No. 3 Alabama’s stingy defense braces for visit by Mallett, Arkansas

Tide opens SEC play against Arkansas

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — No. 3 Alabama tight end Colin Peek doesn’t think anyone should pay attention to that rout of Arkansas last season.

That was pre-Ryan Mallett, after all, and coach Bobby Petrino’s offense hadn’t yet clicked into gear. Plus, Crimson Tide coach Nick Saban insists the Razorbacks’ defense is much improved.

On the final point, it’s best to overlook last week’s 52-41 loss to Georgia heading into Saturday’s Southeastern Conference Western Division matchup.

“A lot of people may remember last year’s game, but this is a completely different team,” said Peek, referring to the Tide’s 49-14 win. “This is not Arkansas from last year.

“This is Bobby Petrino finally being able to get his offense and his system installed. They’re going to be geared up for this one.”

If it’s unlikely the Razorbacks (1-1, 0-1 SEC) will give up 50 points two straight weeks, it seems even more far-fetched to imagine Alabama (3-0) allowing 40-plus.

This, says Tide cornerback Javier Arenas, is “a classic matchup.” Arkansas has the nation’s No. 2 offense and passing offense led by Mallett, the nation’s most efficient passer so far. The Razorbacks are averaging a whopping 538 yards a game, including 428 through the air.

Alabama has the third-ranked defense, giving up just 185 yards a game, and is second-best against the run.

It’s as intriguing as a potential collision between Alabama’s massive noseguard Terrence Cody (6-foot-5, 354 pounds) and the 6-7, 238-pound Mallett. The Tide has already racked up 10 sacks.

“They are really athletic on defense,” Mallett said. “They have guys that can cover. They are big up front with Cody. You have to block him and just execute our offense. You see what happens when we execute.”

What happened against Georgia was Mallett passed for 408 yards and five touchdowns. Both were school records and signaled how much things have changed in Fayetteville since the days of running wild with Darren McFadden and Felix Jones.

For many of the Tide players, they caught their first real glimpse of the Michigan transfer on TV last weekend.

“I was pretty astonished at how confident the quarterback was, because I didn’t know of him before this point,” Arenas said. “He’s an excellent quarterback. It came as a surprise to me because I’d never seen him before. He looked real good.”

Then again, Georgia is 112th nationally in pass defense now, 99 spots behind ‘Bama. Petrino sees challenges across the board.

“They’re very good up front, they’re very physical and they’re very fast at the defensive end spots, big and fast at linebackers,” he said. “Their secondary has played tight coverage. They’re not afraid to match up and play tight coverage and play man coverage.

“There’s not a whole lot of weaknesses that they’ve shown on defense in the first three games.”

Mallett will try to test a secondary sporting three senior starters with receivers Jarius Wright and Greg Childs, both averaging more than 21 yards a catch.

The Razorbacks’ downtrodden defense will try to stop quarterback Greg McElroy and receiver Julio Jones, a week after getting burned for 375 yards and five touchdowns passes to Georgia’s Joe Cox and 137 yards to receiver A.J. Green.

Jones sat out the North Texas game with a bruised right knee and is still waiting for his first big game of the season. An Arkansas pass defense ranked ahead of only Georgia in the SEC and 90th nationally potentially supplies that opportunity.

Like Mallett, McElroy has been awfully efficient so far in his first season as a starter. But unlike Mallett, this is his first SEC start. The fourth-year junior already grasps the different feel of an SEC game.

“The intensity has been turned up a notch,” McElroy said. “It’s important to understand that these past few weeks have been a preseason for us. Yeah, we’ve played good teams but none of those games that we played the last three weeks really moved us toward any of our goals. Our first goal is winning a conference championship. In order to do that we have to beat Arkansas this week.”

He’s not expecting a shootout.

“Obviously a challenge for our offense will be to try to match their intensity,” McElroy said. “Coach Petrino’s a great offensive coach. You knew they were going to score points as soon as he took the job there. That’s something we’re going to really have to work towards.

“Hopefully through executing and being efficient, we should be able to equal their output.”

The Tide is a 16½-point favorite in the game. But one top 5-ranked SEC West team has already been upset this week, with No. 4 Mississippi getting knocked off by South Carolina Thursday night in its league opener.

Alabama was wary even before that game after making it to the SEC championship following an unbeaten regular season last year. With Alabama, Ole Miss and No. 7 LSU ranked among the nation’s top 10 teams, Peek figures there’s little margin for error in the division.

“If you overlook any team on this side of the conference or in the conference as a whole, you’re going to lose,” Peek said. “I think that’s clear in the rankings. This is going to be a huge game for us.”