The Crimson White caught up with the Arkansas Traveler’s assistant sports editor Matt Vigoda. He broke down some key matchups on both sides of the ball ahead of this week’s home game against Arkansas.
Q. Last year Arkansas struggled to win games early on, but once the Razorbacks started winning, they played like a completely different team. Do you expect that to happen again this year, and did Arkansas already get itself back on track by beating Tennessee on the road?
Coach Bret Bielema’s Razorbacks have gotten better and better as the year has progressed. They were most certainly put on the right track after defeating Tennessee, but they still have a long way to go if they want to compete for a bowl game.
Q. Alex Collins is someone who tends to be overlooked when top SEC running backs like Nick Chubb, Leonard Fournette and Derrick Henry are mentioned. How does Collins stack up compared to those guys?
Alex Collins is an extremely underrated running back and should be in discussion for one of the country’s top backs along with Chubb, Fournette and Henry. Collins has ran for 150 yards in his past three games and deserves to be in this discussion.
Q. After Alabama limited Nick Chubb, do you expect the Razorbacks to try to throw the ball a little more than might be expected? How has quarterback Brandon Allen improved since the last time these teams met and can he have success against Alabama’s secondary?
It’s tough to say that Arkansas should ever throw more than necessary because of their running back and offensive line’s power. Brandon Allen may be the best quarterback in the SEC, but his fourth-quarter numbers are sliding each and every game. Allen is a matured quarterback with a limited number of offensive weapons. His top three receivers are injured and probably out for the remainder of the season. It’s up to Allen to find holes in the Alabama defense with the banged-up offense he has.
Q. How do you expect the Arkansas defense to approach stopping Alabama? Who on that side of the ball could cause problems for Alabama?
Arkansas’ run defense did a fantastic job against Tennessee last week and will need to keep that style of play up to par when they take on one of the nation’s best in Henry. Arkansas has limited four of its five opponents to their lowest scoring outputs of the season, and that could remain the same as Alabama has scored about five touchdowns in each of their five games thus far.
Editor’s note: This story was corrected to reflect that Matt Vigoda is the assistant sports editor of the Traveler.
