Alabama Crimson Tide vs. Arkansas Razorbacks Preview
Where: War Memorial Stadium, Little Rock, AK
When: Saturday, October 8, 7:00 PM ET
Line: Alabama Crimson Tide (-14) vs. Arkansas Razorbacks (+14); total: 49.5 – view all NCAA Football odds and lines
TV Broadcast: ESPN
Writer’s Pick: Arkansas Razorbacks (+14)
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Betting on the Alabama Crimson Tide (-14)
The Alabama Crimson Tide will head to their SEC showdown with Arkansas with momentum on their side after beating the Kentucky Wildcats, 34-6, on Saturday. It was another impressive victory for the Crimson Tide, who improved their season-record to 5-0. They have won their first five games by an average of 31 points.
Key to Alabama’s hot start has been their outstanding offense. The Crimson Tide are 13th in the FBS in scoring, averaging 44 points per game this season. Just like in their first four victories, it was Jalen Hurts who stole the show for the Crimson Tide against the Wildcats. He completed 20 of 33 passes for 262 yards and a pair of touchdowns in the win against Kentucky. Hurts has completed 62.2 percent of his passes with only one interception in 135 attempts against seven touchdowns this season. Calvin Ridley benefited from Hurts’ strong play in the game against the Wildcats, nabbing 11 passes for 174 yards and two scores.
For the Crimson Tide to preserve their unbeaten record against the Razorbacks, they will need to quickly establish their ground game this coming Saturday. Alabama rushed for 173 yards in the win against Kentucky. Freshman Joshua Jacobs stepped up big time for the injured Damien Harris, rushing for 100 yards and a touchdown in his first start. The Tide will need that same kind of offensive balance for them to unlock an Arkansas defense that’s allowing 374.4 total yards per game this season, 51st in the entire FBS.
Alabama is 9-1 SU and 4-5-1 ATS in its last 10 road games.
Betting on the Arkansas Razorbacks (+14)
The Arkansas Razorbacks returned to winning ways Saturday with a resounding 52-10 victory over the Alcorn State Braves at War Memorial Stadium. It was a huge bounce-back win for the Razorbacks, who suffered a gut-wrenching 45-24 defeat to Texas A&M the previous weekend. With the victory, Arkansas improved its record this season to 4-1.
Things are bound to get tougher, though, for the Razorbacks as standing in their way in their next game are the Alabama Crimson Tide. They are winless in their nine previous meetings against Tide head coach Nick Saban. The Hogs will take comfort in the fact, however, that they have led or been within a field goal in the fourth quarter in four of those games, including the most recent two.
For the Hogs to record a major shock this coming weekend, they will need to get another huge performance from quarterback Austin Allen. He completed 13 of 18 passes for 206 yards and three touchdowns in the win against Alcorn State. He became the first Arkansas quarterback since the Hogs joined the SEC back in 1992 to throw for multiple touchdowns in each of their first five games in a season. In his first year as Arkansas starter, Allen has completed 67.6 percent of his passes for over 246 yards a game with just two picks in 121 attempts against 12 scores.
Allen’s outstanding play has enabled the Hogs’ running backs to wreak havoc on the ground this season. Rawleigh Williams is averaging 111.8 rushing yards per game this campaign while Devwah Whaley is averaging 6.7 yards per carry this season. They will need to be at their best, though, against an Alabama defensive line that’s allowing just 68.4 yards rushing yards per game, third-fewest in the FBS this season.
Arkansas is 5-0 SU and 3-2 ATS in its last five home games.
Writer’s Prediction
Alabama wins but Arkansas (+14) covers.
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