No. 3 Alabama not needing big games from offensive stars with diverse attack clicking

No. 3 Alabama spreading offensive wealth around

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Alabama didn’t have a 100-yard rusher or receiver. Mark Ingram didn’t produce the No. 3 Crimson Tide’s biggest run nor Julio Jones its longest pass play.

The Tide continued to spread the wealth in Saturday’s 35-7 win over Arkansas, with even its biggest offensive stars content without super-sized numbers. Quarterback Greg McElroy sees it as the ‘Bama way.

“We’re a team offense,” McElroy said. “Alabama has 12 national championships and no Heisman Trophy winners. That’s the mindset coming in here. This is a team game, and we’re going to win as a team.”

No reason to alter that formula now.

The Tide (4-0, 1-0 Southeastern Conference) has been balanced and productive with a mix of old-school pounding and big-play flash. Arkansas (1-2, 0-2) managed to stuff Alabama’s reliable running game, which produced 134 yards on 41 carries. Take away a tackle-breaking 52-yard TD run by freshman Trent Richardson, and the Tide averaged 2 yards on the other 40 rushes.

The Razorbacks bottled up leading rusher Ingram, who had only 50 yards on 17 carries. McElroy responded with his best day, passing for 291 yards and three touchdowns.

Jones broke a 12-game touchdown drought with a 50-yarder on a trick play. His only other catch was a 15-yarder, but it was still his best game in a season limited by a knee injury.

No problem. Marquis Maze caught an 80-yarder from McElroy on the school’s sixth-longest pass play, and Darius Hanks added an acrobatic 32-yard catch. Mike McCoy still has the team’s only 100-yard receiving game this season.

“I don’t mind being a decoy if it frees somebody else up,” Jones said. “Everybody plays for each other. Everybody’s got each other’s back. The sky’s the limit for this team.”

It’s harder to double-team Jones when Maze is averaging 24 yards on eight catches. Ingram’s 347 yards leads the team, but Richardson isn’t far behind with 280. Both have run for four touchdowns, while Ingram has added three TD catches.

Alabama ranks eighth nationally in total offense but doesn’t have a runner ranked among the Top 35 or a receiver in the Top 100 in yards.

Alabama’s defense and Arkansas’ offense got most of the attention going into the game. The Tide wound up holding the Razorbacks to 254 total yards and quarterback Ryan Mallett to a 12-of-35 day after he came in as the nation’s most efficient passer.

Alabama’s offense certainly held its own with 425 yards.

“We’ve got a great group of wide receivers and running backs, as explosive as any group in the country,” McElroy said. “Going into (Saturday’s) game, we had a chip on our shoulder knowing we had to make plays.”

Tide coach Nick Saban, meanwhile, had a bone to pick after the game. He took umbrage with the characterization of the game as a showdown between the defensive guru (him) and the offensive mastermind (Arkansas’ Bobby Petrino). The defense sacked Mallett three times, had eight tackles for a loss and six quarterback hurries.

Saban just refused to take the credit.

“Kirby Smart is the defensive coordinator here,” he said. “He did a fantastic job of getting our players ready to play in this game.”

All this stuff about this guy versus that guy, that’s B.S. We have a defensive coordinator, we have an offensive coordinator. (Smart) did a great job today calling the game, putting the plan together, teaching the players and all that.”

Mallett passed for 160 yards with a touchdown and his first interception of the season. Joe Adams had the biggest offensive day, catching six passes for 81 yards.

“We have a lot of work to do to get to be the type of football team that we need to be,” Petrino said.

He saw plenty of room for improvement from Mallett, too.

“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. They do a nice job of disguising and hitting the blitzes when they’re supposed to, but he’s very capable of playing a lot better than that.”

Mallett didn’t disagree.

“They played great defense and we didn’t execute,” he said. “That’s all it’s about. I’m going to keep telling you that we have to execute.”