Paul Finebaum raises serious concerns for Alabama ahead of Arkansas road game

The SEC matchup of the week will take place in Fayetteville on Saturday, with second-ranked Alabama facing off against Arkansas. Even coming off a loss, there is a lot of buzz surrounding the Razorbacks under head coach Sam Pittman, hoping to knock off the Crimson Tide for the first time ever under Nick Saban.

While Alabama finds itself as more than two touchdown favorites, ESPN’s Paul Finebaum is concerned heading into the game. He cited the difficult stretch on the schedule over the next three weeks, beginning with Arkansas. Finebaum said it’s “really hard to believe” Saban’s squad will come out without a blemish by Oct. 16.

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“I expect a very tough time,” Finebaum said during Wednesday’s edition of Get Up. “And some of the people in Arkansas are saying had Arkansas beaten (Texas) A&M, they would have had more momentum. I’m not sure I really understand all of that but I do know this. Alabama is in a very difficult stretch right now. They have this game, they have A&M next week at home. Then they go to Tennessee. It’s really hard to believe they’re going to survive this stretch.”

Finebaum has all of these concerns despite the history favoring Alabama. Tennessee last beat their cross-division rivals in 2006, let alone getting a win in Knoxville. The same could be said about Arkansas prior to Saturday’s game. But now, for once, the Crimson Tide looks vulnerable during SEC play.

Prior road struggles concern for Alabama

While Alabama made the national championship last season, there were some close calls on the road. Texas A&M got a win, while Auburn and Florida kept the contests close. Even bleeding into this season in Austin, when it took heroics from quarterback Bryce Young to defeat Texas.

Finebaum is still not ready to trust the Crimson Tide away from Bryant Denny Stadium. The ESPN analyst was not afraid to express his concern.

“Especially the road games based off what we have seen from them in recent years,” said Finebaum. “They struggled on the road against Texas. Last year, they had a hard time in three of their four road games. They lost one and barely won two of the other ones — one in overtime and the other on a last-second stop. I’m fairly concerned about Alabama over these next few weeks, including this Saturday in Fayetteville.”