‘Arkansas Has No Fear Of Alabama’: CBS Sports’ Kevin Carter Previews College Football Matchups

(CBS DFW) — The assemblage shot regular play is drafting to an end. But teams arsenic inactive jockeying for league titles, eventual vessel bids and, for the champion of the best, a spot successful the College Football Playoff.

CBS and CBS Sports Network person different play worthy of enactment coming your way. Second-ranked Alabama could extremity up arsenic 1 of the prime fewer teams playing for a nationalist title, but archetypal they’ll request to get by SEC rival #21 Arkansas. The #23 Aztecs of San Diego State, who pb the Mountain West, volition look a UNLV squad that’s yet figured retired however to win. Wyoming looks to extremity Utah State’s five-game winning streak. CBS’s Norm Elrod talked to CBS Sports’ Kevin Carter astir the matchups.

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#21 Arkansas @ #2 Alabama, Saturday, November 20, 3:30 p.m. ET connected CBS

Which Alabama squad bash you spot showing up, the 1 that fto LSU and Tennessee bent around, oregon the 1 that blew teams retired of the h2o from the start?

I don’t truly deliberation it has that overmuch to bash with needfully the Alabama squad that we see. I deliberation it’s much astir what Alabama is facing. When you’re a squad that is successful that position, you person a bull’s oculus connected your back. You’re the number-one squad successful the SEC West. And everyone’s taking a changeable astatine you, without fear, particularly successful your ain conference, due to the fact that those radical person nary fearfulness of you and cognize you amended than anyone other and play you harder than anyone else, twelvemonth successful and twelvemonth out. So I don’t deliberation it’s truthful overmuch which mentation of Bama volition we see. I deliberation it’s conscionable par for the course.

I deliberation Bama is simply a large team, but I don’t deliberation that the region betwixt them and everyone other is what it was. The improvement of football, recruiting, conscionable radical developing, radical emulating. Coach Nick Saban has astir apt the champion coaching rehab clinics successful the country. And radical person travel successful and spot however things person been done and they’ve near and emulated. In the SEC, you person Kirby Smart, and there’s nary concealed wherever helium got his commercialized secrets from. So I conscionable deliberation that it’s much astir the contention we spot and the scenery of assemblage shot being different. That being said, Arkansas has nary fearfulness of Alabama. They’ve enactment up much than 450 yards of discourtesy against the past 4 oregon 5 SEC opponents they’ve faced, each being apical teams. So I expect them to springiness Alabama each they want.

I don’t deliberation that the Alabama we saw against LSU was a lackluster Alabama. I conscionable deliberation LSU is good, oregon tin beryllium good, not that they’re needfully playing well. But LSU has dudes. You can’t enactment up physically and lucifer up with the likes of 5 stars abounding astatine each presumption astatine Alabama, if you don’t person dudes. They lined up and physically played them to a stalemate. They’re not the lone squad that’s susceptible of doing that successful this time and age. It’s the improvement of football. So I deliberation that it’s going to beryllium a bully game. I deliberation Alabama volition get the triumph arsenic it is capable to propulsion distant yet successful the 4th quarter. But for 3 quarters we’re going to person really, truly bully football.

What tin Arkansas bash to enactment themselves successful the champion presumption for the win?

They’re going to person to utilize the backmost run. Having a steadfast KJ Jefferson was truly 1 of their biggest attributes. Alabama volition astir apt effort to enactment the crippled successful presumption of putting the accent connected KJ Jefferson’s limb to bushed them, which volition mean Treylon Burks, they’ll effort to spell with one-on-one routes. It’s going to beryllium astir however innovative and however crafty and what benignant of timing successful the way the violative coordinator tin truly person have. He’s truly done an unbelievable occupation with KJ Jefferson successful a precise abbreviated time, evolving this discourtesy and discovering his weapons and making it arsenic explosive truly arsenic it has become.

You wouldn’t deliberation that Arkansas would make this overmuch offense. They’ve truly been much than astir radical would person expected coming into the season. They’re 5th successful full discourtesy successful the conference. Typically, Arkansas hasn’t had that benignant of firepower. They haven’t been capable to make that overmuch offense, particularly throwing the football. We’re gonna spot a batch retired of them successful presumption of throwing the room descend astatine Alabama. I don’t deliberation that it’s going to beryllium arsenic unfastened and unopen arsenic astir radical deliberation it volition be. They’re going to truly person to person the football, support the shot retired of Bryce Young’s hands and that discourtesy and truly bounds the possessions. If they tin power the timepiece and the enactment of scrimmage, if they tin determination the shot and devour up chunk time…

And, connected the different side, Alabama doesn’t request overmuch clip to score. They’ve go explosive successful their ain right. So, defensively they person to truly effort to not springiness up the large play. I cognize that’s easier said than done, erstwhile talking astir Alabama. They person truthful galore weapons, particularly connected the outside, John Metchie, Bolden, Jameson Williams and the choky extremity Cameron Latu. They person weapons everywhere, and they person got a coagulated tally game. But you privation to marque them usage their tally game. You privation to marque them gain the drives each the mode down the tract and instrumentality time, truthful that they don’t chunk play you retired of the stadium.

#23 San Diego State @ UNLV, Friday, November 19, 11:30 p.m. ET connected CBS Sports Network

UNLV lone has 2 wins this season, but they came successful the past 2 weeks. And they had immoderate adjacent ones anterior to that. Will they beryllium immoderate menace to the #23-ranked San Diego State, who leads the Mountain West?

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This clip of twelvemonth I deliberation it’s improper to accidental that nary 1 poses a threat. Because twelvemonth successful and twelvemonth out, we spot teams that are in-conference play teams that are ranked and person occurrence and bash precise well. So UNLV, conscionable similar I said astir Arkansas has nary fearfulness of Alabama, UNLV has nary fearfulness to San Diego State. Just due to the fact that they haven’t played good up until present doesn’t mean they can’t enactment it together.

Their past 2 shot games —  a triumph astatine New Mexico and a triumph implicit Hawaii. They aren’t landmark wins, but they’re fundamentally uncovering a measurement of consistency that they didn’t person earlier successful the season. If you look astatine a batch of the scores, Eastern Washington, the archetypal crippled retired of the gate, Fresno State, Utah State, San Jose State, those games were mislaid by a touchdown oregon less. And truthful there’s a batch of games connected the schedule, particularly in-conference that they’re looking astatine saying, ‘man, we’re not that bad.’ They mislaid a UTSA who’s undefeated and the number-15 squad successful the state by touchdown. So the mode they’re looking astatine themselves is they’re not that acold away.

And that’s the mode it is for a batch of teams, due to the fact that the recruiting and endowment and schemes person truly balanced retired done the improvement of football. The teams are much evenly matched oregon tin be, if they fig things retired oregon enactment it together. And UNLV conscionable haven’t been capable to fig it retired much often than not. They person the past mates of weeks.

They person a young quarterback, who has had an outstanding year, but conscionable hasn’t been capable to enactment it retired successful presumption of throwing interceptions. But that’s to beryllium expected from Cameron Friel, arsenic a freshman. Processing and trying to pb a squad is simply a hard job, and evidently he’s young, and he’s thrust into this role. They’ve had injuries astatine the backmost position. They had injuries connected their offense. And the consistency that they’ve had has travel from the tally crippled and Charles Williams. That is thing that you tin bent your chapeau on. He’s got implicit 1,000 yards, he’s got 13 touchdowns. He’s an astonishing moving back.

They’re going to bash their champion to power the timepiece and effort to not fto San Diego State bash what they do. San Diego State wins its games playing defence and moving the shot with Chance Bell and Greg Bell. So  they’re going to beryllium acceptable for everything that the UNLV has to propulsion astatine them. But it’s not going to beryllium an casual game, arsenic nary of these games are.

Wyoming @ Utah State, Saturday, November 20, 8:30 p.m. ET connected CBS Sports Network

Wyoming has mislaid 4 of their past 5 games, portion Utah State has a five-game winning streak and could beryllium connected their mode to a bowl. Does Wyoming person immoderate accidental of stealing 1 from Utah State?

They decidedly person a chance, erstwhile you look astatine the matchup specifically. The 1 happening erstwhile you unrecorded astatine Utah State is they’ve righted the ship. Being 8-2 connected the play is good. But erstwhile you look astatine however they won their games, the past 5 weeks they’ve been connected a winning streak. Really conscionable enactment it connected San Jose State past week. They’re playing their champion shot from a timing standpoint close now, which is which is what you want.

So evidently looking astatine this matchup, you wouldn’t deliberation that Wyoming would person overmuch of a chance, having mislaid 5 retired of their past six. They’re lone triumph successful the past six weeks coming against Colorado State a mates of weeks ago. That’s a existent thing, not having occurrence and not getting it together, not evolutionarily making the leap astatine this clip of year. We thin to spot teams inclination up oregon down, and they’ve decidedly been trending down arsenic of late, particularly successful the Mountain West Conference play.

But, similar I said, it doesn’t excuse them from having a chance. I deliberation Xazavian Valladay is simply a tremendous moving back. Titus Swen is simply a bully moving back. They’ve got a decent tally game. You know, Sean Chambers astatine backmost has implicit 1,100 yards. His touchdown-interception ratio leaves a batch to beryllium desired. He’s lone completed astir 50 percent of his passes. From an violative standpoint, they person issues. Levi Williams came successful and gave him a boost a mates of games agone against Colorado State moving the ball. But inactive the games travel down to match-ups and game-day execution.

So Wyoming they’re going to springiness it each they’ve got. They person thing to lose. They’re going to propulsion the room sink. I expect them to effort to play their champion shot obviously, due to the fact that this is however you triumph your season. We speech astir vessel games we talked astir rankings. We speech astir making it to the assemblage shot playoff oregon seeding oregon postseason play. But for a batch of these kids, for the bulk of kids, it’s each astir going to class, midterms, finals, the enjoyment, the camaraderie, the mundane beingness and world of being a assemblage jock and a pupil athlete.

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And truthful each clip you spell retired and compete, it’s conscionable that. You’re going retired to compete. These kids person pride. And that’s wherefore you can’t ever number radical retired of these games, particularly successful November, due to the fact that they’re going to travel with thing to lose. This is the extremity of their season. How bash they permission the 2021 year? What benignant of sensation does it permission successful their mouth? They’d similar thing much than to bargain a triumph astatine the extremity of the season. Winning his fun. Getting your brains bushed successful and losing each play is not. So these kids privation to marque themselves person a bully time, and they privation to bask it. So I expect thing little from whoever the backmost is, whether it’s Sean Chambers oregon Levi Williams, their tally crippled and their defense. They’re going to propulsion the room descend astatine Utah State. Why wouldn’t they?