Arkansas Sports 360 - ArkansasSports360.com

9/25/2010 at 7:31pm

Image by Mark Wagner

Arkansas defensive end Jake Bequette applies pressure to Alabama quarterback Greg McElroy; the Hogs only sacked the Tide QB twice on Saturday.

FAYETTEVILLE -- Oh, the thoughts that must have been going through the Arkansas Razorback fans when the Hogs led No. 1 Alabama 20-7 in the third quarter Saturday. Of course, we're talking about the positive fans and probably much younger supporters, the innocent and unjaded ones; not the ones who've been here before and fully expected a 20-7 third-quarter lead to turn into a 21-20 loss.

There had to be thousands of giddy Hog fans at this point, though, having waited years for this moment, wondering how in the heck Top 25 voters could place Boise State and TCU over the Hogs. Would Arkansas end up hosed out of playing for the national championship? Would Ryan Mallett get his much-deserved Heisman Trophy? Would Arkansas and Coach Bobby Petrino become the new power in the Southeastern Conference.

Those fans who've seen this before, who remember the Texas game in 1969 or the Tennessee heartbreak in 1998, have company now. Turns out it was 24-20, Alabama, when time ran out. Arkansas did plenty to have a chance to win this game, and led 20-17 with less than six minutes to play. But it takes the full 60 minutes.

"In order to beat us, you're going to have to kill us," Crimson Tide quarterback Greg McElroy said later.

You can't just slice and stab away at the elephants. You must stake them right in the heart, make them go all "True Blood" gooey all over the place. Done. Finished.

Arkansas couldn't close the deal.

"We had them right where we wanted them," junior defensive end Jake Bequette said. "We had them down going into the fourth quarter and we just didn't get it done."

Trying to protect the 3-point lead, get the first of a few first downs that might run off the last 6:01 of the game, Ryan Mallett on third-and-lone forced a pass into zone coverage, his receiver bracketed with safety Robert Lester in position to pick the high throw. Lester zigged and zagged the return back to the Hogs' 12, whcih was ridiculously easy for defending Heisman Trophy winner Mark Ingram to polish off. Two runs out of the "wild Tide, or whatever Bama calls its "wildcat" formation, and a dive from a yard out in a convention formation, and Alabama was in front for the first time Saturday with 3:18 to play.

Mallett had a lot less time in which to engineer the biggest win so far in Bobby Petrino's coaching tenure at Arkansas, the 39-second drive in Athens that beat the Georgia Bulldogs with 15 seconds to spare. Surely he could get it done in the last 3 minutes Saturday. Quickly passing the Hogs to their 48, Mallett was rushed on second-and-9 and appeared to try to throw the ball away. It didn't travel far enough, and 'Bama's Dre Kirkpatrick picked it off at the Tide 35 as he stepped out. Only 1:48 remained, although the Hogs had two timeouts left.

Tide Coach Nick Saban wouldn't even punt the ball back to Arkansas from his 44 to give Mallett another chance. Alabama converted a fourth-and-inches on McElroy's quarterback sneak and could run out the final minute with one more snap

When it was prime time, Arkansas wasn't ready for it. Alabama, having been in this situation so much over the past two-plus seasons and throughout last year's national championship run, knew what to do.

Arkansas' receivers weren't able to get open the same way they had in the first half. When they were, there were uncharacteristic drops in the final quarter. Not suffering one holding call on the road last week, the Hogs had a costly one in the final six minutes with senior tackle Demarcus Love was flagged, and the Hogs were pushed back to their 10. That came two plays before the Mallett interception that led to the go-ahead score.

Even on the last possession, when the Hogs couldn't afford any mistakes, senior tight end D.J. Williams jumped for a five-yard penalty after Arkansas had crossed midfield. Two plays later, Mallett was intercepted for the last time.

His third interception came in the second quarter. Arkansas couldn't afford to leave points on the field, and through three games in 2010 the Hogs had converted all red zone opportunities with no worse than a field goal. But on third down, Mallett forced a throw into the middle that Lester, whose name was called a lot on Saturday, was waiting on.

That came with the score 10-7. Alabama's McElroy would give two back to the Hogs, including one in the red zone and a second one that led to a quick Razorback touchdown drive, Mallett sneaking for 1 yard, and a 17-7 lead.

The Hogs' best drive of the second half stalled at the Tide 31, where freshman Zach Hocker came through with his second field goal of the game, a 48-yarder. Recall that his 48-yarder at Georgia last week just before halftime was Arkansas' longest in ages.

Arkansas only had four possessions in the second half, and two - the last two - were turned over. The Hogs gained 18 yards and punted away the third possession. Alabama came at Mallett and Arkansas with more aggressive, a few more blitzes and more physical secondary coverage.

Marcell Dareus, the Tide's All-American end who was playing in just his second game after being suspended for the first two for attending and agent's party in Florida, said the defense made no schematic adjustments to deal with Mallett in the second half.

"We just got after them," Dareus said.

Tide Coach Nick Saban said his team didn't bring the right attitude to the game in the first half, and his young defense made a multitude of mistakes in letting receivers run open. Arkansas scored in two plays to open the game: On first down, Jarius Wright was running free to take Mallett's rollout toss and turn it into a 29-yard gain. Then Ronnie Wingo was uncovered on a wheel route down the left sideline, breaking Lester's tackle attempt at the 7 to complete a 43-yard scoring play.

Nothing would come that easy from then on, especially in the second half.

'It's not where you start, it's where you finish," said McElroy, who has led Alabama to 18 straight wins and never lost as a starter in high school in the Dallas Metroplex. "We knew this game was going to be a tough game. It was a great atmosphere and we're all just excited and pleased to come out and finish the game the way we did, because things didn't go well for us. We made a couple of mistakes and and they made some really great plays.

"That's what teaches you a lot about this team, that we were able to overcome a lot of adversity, adversity that at times we created, and we were able to get the job done ... We will not be denied, I can't say that enough. This team refuses to lose."

That's the lesson Arkansas, too, can take from this one. Against the monster that is Alabama, the Hogs can't just keep the pedal down. They have to drive the stake through.

Tagged: Robert Lester, Ryan Mallett, Bobby Petrino, Greg McElroy, Nick Saban