Best meets best on Saturday afternoon when Arkansas and Alabama meet up in their respective conference openers.
The high-flying Arkansas offense leads the Southeastern Conference in passing, and the Hogs will be greeted in Tuscaloosa by a merciless Alabama defense that enters the contest with the top total defense in the league through three weeks.
“We’re looking forward to SEC play,” Alabama coach Saban said Wednesday. “Arkansas has a great team, a very good offensive team. This is by far the biggest challenge we’ve had to this point.”
The last time the Razorbacks visited Bryant-Denny Stadium, their Ryan Mallett led offense mustered just seven points, 29 points less than their season average.
With Mallett departed to the NFL, junior quarterback Tyler Wilson will get his first look at a Nick Saban defense.
“They haven’t skipped a beat in terms of how (Wilson)’s executing their offense,” Saban said. “He has enough experience in terms of the games he played in last year and what he’s done so far this year, so he should be well prepared to help his team do what they need to do to be successful.”
Success hasn’t come easy against the Crimson Tide who are allowing just 114.7 yards per game through the air.
Each of the past two seasons, Alabama has held Arkansas to its lowest point total of the year.
“They do a great job on defense,” said Arkansas coach Bobby Petrino. “We’ve had our chances to get the ball in the end zone. They’ve made plays to stop us. It’s up to us to score more points.”
Seat heater
Georgia and Ole Miss, a pair of 0-1 SEC teams, do battle in Oxford, Ms., Saturday in a game headlined by a pair of coaches under some scrutiny.
Following a losing season last year, Mark Richt’s Bulldogs opened the season 0-2 before posting a win against FCS member Coastal Carolina last week.
Ole Miss was blasted by Vanderbilt Saturday marking the third time in four years the Commodores have beaten the Rebels under Houston Nutt’s watch.
The loss prompted Athletic Director Pete Boone to e-mail the school’s alumni association saying that, “As I have said, Saturday’s performance and our running two-season SEC record are unacceptable.”
Richt dealt with job security questions following the Bulldogs’ season opening losses to Boise State and South Carolina.
“It’s the nature of the business,” Richt said. “It’s part of the reason we get paid pretty good, but it’s also part of the reason why we, as leaders, have to focus on the right thing. I’m sure Coach Nutt’s doing that as well as we are.”
The game has been called ‘The Hot Seat Bowl’ by numerous media outlets around the Southeast.
Nutt deflected the notion when asked on Wednesday.
“You assume that there are things like that happening,” Nutt said. “If that’s what they want to talk about, that’s pretty good company to be in, especially with Mark Richt.”
The two tenured coaches have a combined 25 years in the league, trumped individually by only Steve Spurrier (Florida and South Carolina).
“A couple of years there at Arkansas really prepared me for anything and everything,” Nutt said. “If you use energy on things outside the meeting rooms and football field, you’re wasting time.”
Bumps and Bruises
The most devastating injury in the SEC last week was the torn ACL that cost Tennessee sophomore wide receiver Justin Hunter his season early in the first half against Florida.
Ole Miss quarterback Randall Mackey suffered a thigh bruise in the Rebels’ loss to Vanderbilt Saturday. Nutt called the injury “slow-going”.
Junior Zach Stoudt took the reigns of the Rebel offense in Mackey’s absence, and Nutt said Wednesday that “right now, Zack Stoudt’s our guy”.
Arkansas senior defensive end Jake Bequette is questionable for the Razorbacks’ tilt with Alabama. Bequette is dealing with a lingering hamstring injury.
The Little Rock product was selected to the All-SEC 2nd team last season.
