Awasted opportunity. That sums up the Arkansas Razorbacks’ rag-tag performance Saturday against the Alabama Crimson Tide.

The ninth-ranked Crimson Tide cruised to a 49-14 victory, and the Razorbacks made it easy on them.

Arkansas’ mistakes and turnovers turned what possibly could have been a competitive matchup into a game that was all but decided in the first quarter.

Why call it a wasted opportunity ?

Well, an opportunity is what Arkansas’ coaches and players labeled the contest all week, but the Hogs did nothing with it.

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In actuality, Alabama was the team that was opportunistic. They made the Hogs pay for every miscue from the first whistle. KNOCK ON

WOOD

Now, it’s crystal clear that Alabama was the better football team, but the shame of the game was that the Hogs inflicted as much misery on themselves as Alabama did.

Because of that fact, the Hogs did not give themselves a chance at pulling off an upset or even making the most out of an opportunity to improve.

On the opening drive, the Hogs’ defense started strong, forcing Bama to the sideline on a three-and-out, but Elton Ford ran into to the punter, serving up the first gift of the day for an Alabama first down near midfield.

If we learned anything today, it’s that Alabama knows what to do with a gift because the Tide quickly punched the ball in for a 7-0 lead.

Arkansas did move the ball, but ultimately failed to respond to Bama’s opening score because of back-toback plays with a block in the back and then a fumble on the center-quarterback exchange.

Next, Tide tailback Glen Coffee shined a spotlight on Arkansas’ inexperience and lack of discipline on defense with one move. After the Hogs shut down his path to the left, Coffee cut back and found open running lanes because Arkansas’ back seven did not maintain their gaps for backside containment.

Coffee rambled 87 yards for a touchdown and the rout was on. Alabama, which has a fine offensive line, exploited Arkansas’ lack of defensive discipline the rest of the day.

Coffee blasted for a 31-yard TD early in the third quarter two plays after Casey Dick’s third interception and Roy Upchurch sprinted for a 62-yard TD in the fourth quarter on a play that mimicked Coffee’s first TD dash.

On those three runs, Bama totaled more than half of its 331 yards rushing.

But nothing hurt the Hogs worse than their four interceptions. Bama picked off Dick three times, two of which were returned for touchdowns of 63 yards by Javier Arenas and 74 yards by Justin Woodall. Dick’s third INT set up Coffee’s second TD run.

Arenas’ pick probably wasn’t Dick’s fault. Arkansas receiver Carlton Salters turned inside on a route in which he probably should have turned out, leaving the pass up for grabs.

On Dick’s second INT, it appeared he was trying to throw the ball away under pressure, but he did not get enough on the ball. Arkansas head coach Bobby Petrino has said the ball tends to float on his senior quarterback when his footwork isn’t right.

On the third interception, Dick overthrew into a tight window and the defender made a good play. It probably was an ill-advised throw into such traffic, but the game was already out of hand.

Freshman quarterback Tyler Wilson threw the Hogs’ fourth pick, and it set up Upchurch’s run.

With Wilson’s redshirt now burnt for this season, expect a quarterback controversy to brew among Arkansas fans.

Some Razorbacks faithful have wanted to throw Dick under the bus since the spring, and Wilson looked good enough in directing the Hogs on a fourth-quarter touchdown drive capped by his 10-yard pass to Michael Smith that might cause some fans to have selective amnesia.

No doubt some will be calling for Wilson to start next week against Texas in a knee-jerk reaction to the outcome of the Alabama game.

While I’m guessing Dick will retain the starting job and believe he should, by playing the true freshman, Petrino obviously has shown what he thinks of the Greenwood native.

If Nathan Dick or Alex Mortensen were close to Wilson in the pecking order, it would have been better for the future of the program redshirt him this season to put a year’s separation between Wilson and redshirting transfer Ryan Mallet, who will be a sophomore next year.

By playing Wilson Saturday, Petrino has shown Wilson is the player he will call upon if Casey Dick gets hurt or for whatever reason can’t quarterback the team the rest of the season.

Lost in the blowout was the performance of Razorbacks tailback Michael Smith. He gained 91 yards on 19 carries against Bama, which had only given up 129 rushing yards all season.

Smith also led the Hogs with 6 catches for 67 yards. That’s a big game for a back that stands 5-7 and weighs just 175.

If anyone had any questions about his talent and durability, they shouldn’t any more.

Another Hog highlight was Ramon Broadway, who came up with the Hogs’ first turnover of the year with his interception that set up Arkansas’ fourth-quarter touchdown.

And other than Ford’s roughing the punter penalty, Arkansas’ special teams played much better than in their previous outing against Louisiana-Monroe.

But as stated before, the Hogs wasted an opportunity against Alabama by not playing to the best of their ability. Actually, the same can be said for all three of the Razorbacks’ games this season.

The Razorbacks have just nine more games left in the season. If they don’t start taking advantage of their opportunities soon, the whole season could end up being a waste.

Terry J. Wood is the sports editor of the Northwest Arkansas Times.