Alabama head coach Nick Saban began his 17th season with the Tide this year after finishing the 2022 season with an 11--2 overall record and tied for first in the SEC West. Saban led the Tide last year to an appearance in the Sugar Bowl, where they defeated Kansas State 45-20.
After starting the 2023 season off with a 56-7 win over Middle Tennessee State and a 34-24 loss to Texas, Alabama followed that up with a 17-3 win against South Florida, a 24-10 win over Ole Miss, a 40-17 win over Mississippi State and a 26-20 victory against Texas A&M last Saturday. Up next, the Tide have a meeting with Arkansas on Saturday at Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.
In a matchup against the Tide last year, the Razorbacks got out to a slow start during the first half and were down 21-0 before Alabama quarterback Bryce Young exited the game with an apparent shoulder injury in the second quarter.
With Young out of the game, the Hogs went on a 23-7 scoring run to bring the deficit to 28-23. At the start of the fourth quarter, backup quarterback Jalen Milroe ran the ball 77 yards on 3rd-and-15 to the Arkansas 3-yard line. The Tide scored a touchdown and went on to win the matchup 49-26.
Now the starting signal caller for No. 11 Alabama, Milroe completed four passes for 65 yards and added 91 yards and a touchdown on the ground against Arkansas in last year's game.
Through the first six games of the 2023 season, Milroe has completed 75 passes for 1,159 yards and nine touchdowns while adding another 158 yards and four touchdowns on the ground.
Here is everything Saban had to say in his Monday press conference about Arkansas ahead of Saturday's game in Tuscaloosa, which is slated to kickoff at 11:00 a.m. CT and it will be available to watch on ESPN:
On Arkansas as a whole
Saban: Arkansas is really a good team. They had some really tough games, some really close losses. But they've scored a lot of points.
They play very aggressively and very well on defense. They got good specialists, a really good kicker. Got a good running back. I mean, this is a good team and I don't think we should be looking at their record and making any kind of judgments on what they're capable of because they're capable of scoring points and they're capable of playing really good defense and they're a very well-coached team.
On Arkansas quarterback KJ Jefferson
Saban: KJ Jefferson is a really good, big-time quarterback. Big guy, hard to sack, can run. Very talented arm. Sam does a great job with these guys in terms of their ability to run the ball. Whether it's quarterback runs or whatever.
On Arkansas' offense
Saban: They have a really good system, a really good scheme. I think they do a great job utilizing the players that they have. The quarterback runs are always something that adds another layer of focus that you have to be concerned about on defense, which they're really, really good at.
They have great play-action passes. They can throw the ball down the field and make explosive plays. There's not a whole lot of difference between what they've done in the past and what they're doing now. Some little things, but they've been very productive on offense. So, we're going to have to play really, really well.
