Alabama vs. Arkansas: A Diary From a California Visitor

The excitement and anticipation started as soon as Ryan Mallett led Arkansas to victory with a four play scrimmage type drive against a Georgia defense that was exposed the entire afternoon. We knew what Alabama would do to hapless Duke later in the day to set up Saturday’s matchup between #1 versus #12…er #11…..uh #10, or wherever you have the Razorbacks ranked.

For me, a native Californian, and Alabama fan since the late 70’s, the hype for this game began months ago. My friend who grew up in Arkansas made a gracious offer to host me for my first SEC game in person, the Alabama game on September 25th. Little did I know I would be seeing a Top 10 match-up and the biggest game in Fayetteville in the past 30 years.

Even from my originating flight in Oakland on Thursday, there were people showing off their Hog gear and spouting such thoughts as “we can do it.” As I connected in Denver to fly into Tulsa, the Razorback fans multiplied and voiced reasonable comments of hope.

As I ready myself for a full day of pre-gameday chatter, I assume the comments I hear from the locals will become a tad more irrational about how they are going to put a whoopin’ on the formidable National Champions.

I am going to keep my confidence level in check since I feel like I am not only a guest of the state of Arkansas, but I am also a guest of my friend’s family who are part of the Razorback faithful. I am not sure if there was a message being sent by friend’s family, but as I toured their beautiful house, I was shown this grand room with a vaulted door…the Gun room.

This is quite an experience for me as I look towards a full day of hype on the eve of the biggest game of the year. This is what makes the SEC so great, these games are the norm each and every week. No conference can compare.

My take on the game? Well it’s easy to predict a victor or score, but I think the game inside the game is what will be most interesting. Based on past blueprints of how Saban’s defense has approached Petrino’s high powered offense, we should see Bama’ bringing the house early and often. I firmly believe Saban would prefer taking his chances on how Mallett will react to making a quick decision under duress versus sipping cocktails in the pocket and picking apart the much talked about inexperienced Crimson Tide secondary.

Oh wait! News flash! Skip Bayless just announced he is picking Arkansas. His point was that Arkansas will contain Alabama’s high powered offense. And he predicted a modest 20-17 victory. Sorry Hog fans, you just became cursed.

Barring unpredictable weather, I see this being a high scoring affair, and I already scribed about Alabama maybe having the best offense in the nation (http://bleacherreport.com/articles/462873-alabamas-offense-air-saban-mixed-with-a-scary-ground-attack). Mallett will better his 12-35 performance against that brutal Alabama defense, but it just won’t be enough against an even better Tide TEAM.
We have seen so many of these David vs. Goliath match-ups as part of the media hype. And more often than not, the desired upset never materializes. The talent runs deep on the Alabama sideline, and we don’t have a coach who will screw it up.

Alabama 45 Arkansas 30 ( a few field goals while coming up short in the Red Zone)

I am completely pumped for tomorrow’s game and will be a respectful visiting fan. Heck, I sat in Veterans Stadium cheering for the Bucs against the Eagles in the 2002 NFC Title Game. I am an avid Tide fan, but I am not an idiot. I will cheer for good football and hope to leave Hog country with a Tide victory, regardless of score or how it gets done.