TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Bobby Petrino had seen it before. So when he noticed the execution problems on the field he reached a conclusion - Arkansas didn't actually believe it could beat No. 3 Alabama on the road.
And, in the 35-7 loss Saturday at Bryant-Denny Stadium, it showed.
"We didn't play the way we were capable of playing, and that's on me," Petrino said. "That's on me. I didn't get them to believe that we could come in here and win the game."
Arkansas (1-2, 0-2 SEC) collapsed under a sea of penalties and miscues, and Alabama looked the part of its mascot in the win. The Crimson Tide (4-0, 1-0) rolled up yardage, scored on three plays of 50 yards or longer and their defense flooded the Razorbacks' chances at an upset win on the road.
Ryan Mallett, No. 1 in the nation in passing efficiency heading into the game, didn't look nearly as crisp as he did in a 52-41 shootout loss to Georgia on Sept. 19. The sophomore finished his second SEC start completing 12 of 35 passes for 160 yards and one touchdown, and threw his first interception as a Razorback late in the fourth quarter.
He was also sacked three times, including twice by star defensive back Javier Arenas.
"I didn't think he played very well," Petrino said. "He didn't set his feet. He didn't see things like he saw in the previous two games.
"You can't take anything away from their defense, because they are very good. ... But he's very capable of playing a lot better than that."
The Hogs were ranked second in the nation in total offense entering the game, but compiled only 254 yards against the third-best defense nationally and punted 10 times. Meanwhile, penalties killed drives and kept Alabama alive. The Hogs were penalized 10 times for 98 yards, and allowed three first downs because of penalties.
"We know we're a good offense, so we just had to go out and show everybody else that we were," said receiver Greg Childs, who finished with 60 yards and one touchdown. "But we really didn't get a chance to show the world today."
Even with Arkansas compiling only 101 yards of offense in the first half, the Hogs were still in the game while being down 14-0 at halftime.
The Hogs' defense forced a three-and-out to start the third quarter, setting the offense up with a perfect opportunity. The offense drove down the field with the help of 23-yard catch by tight end D.J. Williams, and Mallett found Childs on a fade route for an 18-yard touchdown two players later. It cut the Alabama advantage to 14-7, giving hope back to the Razorbacks' bench and quieting a raucous 92,012 fans mostly of the Crimson Tide variety.
It was a scoring drive of good execution and precision passing by Mallett.
"We felt good," Mallett said. "I don't know what happened after that. ... We just lost it. We came out good in the second half and didn't keep it up."
What happened was an all-too-familiar occurrence for the Razorbacks' defense - a quick scoring strike.
Tide receiver Marquis Maze responded 20 seconds after the Hogs' jubilation with an 80-yard touchdown pass from Greg McElroy. The Hogs' Rudell Crim was there step-for-step, but was unable to properly time a pass deflection and fell to the ground to allow Maze to help build a 21-7 advantage with 10:25 remaining in the third quarter.
"I didn't think it deflated us," Petrino said. "... We've got to be able to answer. That's the thing we did a week ago - we've got to be able to answer when other people score. That's up to the offense to answer back and get it back to 21-14."
But the Hogs never responded, playing with their backs against the wall after McElroy tossed his third and final touchdown pass of the game to running back Mark Ingram with 5:53 remaining in the third quarter.
The Hogs even had pressure on McElroy on the play, but couldn't convert in time. Linebacker Freddy Burton brought a retreating McElroy down to the ground as he lofted the screen pass to Ingram for the 14-yard score and 28-7 lead.
The touchdown capped a bad chain of events for the Hogs, who barely had their heads above water at the time. Punter Dylan Breeding, who rolled to his right, had his punt blocked by defensive end Lorenzo Washington to give the Tide possession at the Arkansas 35 just a few plays earlier.
Arkansas managed to hold Alabama scoreless in the first quarter, but the trend of allowing big scoring plays finally reared its head in the second quarter.
Julio Jones struck the biggest chord with the Alabama faithful with a 50-yard touchdown catch on a reverse pass from McElroy with 6:55 remaining in the first half. The play was run in the Wildcat formation, with McElroy receiving the toss.
"That was a play that we were going to run in the first half no matter what, and the situation at mid-field to take a shot was a good time to do it," Alabama coach Nick Saban said.
Wide open and with time to hang underneath the ball, Jones adjusted as sophomore Tramain Thomas ran full speed to make a tackle in the red zone. Thomas, though, couldn't wrap up Jones and fell to the ground as Alabama's playmaker high-stepped the final few yards into the end zone to give the Tide a 14-0 lead.
"We could have had better effort and got there and knocked it down," Petrino said. "That was kind of an effort play. We didn't have good enough effort on the play."
The Tide compiled 102 of their 201 yards in the first half on two touchdown plays.
And there was the lack of tackling on a 52-yard touchdown run by freshman tailback Trent Richardson on the Tide's first score of the game. The highly-recruited newcomer shed four Arkansas tackle attempts with a few cuts in the middle of the field. The moment he popped out of the horde of Hogs, linebacker Jerry Franklin fell to the ground and reached for Richardson's toes as he angled and sprinted to the sideline for the score with 9:30 remaining in the second quarter.
"He got away with one, because he was tackled in the backfield," Arkansas senior defensive tackle Malcolm Sheppard said. "It's disappointing. You're sitting out there and you see plays like that happen. There's nothing you can do about it."
The Tide used nothing but big plays of 50 yards or more to score their first three touchdowns, and then chewed up yardage in the second half to score points. Alabama proved it could muscle its way down the field as well, driving 99 yards on a 13-play touchdown drive early in the fourth quarter.
It also helped that the Hogs were again penalized on a big play. Cornerback Andru Stewart was called for a pass interference on second-and-9, and Ingram ran in untouched for a 2-yard touchdown and 35-7 lead with 13:12 remaining in the game.
"We had a plan to go after some of their corners a little bit in the game," Saban said. "We probably should have done it more. [McElroy] did a nice job, especially in the second half."
McElroy won the quarterback battle against the highly-touted Mallett. The first-year starter finished with another consistent effort, completing 17 of 24 passes for 291 yards and three touchdowns.
"Obviously, I want to be an explosive passer, and they described Ryan Mallett as such but our defense showed how committed we are," McElroy said. "They really played their assignments, and when they do that we can really shut down an explosive offense."