Alabama Football: Offensive inconsistency continues against Arkansas

Despite posting 415 total yards, the offense for Alabama Football dealt with some of the same issues that have plagued it all season in a win over Arkansas.

The offense continued to have extended stretches of lethargy where it couldn’t get anything going before finally hitting on a big play. As I have said all year, this boom-or-bust approach is not a sustainable winning formula. The Tide has to be able to find a rhythm without relying on explosive plays that may not always be there when you need them.

Although Bama’s 415 yards of total offense and 6.6 yards per play were its highest outputs since the season opener against Middle Tennessee State, it couldn’t convert this production into points.

Bama finished the game with just 24 points once again; a number the offense just can’t seem to get past. The Tide has now finished with 24 offensive points or fewer in five of seven games this season.

Alabama Football Quarterbacks: C

Perhaps content with a 24-6 third quarter lead, quarterback Jalen Milroe and offensive coordinator Tommy Rees both seemed to lose their rhythm in the second half of this game.

Milroe, who had previously been one of the best quarterbacks in the SEC in terms of completion percentage, connected on less than 50 percent of his passes in this game. After an 8-11 start, a string of eight straight incompletions spanning the third and fourth quarters tanked Milroe’s percentage.

Still, he continued to be effective on the deep ball. Despite connecting on only 10 of his 21 throws, his passes went for nearly 11 yards per attempt, a very impressive number. He also threw two touchdown passes and did not turn the ball over.

There was a lot of good and bad in this game for Milroe, who will have to put together more consistent performances in Bama’s next two games. He will certainly need to avoid long stretches with no completions.