ALABAMA FOOTBALL WELCOMES ARKANSAS FOR HOMECOMING

By WVUA 23 Web Writer Jennifer Smith

Heading into Oct. 14’s game between No. 1 ranked Alabama (6-0, 3-0) and Arkansas (2-3, 0-2), the Tide holds a 30-point favorite against the visiting Razorbacks.

Alabama head coach Nick Saban said Arkansas’s defense is better than the record would indicate and expects a tough game on homecoming night.

“I think their defense is a very sound and solid group that doesn’t make a lot of mistakes,” Saban said. “You have to work hard to execute well to beat them. This is going to be a challenging game; it always has been for us. We’re certainly going to prepare that way.”

On the other side of the field, Arkansas head coach Bret Bielema is currently in his fifth season as the man in charge. Though despite what their record shows, Bielema said his team is close.

“I told our guys on Sunday night if I’ve ever been around a team that can change its path in a very short fashion, it’s these guys right here, right now,” Bielema said. “It’s not like they’re a million miles away: they lost an overtime game (against Texas A&M), they lost to (then No. 23) TCU in a game that was right down to the wire and now we had a third quarter (against South Carolina) that got completely out of control. I get it, everyone is going to have commentary but they really, truly, are a team that is not very far away from being where they need to be.”

Saturday night’s game will be the 28th edition of the Tide-Razorbacks series, with Alabama holding a 17-8 edge. Alabama has, also, won the last 10 meetings, with the most recent being last season’s 49-30 victory in Fayetteville.

The game is scheduled to kickoff on ESPN at 6:15 p.m.