Head coach Nick Saban said his squad has played through adversity on several occasions this season.
He lost his starting quarterback Matt Mauck for the remainder of the year. Starting running back and first-team All-Southeastern Conference running back LaBrandon Toefield was also absent for most of the season with a broken arm.
Now the No. 18 Tigers also have lost big-play wide receiver Devery Henderson for the remainder of the year, also to a broken arm.
Regardless of the lengthening of the injury report, the Tigers will hit the road to face Arkansas for a chance to win the SEC West and return to the SEC Championship game Friday afternoon in Little Rock.
“This week, everybody’s going to talk about winning the West,” Saban said. “But really, the number one focus is that we have to beat Arkansas. They’re a good football team and they’ve won five in a row.”
Saban praised his team for being able to beat Ole Miss despite four turnovers, which included three fumbles.
“It has been a season of overcoming adversity,” Saban said. “That game was the same kind of game for us. I think the whole message of recreating the identity of a relentless competitor was what I was most proud of [in] the way our team responded in the game. We came through in crunch time and made the plays we had to make and scored where we needed to score.”
Marcus Randall came off the bench and was successful. The sophomore from Baton Rouge completed 13-of-20 passes for 179 yards and two touchdowns. For his efforts, Randall was named the SEC’s Offensive Player of the Week.
“Marcus did a great job of coming off the bench,” Saban said. “It looked to me like he was a lot more relaxed in that situation. I know somebody’s going to ask me ‘Well are you going to do it that way again?’ I’ll just tell you right now we haven’t decided what were going to do yet, relative to that.”
Saban said he has not talked about the starting position with Randall or redshirt freshman Rick Clausen, who started the Ole Miss game but did not last long after going 2-of-6 and throwing an interception.
“Marcus played with a lot of confidence and poise in the game,” Saban said. “He made good decisions. I’m sure being player of the week for this week will help him gain more confidence.”
Randall said coming off the bench allowed him to see some things he normally would not have if he were starting.
“Basically I just came out ready to play this game,” Randall said. “I came off the bench. I was able to just sit back and actually watch the game and see the defenses.”
Toefield also is trying to get back in the swing of things after being out for more than a month.
“I’m trying to [get back in the flow],” Toefield said. “I still have a long way to go. I just need to go out and work on the little things.”
The Tigers defense, coming off a performance in which LSU allowed just 61 yards rushing to Ole Miss, will face a stiffer challenge with the Razorbacks’ rushing game Friday, led by option quarterback Matt Jones.
Jones is complemented by running back Fred Talley who has rushed for more than six yards a carry.
“They score a lot of points on offense,” Saban said. “They play well in Little Rock and there’s a lot of obstacles we need to overcome to be able to win a game on the road of this magnitude.”
Injurie Saban said there are no more new injuries, other than Henderson’s broken arm. However, though he would not specify, he said there would be several Tigers practicing in red (non-contact) jerseys.