Like it is

Arkansas beaten, but no apologies needed

Alabama linebacker Tim Williams recovers a fumble during a game against Arkansas on Saturday, Oct. 8, 2016, in Fayetteville. Williams returned the fumble 23 yards for a touchdown.

FAYETTEVILLE -- They share a conference, even a division, but like most football teams in the SEC, except for Ole Miss, the Arkansas Razorbacks are not in the same league with Alabama on most Saturdays.

That's neither a shot at the Razorbacks nor Bret Bielema, Arkansas' coach.

Bielema continues to fight the fight to right a ship that went so far off course in one year after Bobby Petrino left that Arkansas couldn't score on Alabama for two consecutive years and gave up 52 points both times.

The Crimson Tide are the pride of the SEC and probably the most hated and or at least most-envied program in the country.

Alabama has won four national championships in the past seven years, and there's a reason it is the nation's No. 1 team.

The Crimson Tide rolled three busloads of 4- and 5-star recruits into Reynolds Razorback Stadium and pretty much dominated.

Saying Alabama is a well-oiled, fighting machine would be like saying Donald Trump talks a little too much.

Granted, the Tide cashed in two fumbles for 14 points en route to a 35-17 halftime lead, but the also had 396 yards of offense.

They scored running and throwing, and when linebacker Tim Williams scooped and scored when Austin Allen was stripped of the ball, it was Alabama's eighth non-offensive touchdown of the season.

That doesn't happen by accident.

If this team is missing former defensive coordinator Kirby Smart, who left to be the head coach at Georgia, it isn't showing. Or, the Tide simply is getting the nation's best defensive players, which is why what the Razorbacks did in the first half was not disappointing.

They rushed for only 43 yards, but Allen was making big plays with his arm, hitting Jared Cornelius on a 57-yard completion on the way to 202 yards passing in the first half and two touchdowns.

Take away Arkansas' first-half fumbles, and that might have been enough to be in the lead against the majority of SEC teams.

The biggest problem was simple: Arkansas' defense couldn't stop the Tide.

That fact may have had as much to do with Bielema storming the field and getting flagged as what he believed was a bad call on a hold that cost the Hogs a touchdown. They had to settle for a field goal.

The teams traded turnovers with Alabama fumbling deep in Arkansas territory for the second time and then just before being crushed Allen let the ball fly to save a safety, but it was intercepted and the Tide went 18 yards in four plays to take a 42-17 lead with 11:10 to play in the third quarter.

Alabama at that point had 481 yards of offense and had faced only five third-down situations, converting four of them.

The vast majority of the 75,459 -- the fifth-largest Razorback Stadium crowd and largest since 2010 -- had not given up hope. They were a loud and proud crowd.

Two 15-yard penalties against the Tide put the Hogs at Alabama 39, but an interception on fourth down put the No. 1 team in the nation back on offense, where it suffered an interception when the Razorbacks finally got pressure on freshman quarterback Jalen Hurts.

Allen, on the other hand, spent almost as much time on the turf as the down marker. He was sacked and racked, but he was uncommon and drove the Hogs hard all night, much of the time scrambling for his life. It wouldn't have been respectable on the scoreboard without him.

Ice baths will be a big part of his week.

The unforgettable comeback didn't happen, vaporizing with a 100-yard pick six by the Tide in the fourth quarter, but the game and score, 49-30, were much better then when Bielema arrived.

Sports on 10/09/2016