Casey Dick at QB who in 13 games last year was 150 of 262(57.3%) for 1,695 yards with 18 TD's and 10 INT's averaging 130.4 yards per game.

Wilson's number have declined each of the last three years in terms of completion percentage. As for Dick, being subjected to a new offensive philosophy coaching, his numbers through the spring have improved to above 60% in completion percentage while throwing for over 400 yards in the Arkansas spring game.

Will Casey Dick be able to produce at a +60% completion percentage level during the season? Only time will tell for certain but it is apparent that Dick's judgement and mechanics have improved and it is likely that Arkansas will have a QB that throws a great deal more this year than they have in the recent past. Though he is unproven under fire as a complete QB and as a passer I have to give the advantage to: Arkansas

Alabama returns 4 of their starting 5 offensive linemen and they average 6'-3" and 305 lbs across the line led by Center Antoine Caldwell. Arkansas returns 3 of 5 starting offensive linemen who also average 6'-3" but who average weight is a bit bigger at 308 lbs. per man.

The Alabama line has been taught to run and pass block in the past while the Arkansas line really just got their first good taste of pass blocking this spring. Both lines will be good and will be filled in by players who have experience but in this case, I have to give the advantage to: Alabama

At TE Alabama returns starter Nick Walker at 6'5", 255lbs. He was basically used as a blocking TE last season though he had 5 catches for 69 yards in the spring game.

Arkansas returns Andrew Davie at 6'5", 266 lbs and he too was basically used as blocking TE last season and he had 2 catches for 20 yards in their spring game. The bigger news is that Arkansas also returns TE D.J. Williams at 6'2", 250 lbs. who has turned out to be quite the receiver having caught 9 for 80 yards in the Arkansas spring game. Could he be an emerging star? This advantage has to go to: Arkansas

At FB/H-Back, Alabama returns Travis McCall at 6'2", 261 lbs. He caught 2 passes in their spring game for 39 yards. At Arkansas, they return Ben Cleveland at 6'4", 252 lbs. Cleveland was an emerging star in his freshmen year before being sidelined with an injury all of last year. You can also look for D.J. Williams or Andrew Davie to slide into this position from time to time. Due to experience and depth I have to give this advantage to: Arkansas

At WR, Alabama returns Hanks and McCoy who combined for 10 catches for 203 yards in the spring game. Arkansas returns Crawford, Salters, Wade and Coleman who combined for 19 catches for 279 yards. Alabama receivers averaged 20.3 yds per catch and Arkansas receivers averaged 14.6 yards per catch. Arkansas has four back and Alabama has two. This is a tough call but I have to give the advantage to: Even

At RB, without a lot of deliberation, Alabama returns Grant, Upchurch, Johns and Coffee who combined for 1,815 yards rushing last season. Arkansas has Michael Smith and Brandon Barnett back who combined for 443 yards last season. The advantage has to go to: Alabama

Along the Defensive Line, Alabama returns one DE, Deaderick and their NG, Washington. For Arkansas, they return both DE's, Sheppard and Davis as well Antwain Robinson. They also return DT Ernest Mitchell. This advantage definitely goes to: Arkansas

At Linebacker Alabama returns starters Ezekial Knight and Rolando McClain. At Arkansas they return Elston Forte, who didn't have the best of spring practices and Freddie Fairchild whose status is uncertain due to some legal issues that are pending. Alabama has players who will step up and Arkansas has that potential as well. But based only on returning starters, the advantage here has to go to: Alabama

In the Secondary, Alabama loses half of their starting rotation. They return Johnson at FS and Jackson at RCB. Arkansas loses their entire starting secondary but according to the Arkansas coaching staff, they have found answers and are very happy with what they from their secondary. Regardless, they lost their entire secondary. Maybe this group will be better than those of the past, but we have yet to see that in a game. The advantage here absolutely has to go to: Alabama

As for kicking, Alabama has Tiffin back as a place kicker and Fitzgerald back as a punter, Arkansas has Tejada back at place kicking and Davis back as a punter. Tejada made 73.9% of his FG's last year. Tiffin made 73.5%. I have to give the advantage to: Even

How close will this game be? Well, I have four areas in favor of Arkansas, four in favor of Alabama and two areas that I see as being even. Like I said, a "barn-burner" in Fayetteville again.

If Alabama wins, they will most likely be 4-0 headed into their game with Georgia the next week.

If Arkansas wins, they will most likely be welcoming Florida into Fayetteville two weeks later being 4-0 (yes, I expect Arkansas to beat Texas in Austin.....mark it down).

So how important is this game? Its outcome may well determine how most of the remainder of the season goes for each team. Are you ready for some football?

That's just my take, from outside the boundaries.