It felt like the game was over. Even before halftime, the atmosphere in Bryant-Denny Stadium was jovial, but when Alabama football got the ball and started moving in big chunks on the ground to begin the third quarter against Arkansas, it seemed like everything was coming up Crimson Tide.

Then, it stopped working. The drive stalled and Alabama settled for a field goal to make it 24-6, which didn’t seem like a huge deal at the time.

But that’s where the execution fell apart, according to Nick Saban after UA came away with a 24-21 win.

“And then we didn’t finish,” Saban said in his postgame press conference.

Throughout the second half, the wheels fell completely off. UA hadn’t struggled with penalties until safety Jaylen Key got called for a face mask late in the corner.

That one set the Razorbacks up for a score. Another, later in the half, a pass interference call on safety Caleb Downs created the chance for another, one Arkansas also seized.

Saban said he was happy for the victory. The coach wasn’t smiling about much else after the game.

“Hopefully we can learn how to beat the other team,” Saban said. “Not just win the game, but beat the other team, which means you gotta play for 60 minutes. You gotta execute, do your job, have discipline, do it one play at a time for 60 minutes in the game.”

Alabama didn’t do that Saturday. Quarterback Jalen Milroe completed just three of 11 passes in the second half, taking away the deep threat that had rocketed the Crimson Tide to the lead to begin with.

He took full blame for that from the podium after the game, but he didn’t get much help from his offensive line throughout the half, or the rest of the game for that matter. Offensive guard Tyler Booker put words to what happened to the unit.

“We lost intensity in the second half and that’s what it really boils down to,” Booker said. “We just have to hit, like you said, that drive where we had those big runs, we have to carry those on.”

Arkansas was one thing. But Tennessee is coming up at Bryant-Denny Stadium next week, and the Volunteers have what it takes to make the Crimson Tide pay for its mistakes.

After that, LSU is in town. Following a bye, Alabama heads to Lexington to face a gritty Kentucky team.

The time for losing focus is over. If it keeps up, Alabama’s championship dreams could be dead by Thanksgiving.

“I think we just got complacent,” quarterback Jalen Milroe said. “I think there’s a lot of thing we got to build on and learn from this game and can’t let it happen again. End of the day we’re not a finished product and we gotta acknowledge that.”