Alabama vs Arkansas Flashback: Saban’s First Big Win at Bama

Ever since Nick Saban became Alabama's head coach in 2007, the Tide have become accustomed to major wins.  From top 10 match ups to championship games, Saban has seen them all.  But the first such game of the Saban era, where one could argue the now legendary coach reintroduced himself to the SEC, came against the Arkansas Razorbacks in 2007.

Saban has never lost to the hogs since coming to Alabama. In fact, aside from a thriller in 2010, all the games in the series between 2008 and 2013 were blowouts. Despite turning Arkansas into a national power, Bobby Petrino wasn't even able to get the best of Saban's Tide teams.  The last time Arkansas even scored a point against Bama was in 2011.  But that first game in September of 2007 was not so easy.  If anything, it was one of the most thrilling finishes in Saban's career.

The Tide entered that game unranked with a 2-0 record after easy wins over Western Carolina and Vanderbilt.  Arkansas came into Tuscaloosa ranked 16th in the nation and boasted the rushing attack of Darren McFadden, Felix Jones and Peyton Hillis.  While many writers and analysts reognized the coaching skill of Nick Saban, many believed the Tide lacked the talent and depth to compete immediately with him at the helm.  Against such a talented team, the Tide had an opportunity to change that perception.

Alabama came out of the gate with a bang, going up 21-0 in the 1st quarter.  Arkansas was able to add 10 points before halftime, but Alabama came out again in the 3rd quarter with some fire to make the lead 31-10.

Then disaster struck. The beast that was the Arkansas offense awoke and came at Bama with a vengeance, scoring four unanswered touchdowns to take a 38-31 lead late in the 4th quarter.  Star hog running back McFadden would finish the game with 195 yards rushing and 2 touchdowns.  What made things worse: Alabama had never managed a 4th quarter comeback during the previous four years under coach Mike Shula.  This was not comfortable territory for Tide fans.

Nevertheless, Alabama kicker Leigh Tiffin made a 42-yard field goal to cut the Razorback lead to 38-34.  This was huge, as Tiffin had been inconsistent and a scapegoat for Bama's failures the previous season. He would go on to be an All-American on the 2009 title team.  Following the kick, the Tide defense, lead by a freshman linebacker named Rolando McClain, stopped the Hogs and swung momentum completely back to the Tide.  Now the pressure was on junior quarterback John Parker Wilson to seal the deal.  Wilson led a masterful drive that culminted in a 4-yard touchdown pass to Matt Caddell in the back of the endzone with just 8 seconds left.  Arkansas could just muster a hapless hail mary attempt before it was all over.

When it was all siad and done, Saban told reporters, "It was an exciting night, huh?"

Unfortunately, the excitement of the win didn't last long.  The next week, Alabama lost to Georgia in overtime, and finished the 2007 season just 7-6 after beating Colorado in the Independence Bowl.  Furthermore, this was one of the 21 games Alabama was forced to vacate due to NCAA infractions involving textbooks.

Nevertheless, this was in my mind the true start to the Saban era.  For the first time since the 2005 season, there was general hope about the direction of the program.  That hope was pushed to the front the next season when Bama started the season 12-0 and won the SEC West.  Then in 2009, Bama won the national title and began a reign of dominance not seen in college football since the Nebraska teams of the 1990's.

Relive the game-winning drive with this video: