Sam Pittman addresses outside concerns about Alabama

Alabama‘s double-digit home loss to Texas followed by their unexpected Week 3 battle with USF has some people believing that the Crimson Tide have taken a step back this season.

Arkansas head coach Sam Pittman is not one of those people.

The Razorbacks will be looking for their first conference win of the season this Saturday as they visit Alabama in Tuscaloosa. And ahead of the matchup, Pittman was asked how he felt about the outside narrative surrounding the Crimson Tide this season.

“They can go up there, line up, and play anybody. I mean they can, they’ve got the talent,” Pittman said. “We’re catching them now where they’re, I think, really getting into their groove.”

The Crimson Tide have taken care of business in conference play so far this season, as their most recent 26-20 win against Texas A&M makes them the only team in the SEC West division to remain undefeated at 3-0 thus far.

But before Alabama sat in the driver’s seat in the West, there’s no question that the team had their fair share of struggles and issues to address, with No. 1 being the quarterback position.

After an offseason quarterback battle carried over into the regular season between Jalen Milroe, Ty Simpson, and Tyler Buchner, Milroe has since been handed the keys to Alabama’s offense. He posted career-high 321 yards along with his three touchdown passes versus the Aggies on Saturday, and that paired with Alabama’s defense holding opponents to 15.2 points per game this season still makes the Crimson Tide one of the toughest teams in the country to face regardless of what the outside narrative is surrounding them.

“Their defense is fantastic and offensively now they’re doing what they can do to score points and have success,” Pittman said. “If you had Bryce Young forever, you know what I mean, all the quarterbacks they’ve had, now I think Milroe is gonna get known for having great success for Alabama, it just might be a little bit different than what the past quarterbacks have been.”

Milroe has yet to reach the status that Alabama’s quarterbacks in recent history have as passers, but it’s clear the Crimson Tide have found their formula to winning with him under center. And up until this point, they’ve still maintained their standard regarding success in the Southeastern Conference.

“But they’re really good, they’re leading the SEC West. So that hadn’t changed,” Pittman concluded.