By DON KAUSLER JR.

It's almost as if the sun, moon and stars would need to align to prevent 20-point underdog Arkansas from losing its fifth consecutive game when it takes on No. 11 Alabama at 11 a.m. CDT Saturday in Tuscaloosa.

How about 2 out of 3?

Well, well, well. A partial solar eclipse is expected at 12:18 p.m. Saturday.

Media guest James Spann, an Alabama meteorologist, broke this news to Nick Saban last week on the Alabama coach’s weekly radio show.

“This is a new one on me,” said Saban, a Weather Channel aficionado. “I didn’t know that, and I’ve never had to deal with that, honestly, in my entire coaching career. So, you may have to coach me up on how to handle this distraction.”

Saban was asked Wednesday about the eclipse.

"I think you have to prepare your team for every distraction,” he said. “… The best way to do that would be to text it to them, so they can read it on their phones. Sometimes they don’t listen, but if you text it to them, they’ll read it. That might be a new technique that we try. We’ll text them what they’re supposed to do on the field. They’ll probably get it then."

Saban didn’t know how to text until the spring of 2020, during the coronavirus days of social distancing.

Here’s a message for attendees of the game Saturday at Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa: Don’t look up. The partial eclipse can damage eyes.

Alabama, still stinging from a 10-point loss to Texas last month at home, is focused on climbing back into College Football Playoffs contention.

Arkansas (2-4, 0-3 in the SEC) is clinging to bowl hopes. Does Alabama (5-1, 3-0) present a problem … or an opportunity?

This could be a so-called trap game for the Crimson Tide. It is coming off a 26-20 victory at Texas A&M, which defeated Arkansas 34-22 on Sept. 30 in Arlington, Texas. Next week, Alabama plays host to Tennessee, which defeated the Tide 52-49 last season.

The Razorbacks, despite their disappointing results, have been competitive in every game this season. Alabama has had multiple imperfections exposed more than once this season.

You never know.

OK. Back to reality. …

Let’s begin.

FIRST DOWN

Pittman on Alabama: Fourth-year Arkansas Coach Sam Pittman isn’t listening to critics who say Alabama isn’t playing up to the standards it set while winning 6 national championships in Saban’s first 16 seasons in Tuscaloosa.

“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 is the only team in the SEC West that has not lost a conference game. Redshirt sophomore quarterback Jalen Milroe is improving as a successor to Bryce Young, who won the Heisman Trophy in 2021 and was the No. 1 pick in the 2023 NFL Draft.

“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 going to get known for having great success for Alabama. It just might be a little bit different than what the past quarterbacks have been.”

Pittman was referring to Jalen Hurts, Tua Tagovailoa and Mac Jones, each now a starter in the NFL.

Milroe can run and is skilled at completing long passes, but he lacks a soft touch on short and medium passes and often telegraphs his targets. He has had 4 passes intercepted, including 2 that were especially costly against Texas. (Arkansas quarterback KJ Jefferson has had 6 passes intercepted.)

The Tide has weaknesses. It was penalized 10 times for 90 yards against Texas, and it overcame 14 penalties for 99 yards at Texas A&M. It ranks No. 82 in the nation and 10th in the SEC in rushing (143.7 yards per game). It ranks No. 130 in the nation with 26 sacks allowed, 4 more than it allowed in the entire 2022 seasons.

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

The Razorbacks have lost 16 consecutive times to the Tide, the most consecutive losses to a single opponent in Arkansas history.

Saban will turn 72 years old at the end of this month.

“He’s the best coach that’s ever been,” Pittman said. “I imagine he’ll quit when he’s not having fun anymore and not changing lives in these kids. Until that time, you know you’re going to get one hell of a football team. Well-coached and talented and plays physical.”

Pittman was asked how to beat such a team.

“You don’t have to play perfect, but you have to play really good,” he said. “You have to get off the bus believing you are going to win. … There are some teams you walk off the bus and half the team, they’re going, ‘Who we playing next week?’ I don’t think we have that team. I think our team believes we can win, but I think that is the biggest battle.”

SECOND DOWN

Saban on Arkansas: At his Monday news conference, Saban returned the praise, noting that 3 of Arkansas’ losses in its 4-game losing streak have been by 7 or fewer points.

“Arkansas is really a good team,” Saban said. “They’ve had some really tough games, some really close losses. But they’ve scored a lot of points.

“KJ Jefferson is a really good, big-time quarterback. Big guy. Hard to sack. Can run. Very talented arm.”

Saban praised Pittman, who turned down an offer to join Alabama’s coaching staff in 2015 a month after he became Arkansas’ offensive line coach.

“Sam does a great job with these guys in terms of their ability to run the ball, whether it’s quarterback runs or whatever,” Saban said. “They play very aggressively and very well on defense. They’ve got good specialists. A really good kicker.”

Cam Little made a career-long 56-yard field goal last week at Ole Miss, the longest by a Razorback since tees were banned in 1988. Pittman said Wednesday that Little kicked a 68-yard field goal this week in practice.

“They’ve got a good running back,” Saban said, referring to Raheim “Rocket” Sanders. “I mean, this is a good team.

“I don’t think we should be looking at their record and making any kind of judgments on what they’re capable of, because they’re capable of scoring points and they’re capable of playing really good defense. And they’re a very well-coached team.”

Saban was asked specifically about the Razorbacks’ Jaheim Thomas, a junior linebacker who has 59 tackles (26 solo), including three sacks, this season.

"Look, their whole front 7 is very aggressive, very physical,” Saban said. “They play well together. They execute their scheme really well. We’ll have to do a great job up front. That’s going to be the challenge. This guy is a really good tackler, very productive, very instinctive, good athlete, physical, tough guy. He’s one of the better linebackers we play against."

THIRD DOWN

The Enos connection: As noted, Pittman has not coached with Saban or at Alabama. A voice mail from Pittman’s mother in 2015 convinced him not to leave Arkansas a month after he arrived enthusiastically.

Dan Enos was the Razorbacks’ offensive coordinator then, as he is now. After the 2017 season, Enos was not retained when Chad Morris replaced Bret Bielema as Arkansas’ head coach. Enos took a job as an offensive assistant at Michigan but left six weeks later to become the quarterbacks coach at Alabama.

Enos, a scout-team quarterback under Saban at Michigan State, was credited with developing Tagovailoa into a polished passer at Alabama.

After the Tide went undefeated before losing to Clemson in the national championship game, offensive coordinator Mike Locksley left to become the head coach at Maryland.

Enos reportedly was in line to take over as offensive coordinator, but he instead went to Miami to serve one season as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. That was followed by 2 seasons as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach on Locksley’s staff at Maryland. Enos developed Tagovailoa’s brother, Taulia, into a polished passer, then returned to Arkansas in January, replacing Kendal Briles as the offensive coordinator.

The Razorbacks have struggled under Enos. They rank 110th nationally in total offense (332 yards per game) and 52nd in scoring offense (31.3 points per game).

Saban and Pittman discussed Enos on Wednesday.

“Yeah, he’s doing great,” Saban said. “I think he's a really good coach. He did a great job for us when he was here. I can't remember those days back when he was a scout-team quarterback. If he says I got on him, that wouldn't surprise me. But anyways, he's a really good coach and doing a really good job with their team.

"I think he's changed quite a bit from when he was a coordinator before he was on our staff. I think being with Mike Locksley, who was a coordinator here when Dan was here, and having coached for Mike, I think he has changed quite a bit, but in a very good way. They play well and they take advantage of the players that they have and present a lot of issues and problems for you defensively."

Pittman says he doesn’t believe Arkansas has any edge because Enos spent the 2018 season on Saban’s staff.

"Well, I don't think there would necessarily be an advantage because of the length of time, as you stated," Pittman said. "But also, we've been playing Alabama for a long time. I've been in the league for a long time as well. It's not schematics … that you're aware of with Alabama, it's the players that are doing it and how well they're coached. I don't know [if] that would be an advantage there. I'm sure Dan's excited to go back over there and see some of his old friends and compete against them."

FOURTH DOWN

Hasz who? Much was made last week of the season-ending injury that freshman tight end Luke Hasz’s suffered against Texas A&M just as he was blossoming into a star. Pittman said 1 of 4 candidates needed to step in and step up but had no idea what to expect.

Enter Ty Washington, a 6-4, 247-pound redshirt freshman from Leesburg, Ga. Washington was on the field for 4 plays total through the Razorbacks’ first 5 games and entered the Ole Miss game without a catch this season. He came out of the game with 7 catches for a team-leading 90 yards and 2 touchdowns. He caught 5 passes on the opening drive and caught a 3-yard pass from Jefferson for the game's first TD. A 17-yard TD catch early in the fourth quarter helped Arkansas take a 20-17 lead.

“Luke’s a hell of a player, and he came in and did his thing,” Washington said. “But I just waited for my opportunity, and it finally came, so I had to step up to the plate.”

Washington played 54 snaps against Ole Miss.

“Man, wasn’t that something?” Pittman said when asked about Washington’s game. “I’m so happy for him. I took him aside and told him how proud I was of him. I mean, he never griped, never complained. He was playing behind Luke, and he came in and had that type of game. I believe he blocked well, too. That’s certainly going to do something for his confidence and our confidence in him.”

Washington said he came into the game thinking positively.

“Deep down, I knew what I could do, so I wasn’t really nervous,” he said. “Really was just excited to play … and just ready to get out there and do it.

“I feel like I put the work in to do it. I feel like I was ready to go. … To be honest, I just kept grinding.”