No. 1 Tide crush error-prone Razorbacks

Arkansas tight end C.J. O'Grady is tackled by Alabama's Shyheim Carter (5) and Xavier McKinney (15) during a game Saturday, Oct. 26, 2019, in Tuscaloosa, Ala.

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — No Tua, no trouble for No. 1 Alabama against the turnover-prone University of Arkansas Razorbacks on Saturday.

Reserve quarterback Mac Jones spread the ball around to the Crimson Tide’s fast wideouts, and Alabama converted a flurry of takeaways into touchdowns to trounce the Razorbacks 48-7 before a crowd of 100,233 at Bryant-Denny Stadium.

Alabama (8-0, 5-0 SEC) kept its record clean in advance of a top-5 showdown with unbeaten LSU here in two weeks while beating the Razorbacks for the 13th consecutive time under Coach Nick Saban.

The Razorbacks (2-6, 0-5 SEC) lost their fifth consecutive game and their 16th in a row in SEC play dating to 2017. Arkansas’ 13-game losing streak to Alabama puts it one shy of the Razorbacks’ longest streak of losses to a single opponent, Texas, in the early 1900s.

Tua Tagovailoa, the Heisman Trophy runner-up to Kyler Murray last year, did not play as he is rehabbing a high ankle injury. He was joined on the Alabama sideline by star receiver DaVonta Smith late in the first half due to a shoulder injury.





Jones, making his first college start, completed 18 of 22 passes for 235 yards and 3 touchdowns with no interceptions. The sophomore’s night was complete after the first drive of the third quarter, capped by his 40-yard touchdown strike to speedster Jerry Jeudy to give the Crimson Tide a 48-0 lead.

Alabama bolted to a 41-0 lead at halftime, helped by 24 points off of turnovers. The teams traded single touchdowns in the second half, but the damage had been done for the Hogs, who now have a third quarterback, redshirt freshman John Stephen Jones, in the mix for playing time.

Alabama won the turnover battle 4-0, intercepting Nick Starkel three times and recovering a muffed Shotgun snap. The Crimson Tide pounced on every Arkansas mistake to wrangle control away early.

“We had entirely too many mistakes against a really good football team,” Arkansas Coach Chad Morris said. “You can’t go out and spot a team of this caliber with a short field and expect to be in the ball game and we weren’t. It got away from us early on in the first half and it was turnovers and short fields.”

Alabama Coach Nick Saban was pleased with the blitzkrieg start his defense provided to help Mac Jones and the offense.

“Mac did a really good job with executing the offense,” Saban said. “He was very efficient and effective in the passing game, did a nice job on third down and kept a lot of drives going. I think we had four turnovers on defense in the first half which led to 24 points, which was really good.”

The Razorbacks did not have a turnover in the second half with John Stephen Jones going the distance at quarterback.

Rakeem Boyd led the Razorbacks with 50 rushing yards and 55 receiving yards. Jones completed 6 of 7 passes for 49 yards and a touchdown. Starkel went 5 of 19 for 58 yards.

Jones said the stage was not too big for him.

“I tried to do my job to the best of my ability, and my teammates helped me do that,” he said.

Morris said senior Ben Hicks’ injured left shoulder improved during the week, but he did not factor in against the Tide. Now the Razorbacks have three potential starting quarterbacks for next week’s SEC West battle against Mississippi State.

“We’ll get back in and re-evaluate all that and see where we are from there,” Morris said when asked if Jones might start next week. “But yeah, I think right now everything’s open.”

Arkansas’ turnover troubles included a backbreaker late in the first half after the Razorbacks had driven 51 yards to reach the Alabama 24 while trailing 34-0.

Alabama linebacker Terrell Lewis got into the backfield almost immediately and forced a quick throw from Starkel toward running back Devwah Whaley over the right side. Crimson Tide defensive back Trevon Diggs picked it off at the 16 and returned it 84 yards for a touchdown with 7 seconds left in the half to make it 41-0.

“We knew we were going to have to play really well, but turnovers and … giving 24 points up in the first half off of turnovers is not that,” Morris said.

Arkansas scored its lone touchdown on the first play of the fourth quarter to complete a 13-play, 85-yard drive led by the redshirt freshman Jones. Alabama contributed to the series by lining up offsides on a fourth-and-3 punt play at the Arkansas 22.

Jones rolled to his left and found tight end Cheyenne O’Grady in the flats. O’Grady sprinted around the edge for an 8-yard touchdown. for his 12th career touchdown, giving him the Arkansas record for tight ends and snapping a mark he had shared with Jeremy Sprinkle.

With Starkel returning to a starting role at quarterback, Arkansas drove the ball into Alabama territory on its first two drives and then to its own 46 on its third possession of the first quarter. However, the last two of those possessions ended with turnovers, and the Crimson Tide turned both into touchdowns to race to a 17-0 lead in the first period.

Starkel could not haul in a face mask-high snap from center Ty Clary from the Alabama 41, and linebacker Christian Harris scooped it up and returned it 37 yards to the Arkansas 14 before Treylon Burks caught up and tackled him from behind.

The Razorbacks, trailing 3-0, had driven 34 yards prior to the turnover, with Burks catching a 15-yard pass and Rakeem Boyd’s 10-yard reception and 9-yard run.

Mac Jones rolled right and fired into the end zone on the first play after Harris’ long fumble return. Smith jumped near the front of the end zone, but the ball passed through his hands to Henry Ruggs III for a 14-yard touchdown and a 10-0 Alabama lead.

Arkansas was back on the move with its next possession after Whaley took a pass 15 yards to the Hogs’ 42. However, on second and 6 from the Arkansas 46, Alabama defensive back Xavier McKinney ran through Whaley on a pass over the left side and tipped the ball in the air. Linebacker Anfernee Jennings made a diving interception, and the Tide were back in business at the Arkansas 48.

A 20-yard run by Najee Harris, who finished with a game-high 86 yards, set up Jeudy’s 14-yard catch-and-run touchdown two plays later.

Smith’s 47-yard catch and run early in the second quarter set up the first of Harris’ two 1-yard touchdown plunges as the Crimson Tide raced to a 31-0 lead.

Patrick Surtain secured Alabama’s second interception late in the second quarter, and the Tide converted that into Joseph Bulovas’ 30-yard field goal with 2:36 remaining.

Jones was in for four consecutive running plays for Arkansas, which drove 29 yards on those plays to the Alabama 46. A personal foul penalty on Jennings put the Razorbacks on the Alabama 31 for their deepest penetration yet.

However, after a T.J. Hammonds’ run netted 7 yards to the Alabama 24, Lewis forced Starkel into the critical error that led to Diggs’ long pick-six interception return.