Alabama football beat Arkansas Saturday in Tuscaloosa. The final score from Bryant-Denny Stadium was 24-21

The win moved The Crimson Tide’s record to 6-1 on the season, 4-0 in SEC play. Even though the final score worked in their favor, it wasn’t pretty for much of the way.

Here are five takeaways from Saturday’s game.

Rock fight until it wasn’t

Saturday’s game started slow. On their first few drives, neither team was able to make much of an impact.

Both teams had issues up front, with Alabama QB Jalen Milroe getting sacked four times before the halftime break, and his Arkansas counterpart KJ Jefferson going down twice. Running the ball was also a problem, with Alabama racking up just 59 rushing yards and the Razorbacks going for just 18.

For a moment, it seemed fans might be set to watch one of the season’s ugliest games. Then the Arkansas defense lost Kobe Prentice.

With Alabama down 6-0 following two long Razorback field goals, Milroe dropped back and dropped a dime off his back foot, finding Prentice for a 79-yard score. Perhaps demonstrating how the game had been going, the drive went down as a 75-yarder, due to a prior fumbled snap losing four yards.

After the Prentice touchdown, Alabama spent the rest of the first half breaking the game open, while the Razorbacks were largely unable to move the ball, finishing with just 98 yards of total offense.

In the second half, the game reverted to its previous form, with both teams struggling to move the ball. However, Alabama had made enough of an offensive push after the Prentice score to take the win.

Milroe’s big throws

The pass to Prentice for the first touchdown was just the beginning for Milroe and the Crimson Tide offense. The deep ball became UA’s greatest weapon as it seized control against Arkansas.

On the next drive, Milroe looked long again and found Jermaine Burton downfield for a 44-yard gain. Facing a third-and-16 later in the drive, a 25-yard throw to Ja’Corey Brooks kept the chains moving.

Milroe finished out that series himself, pushing into the end zone for a 1-yard touchdown run. To close out the half, he found Amari Niblack for a 29-yard score and the Crimson Tide took a 21-6 lead to the locker room.

The reliance on the long pass echoed last week’s win over Texas A&M. Against Arkansas, the Crimson Tide ran the ball better than in College Station, but it was still Milroe’s arm talent that carried the day when things were going well for Alabama.

A proper pass rush

KJ Jefferson is a big quarterback. Standing 6-foot-3 and weighing in at 247 pounds, the senior is tough to bring down.

He showed it on Saturday. Several times, multiple Alabama players had a hold on Jefferson, but he stayed up and fighting until the bitter end.

Fortunately for Alabama, its pass rush was impressive. The Arkansas offensive line struggled to stop the likes of Justin Eboigbe, Dallas Turner and more, so the UA front kept Jefferson under duress.

In the second half, it was Alabama’s mistakes that kept Arkansas in longer than it should have been. Most noticeably, the Razorbacks pulled within two scores after a drive that included multiple missed tackles on a Jefferson run, and a pass interference call on freshman safety Caleb Downs.

Still, Alabama had the defensive ability to get it done. It wasn’t even the usual suspects always chasing the passer, with players like Jah-Marien Latham, Terrion Arnold and Trezman Marshall all getting sacks.

Offensive line woes

It’s been a year full of uncharacteristically bad performances from Alabama’s offensive line. Throughout the season, Milroe has been running for his life and the running backs haven’t had much room to operate.

Saturday was no different. By halftime, Milroe had gone down for four sacks.

While some of those can be at least partially chalked up to the quarterback’s tendency to hold on to the football for a beat too long. But the consistent struggle to keep the signal-caller upright has the potential to come back and bite the Tide.

In the second half, the issues were especially pronounced. The Crimson Tide simply couldn’t move the ball when it needed to as it tried to seal the victory, up until the very final drive, when it ran the clock out.

The mistakes

One of Alabama’s biggest problems throughout the 2023 season has been the inability to get out of its own way. For a Nick Saban-coached team, the number of mental errors this edition of the Crimson Tide produces is unprecedented.

It’s ill-timed penalties. It’s a blown coverage in the fourth quarter that led to Arkansas pulling within three points.

It’s Terrion Arnold not completing a tackle on Jefferson in the backfield that would have moved the scoring drive back a few plays earlier. Offensively, it’s Seth McLaughlin and Milroe having a bad snap, and Alabama once again incurring a pre-snap penalty.

Even when Alabama was kneeling the game away, it was a false start penalty that stopped the clock.

Alabama was clearly the better team across the board on Saturday. However, the Tide didn’t play like it for much of the second half.