FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Apparently, Alabama coach Nick Saban has Darren McFadden and the Arkansas offense all figured out.
“They’re basically [starting] from a spread-out offense, running a lot of wishbone principles in their zone options, creating a pitchman with somebody going in motion, running a misdirection zone read,” Saban said.
Basically.
Saban did admit some people have problems tackling McFadden and Felix Jones, a Razorbacks rushing tandem that totaled 2,815 yards last season.
“It’s really important to keep leverage on them, tackle well, and get a lot of people around the ball so we don’t have a lot of one-on-one tackles,” Saban said.
When asked about preparing for Arkansas and trying to simulate a player like McFadden in practice, he gave an obvious answer.
“If we could simulate [McFadden] in practice, we’d play the guy. I wish we had one,” the coach said.
To try to prepare for game speed, Alabama has put its fastest scout-team players in the backfield, regardless of position.
“When they run the option,” Saban said, “it’s not as easy because the point of attack moves, from the dive to the guy carrying the ball to the pitch. Everybody’s got to maintain responsibility.”
To make matters worth for the Crimson Tide coaching staff, Arkansas has had an extra week to prepare coming off a bye week.
“We have a few more things,” Arkansas offensive coordinator David Lee said. “That’s what an open week gives you, a little bit more time to polish some things you haven’t shown the week before.”
The Razorbacks are one of five teams that have bye weeks before they play Alabama this year. Mississippi State is the only other SEC school with more than one opponent coming off a bye week.
Saban said there are obvious advantages to having an additional week of practice, that the extra week allows a team to make changes that can counter an opponent’s preparation.
“I think the big focus for our team is to improve, prepare well all week so that we have the best chance to execute the plan against a very good football team and some great football players,” Saban said.
Whether it’s the “Wildcat formation,” the “WildHog” or just the “501,” the Razorbacks have a lot of options coming out of the backfield.
Because Arkansas used a limited playbook against non-conference opponent Troy and was idle last Saturday, the defensive-minded Saban doesn’t have much film of Lee’s offensive package to study. Lee returned to Fayetteville in January for his third stint as a Hogs assistant.
If there’s anything Saban does know for certain, it’s that McFadden will touch the ball.
“I’m not stupid here,” Lee told The Associated Press at the beginning of the year. “I’m going to feed the studs.”
Last year against Alabama, McFadden carried the ball 25 times for 112 yards and a touchdown — right around his 2006 average of 117 rushing yards per game.
“These two guys, Darren McFadden and Felix Jones, if they’re not first-round draft picks, I don’t know who is. Both of them,” Saban said.
“Both guys gained well over 1,000 yards last year. They’re versatile. They’re very dangerous on kickoff return as well. They’ve both been back there and they’ve both had big returns. It’s going to be a real challenge to us from that standpoint.”
For Lee, it’s not his first look at a Saban-coached defense.
“I’ve gone against Nick Saban’s system in pro football when he was with Miami,” said Lee, who spent the past four seasons as a Dallas Cowboys offensive assistant under Saban’s mentor Bill Parcells.
“It’s so sound, and he’s got so many answers to everything you want to do.”
Lee also coached against Saban when Lee was a quarterbacks coach at Arkansas and Saban coached LSU.
Lee credited the Crimson Tide coaching staff for the significant amount of improvement of the defense in one week between the opener against Western Carolina and Saturday’s victory over Vanderbilt.
“I just hope they don’t improve that much again against us,” Lee said.
If the chess match between Lee and Saban isn’t enough, Alabama’s longstanding tradition of smash-mouth defense and Arkansas’ Heisman frontrunner in the backfield promise an entertaining game this weekend.
“I think that every game we play we find out about ourselves. We find out what we need to improve,” Saban said. “This game will be no different than that. And this is going to be a totally different type of game relative to what this team does. So it’ll be a real challenge for our players.”