Arkansas quarterback KJ Jefferson is one of those players who feels like he’s been playing college football forever. The redshirt senior has been starting in some capacity since the 2020 season, and has been a holy terror to tackle the entire time.

Last season, Missouri coach Eli Drinkwitz joked that he hoped Jefferson would opt to enter the NFL Draft instead of spending another season in the SEC. No such luck, and Jefferson’s Razorbacks are heading to Tuscaloosa Saturday to face Alabama football.

“KJ Jefferson is a really good, big time quarterback,” Alabama head coach Nick Saban said Monday. “Big guy. Hard to sack. Can run. Very talented arm.”

Arkansas has struggled this season. The Razorbacks are 2-4 overall in 2023, 0-3 in SEC play.

They’re coming to Tuscaloosa off a 27-20 loss at Ole Miss, a team the Crimson Tide dispatched at Bryant-Denny Stadium to open its SEC slate. Still, the 6-foot-3, 247-pound Jefferson poses a unique threat.

He has a big arm and is as difficult a quarterback to bring down as exists in the league.

“I don’t think you change your mindset. If you go against anybody, you expect everybody — you have to finish through contact,” Alabama defensive tackle Justin Eboigbe said of tackling Jefferson “The same way dealing with KJ. He’s not going to just go down on one hit. You can’t just arm-tackle him. He’s a big guy.”

Through six games, Jefferson has thrown for 1,300 yard and 12 touchdowns, completing 67.1% of this throws. That’s despite playing behind an offensive line that has been consistently abysmal in pass blocking this season, allowing Jefferson to be sacked 23 times so far.

That bodes well for Alabama, which has figured out its pass rush during its current 4-game win streak, after being held sackless against Texas in a Week 2 loss.

“It always comes back to not rushing past the quarterback,” Eboigbe said. “Having great gap integrity when rushing, then on top of that, you may have a defensive plan, as far as like, when they run the read option, where somebody has the running back and somebody has the quarterback.”

Arkansas also has Rocket Sanders at running back. Sanders was one of the best in the SEC last season, but has dealt with injuries and other struggles, like the rest of the Razorbacks, in 2023.

Alabama is favored by nearly three touchdowns in Saturday’s matchup. However, if the Tide isn’t careful, the Razorbacks could become a trap game, a possibility Saban must have been aware of Wednesday when he delivered a lecture in front of local media, noting that nothing is promised.

Especially if Jefferson has a career day.

“This is a good team,” Saban said Monday “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.”

Alabama and Arkansas are scheduled to kick off at 11 a.m. Saturday at Bryant-Denny Stadium. The game will be aired on ESPN.

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