Alabama vs. Arkansas: Should Tide Fans Be Worried About Facing Razorbacks?

The Alabama Crimson Tide should have their hands full with the Arkansas Razorbacks on Saturday.

Last season, such a remark would have been met with laughter and amusement from the Tide faithful. This time around, nobody’s laughing.

It’s funny how much a year can change.

2-Headed Rushing Attack

If there’s one thing the Razorbacks do exceptionally well, it’s run the ball.

Through five games, the team boasts the No. 7-ranked rushing attack in the nation, racking up an average of 316.6 yards per game. Furthermore, only Georgia Southern has more rushing touchdowns than Arkansas’ 20.

Stellar sophomore Alex Collins leads the way, rushing for 621 yards and six scores on 86 carries. The Fort Lauderdale, Florida, native has topped 130 yards three times this season and rushed for no fewer than 68 yards in a game this year.

After Collins, Jonathan Williams picks up the slack, rushing for 486 yards and eight touchdowns on 66 carries.

Combined, the duo makes for quite the formidable 1-2 punch. Just ask Texas Tech—Collins and Williams paced an attack that combined for 438 yards and seven touchdowns on the ground.

AL.com's Andrew Gribble hints at a war between two strengths:

Something's got to give when Alabama’s No. 3-ranked run defense meets the toughest rushing attack it's faced this season.

Injuries Racking Up

Brynn Anderson/Associated Press

The loss to Ole Miss didn’t just affect the Tide in the standings, it also resulted in some additions to their injury list.

Running back Kenyan Drake suffered a broken leg and is expected to miss the rest of the season, per AL.com's Michael Casagrande. Although he was considered Alabama’s third-string back, Drake still managed to find the end zone four times on the ground and twice in the passing game.

Other casualties from Saturday’s game include starting linebacker Denzel Devall and starting center Ryan Kelly. Kelly is expected to miss a couple weeks and Devall is set to miss roughly three to four weeks.

Playing against the Razorbacks at full strength would be hard enough.

Road Woes

Rogelio V. Solis/Associated Press/Associated Press

The Tide have played in two games away from home—Week 1 vs. West Virginia and last week against Ole Miss—and struggled in both.

Quarterback Blake Sims also seems to be affected by the road. Those two games are the only two occasions during which he has failed to throw a touchdown, tossing two interceptions instead.

Given that Arkansas is better at stopping the run than the pass, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Saban turn to Sims to win the game with his arm.

Against the Rebels last weekend, Sims did an okay job managing the game. But when he was tasked with winning the game—on Alabama’s final drive—he showed his inexperience, tossing a game-ending interception.

If the Tide want to avoid a second straight upset, Sims will need to get over his road woes.

All stats, recruiting information and rankings used in this article are courtesy of cfbstats.com and 247Sports.

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