Outdoors: Now is the time to start repairing bows. 12C
Sports
S U N D A Y , S E P T E M B E R 27 , 2009
get hooked. on the SKIPJACK polo MOBLEY & SONS
SECTION C
WWW.TUSCALOOSANEWS.COM
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Going wild
Hogs get burned
Awaiting word
A closer look at Julio Jones’ TD catch from the wildcat formation | 8C
Arkansas stops the run, but not McElory | 9C
Clutch plays
Quarter scores
Bama’s offense delivers with three scores on big plays| 8C
Breakdown of each quarter | 9C
Dont’a Hightower leaves game in first quarter, but no word on the extent of the injury to his left knee | 10C
The pressure is on
Game stats
Tide defense harasses Arkansas QB all day | 8C
Complete stats from the game | 9C
No confidence Petrino says Razorbacks failed to believe in themselves | 10C
SLOW-ROASTED HOGS
Bama offense makes big plays while defense wears down Arkansas By Cecil Hurt Sports Editor
TUSCALOOSA | Greg McElroy can’t throw a football over 100 miles per hour, like mythical quarterbacks. He probably can’t even throw as hard as some real quarterbacks you could name. But McElroy certainly can find open receivers and deliver the football, as he showed in guiding No. 3 Alabama to a 35-7 win over Arkansas on Saturday afternoon at soggy Bryant-Denny Stadium. McElroy’s strong second half (9-for-9 for 188 yards and two touchdowns), combined with the Crimson Tide’s best defensive effort of the young season, overwhelmed an Arkansas team that had been among the nation’s offensive leaders. Alabama harassed strong-armed Arkansas quarterback Ryan Mallett all day, sacking him three times and hurrying him or disrupting his rhythm on at least a dozen more occasions. Mallett finished the game completing just 12 of 35 passes for 160 yards and one touchdown and also threw his first interception of the season. “We played a very good offensive team, and I was pleased with the defensive effort,” Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban said. “It was a team effort on defense. Everyone did it from the front people to the cover people. We made the quarterback (Mallett) move in the pocket and that made him uncomfortable.” The only damper on the defense’s strong day was the loss of sophomore linebacker Dont’a Hightower in the first quarter. SEE TIDE | 10C Alabama quarterback Greg McElroy waves to the crowd after Alabama’s win against Arkansas on Saturday. McElroy passed for 291 yards and three touchdowns.
STAFF PHOTO | ROBERT SUTTON
Alabama running back Mark Ingram scores a touchdown on a 14-yard pass from quarterback Greg McElroy in the third quarter against Arkansas on Saturday at Bryant-Denny Stadium. Ingram also scored on a 2-yard run in the fourth quarter.
Alabama assembling deep, diverse arsenal of weapons TUSCALOOSA game. They kept eight deast season, the University of Alabama’s fenders in the box as often offensive identity wasn’t exactly subtle. as they could, leaving the While the Crimson Tide did have some cornerbacks and a lone passing capability in 2008, the main objecsafety in the middle of the tive was to keep pounding away on the other field to fend off the Crimson team’s defense until it buckled, sort of like Tide passing attack as best pouring more and more water behind a dam they could. until the dam finally burst. Last year, the Alabama CECIL This year, the Crimson Tide of fense team of of fensive tackle HURT doesn’t mind finding a different route. That Andre Smith and running might make Alabama even scarier for future back Glen Cof fee would opponents, if it continues. have kept on pounding away Saturday’s Arkansas game was a great and, eventually, would probably have cleared example. The Razorbacks were stubborn a path, a formula that worked well until Smith in standing fast against Alabama’s running was suddenly unavailable. This year, Alabama
L For Alabama coach Nick Saban’s postgame press conference and photo galleries, visit www.tidesports. com
STAFF PHOTO | MICHAEL E. PALMER
chose to make Arkansas pay. “You’ve got to take those shots,” head coach Nick Saban said after Alabama’s 35-7 win. “We probably should have taken more of them than we did.” In the first half, Marquis Maze had the Arkansas defender placed firmly in the toaster, only to drop the Greg McElroy pass that would have resulted in 70 yards worth of toasting. Later in the half, after a Javier Arenas punt return made the field position beneficial, Alabama did hit Arkansas with a well-conceived trick play that resulted in a 50-yard touchdown from McElroy (who had lined up at wide receiver) to Julio Jones. SEE HURT | 10C
NO. 7 LSU 30, MISSISSIPPI STATE 26
Tigers hold off Bulldogs with goal-line stand By Chris Talbott The Associated Press
STARKVILLE, MISS. | LSU coach Les Miles saw his team make a bunch of big plays against Mississippi State. He’ll have to go to the film to see the biggest, though. The Tigers’ defense stuffed Mississippi State after the Bulldogs had a first-and-goal at the 2 in the final two minutes to preserve a 30-26 victory Saturday for No. 7 LSU. The Tigers completed the goal-line stand by stacking up Tyson Lee on a quarterback keeper less than a foot short of a go-ahead score with 1:08 left. There were too many bodies piled around the ball for Miles to see the play — he only knew the result.
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“Our defense has got heart, character and courage, and I can’t wait to see the video,” Miles said. The Bulldogs (2-2, 1-2 Southeastern Conference) have now lost 10 straight to LSU, but they were inches from a huge upset in first-year coach Dan Mullen’s four th game. “We were right there 6 inches from the goal line. That just comes down to who wants it
more,” Mississippi State center J.C. Brignone said. With their offense sputtering, the Tigers (4-0, 2-0 SEC) relied on big plays. Patrick Peterson got things started, taking the first of Lee’s three interceptions in for a 37-yard touchdown on Mississippi State’s first offensive play. Brandon LaFell had 101 yards and two touchdown catches, including a 58-yarder on LSU’s first offensive play of the second half. And Chad Jones scored the final touchdown with a stumbling, weaving 93-yard punt return, the second longest in school history. THE ASSOCIATED PRESS “He went left and right more times than I could count,” Miles said. Mississippi State’s Anthony Dixon goes airborne for SEE TIGERS | 11C a touchdown against LSU in Starkville, Miss.