Nick Saban, Will Reichard reach milestones in Alabama's win over Arkansas
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Alabama head coach Nick Saban and placekicker Will Reichard reached career milestones during the Crimson Tide’s 24-21 home win over Arkansas on Saturday.
For Saban, who is in his 17th season as Alabama’s head coach, it marked the 200th victory in his time in Tuscaloosa. He is now 200-28 (.877) in what UA is calling “on-field” wins. That is due to five wins in 2007 being vacated because of the actions of the previous regime.
Nonetheless, Saban won his 200th game in 228 tries Saturday at Bryant-Denny Stadium.
“When I signed the letter of intent to come to Alabama, all I wanted to do was win for Coach Saban,” said Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe. “That’s a big accomplishment. But I got to learn and keep growing because I’m nowhere near a finished product, and I want to keep building for him. But to hear that is great, and let’s keep thing moving.”
While Saban wasn’t asked about his milestone, he did have something to say about one of his players setting a conference record. After his first extra point of the game, Reichard broke the SEC all-time career points record by scoring the 481st point of his career. That broke a tie with Auburn’s Daniel Carlson (2014-17) for the seventh-most points in NCAA history.
Reichard finished with six points (three extra points, one field goal) on Saturday and now has 486 points for his career. He needs just 45 points to become the NCAA’s all-time leader and pass Navy quarterback Keenan Reynolds (530 from 2012-15). Reichard’s 30-yard field goal in the third quarter was also his 26th straight make, dating back to Oct. 22, 2022.
“I’m extremely happy for Will,” Saban said. “Honestly, I don’t really keep up with those types of things, but really happy for him. He has been, probably, as good a player at his position – even though he’s a specialist – as anybody that we’ve ever had here. And he’s even a better person.”
Offensive guard Tyler Booker added, “He’s very consistent. Will has saved us a lot of times, and he’s won us a lot of games. Just like today, we don’t win without that field goal that he had. So we’re very proud of Will. He’s always consistent, always on time. He’s really a key leader on this team, and we’re very lucky to have him.”
OTHER NOTEWORTHY NOTES
(Notes via Alabama Athletics)
– Alabama improved its record on Homecoming to 87-13-1 (.866) while also extending the program’s winning streak in Homecoming games to 20.
– Saturday’s 11 a.m. CT kickoff marked the earliest kickoff for an SEC home game since Nov. 12, 2016, when the Crimson Tide hosted Mississippi State for an 11 a.m. kick. Alabama is now 27-0 in games starting at 11:30 a.m. or earlier during Saban’s time as head coach.
– With today’s win, Alabama claimed its 17th consecutive victory in the series vs. Arkansas and improved to 27-7 in all-time games against the Razorbacks.
– The Tide’s first touchdown of the game came in the first quarter when Milroe found Kobe Prentice for a 79-yard touchdown pass, which marked the longest scoring play of his career.
– The 79-yard scoring play from Milroe to Prentice is the 29th time in program history that the Crimson Tide has had a scoring play of 79 or more yards. It was also Alabama’s longest scoring play in two years when Bryce Young found Jameson Williams for a 94-yard touchdown pass against Miami (Sept. 24, 2021).
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