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WATCH: Bryce Young squeezes in dime to John Metchie III for touchdown

20200517_134556by:Justin Rudolph•11/20/21
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The Alabama Crimson Tide were the first to strike in the first quarter with the field goal and now have the first touchdown in the game thanks to wide receiver John Metchie. Heisman-hopeful quarterback Bryce Young found his wideout early and often throughout the drive, which culminated with this 20-yard touchdown catch.

On a drive that started way back on the Alabama two-yard line, the Crimson Tide relied heavily on Metchie to drive the ball the length of the field. Metchie had three catches for 70 yards, and all three catches were good for 20 yards or more. Currently, the Alabama junior has five of the teams eight catches for 89 yards. Alabama currently has a 10-0 lead early in the second quarter against the Razorbacks.

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Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images

There’s a matchup between a pair of teams in the College Football Playoff Top 25 happening Saturday afternoon in the SEC as No. 2 Alabama hosts No. 21 Arkansas at Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa — the Crimson Tide (9-1 overall, 5-1 SEC) and Razorbacks (7-3, 3-3).

Despite it being a game between a pair of ranked teams, Alabama is favored over Arkansas by 20.5 points, with the overall points total set at 58.5.

The Razorbacks are 11-4 against the spread in their last 15 games as an underdog with a 9-4 mark under head coach Sam Pittman since 2020. However, it’ll be tough for Arkansas to be successful in that regard Saturday as Alabama has covered in 11 of its last 15 games against SEC opponents.

Since the start of the 2020 season, the Crimson Tide is 15-7 against the spread when favored – a mark that ties them with UTSA for the fourth-best cover percentage in the FBS. Head coach Nick Saban’s club is also 9-1 against the spread since last season when playing at Bryant-Denny Stadium as the favorite, which is the FBS’ best cover percentage.

Nick Saban addresses seniors using COVID year, Alabama senior day

While Alabama’s senior class – as of now – will be playing in Tuscaloosa for the final time on Saturday against Arkansas, there’s a chance that one or more of them could potentially take advantage of the extra year of eligibility provided by the NCAA due to the COVID-19 pandemic and return to Alabama for the 2022 season.

Does Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban know if anyone will be coming back next year?

“No, we haven’t discussed that. We usually don’t talk about that until the end of the season, and we’ll use the same procedure this year,” Saban said this week. “This group has been a really good group. It’s not a big group, but they’ve played a lot of games here and had a lot of success in their career here and they’ve contributed to it in a very positive way.”

Although Saban’s not sure who – if anyone – will be returning for another season, the longtime Alabama headman is proud of his 2021 senior class for everything they’ve accomplished while with the program.

“I’m proud of this group,” Saban said. “A lot of these guys have graduated or will graduate either this semester or next, so I’m really pleased and proud of the way they’ve progressed. There’s a lot of guys in this group that has come a long ways, and I think they’re going to be very successful in life – which is the goal of the program.”